Joseph O’Sullivan, Shauna Sowersby honored for watchdog reporting

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and other elected officials Wednesday celebrated the opening of a former hotel in Lacey that has been repurposed as housing for individuals who had been living in state right-of-ways, such as beneath interstate overpasses.

The Legislature allocated money to the state supplemental budget to rapidly move unhoused individuals living on land alongside state highways. Known as the Rights of Way Safety Initiative, state agencies are working with local governments to help move individuals residing on state-owned rights-of-way “with an emphasis on permanent housing solutions,” according to the state Department of Commerce.

Inslee, who has pushed to get people living in camps into housing, lauded the project in remarks before a ribbon-cutting at Maple Court, the new name of the former Lacey Days Inn, which will now be able to accommodate up to 125 people in Thurston County who are experiencing homelessness. It is being administered by the Low Income Housing Institute.

“We can’t wait another decade to build new buildings,” Inslee told those gathered, adding later: “These are 125 people who can’t wait another decade under tarps.”

The initiative is one of a slew of attempts by state and local governments in recent years to reverse what has been a yearslong crisis of people living in camps or otherwise unhoused.

Similar motel-to-shelter projects have opened with state dollars in Yakima, Spokane and Seattle.

Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson called Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling “harmful” to LGBTQ+ Americans and signaled that it would impact the way his office enforces its antidiscrimination law.  

In a 6-3 vote, the court said the state of Colorado could not enforce its own antidiscrimination law against Lorie Smith, a Christian web and graphic designer who refused to provide wedding websites for same-sex couples. 

The majority, comprising the court’s more conservative justices, ruled that Smith was engaged in an expressive activity and was within her First Amendment right to refuse the expression of messages that went against her religious beliefs.

Ferguson said the ruling is “a step backward to our nation’s progress toward achieving equality for LGBTQ+ Americans.”

In a statement to Crosscut, Ferguson noted that the ruling applies to “purely artistic businesses.” 

“The vast majority of Washington businesses — selling goods and services other than custom-designed products — must still abide by the clear antidiscrimination mandates in our state,” Ferguson said in his statement. “If they don’t, my office will take action.”

Ferguson has previously sought to enforce the law in an action against a business that attempted to circumvent antidiscrimination laws in the name of religious freedom and free speech. In 2013, he filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Richland florist Barronelle Stutzman for refusing to provide flowers to serve a same-sex couple. The couple Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed also filed suit against Stutzman. 

In 2015, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander Ekstrom ruled that Stutzman discriminated against the couple and broke the state’s consumer protection and antidiscrimination laws. 

The Washington Supreme Court, on two separate occasions, upheld the Benton County court’s decision. In 2017, the court unanimously ruled that Stutzman still had to follow antidiscrimination laws because selling floral arrangements and other wedding goods to a same-sex couple did not constitute free speech, nor was it an endorsement of same-sex marriage. 

The 2019 ruling came after the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the Washington Supreme Court after ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a custom cake for a same-sex couple. 

However, the ruling in that case came because the court said a state agency had been hostile to the baker’s religious beliefs. After the Washington Supreme Court determined the courts expressed no hostility toward Stutzman and her religious beliefs, it let its initial ruling stand. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling against race-based admissions at college campuses likely will not have any immediate impact on Washington policy or higher education admissions.

Affirmative action has been outlawed in the state since 1998, when voters passed Initiative 200, which prevents government entities from using race as a factor in hiring or admissions.

But in 2022, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a guidance to state agencies that they should be using whatever tools they have to identify and eradicate discrimination and disparities in their institutions. Inslee’s January 2022 order called the state’s previous guidance on how to comply with Initiative 200 overly restrictive.

In that guidance, the governor asked the Washington Student Achievement Council, which works to encourage Washington students to go to college, to track student success across subpopulations and to gather information about the success of programs designed to address discrimination in higher education.

In a statement after the Supreme Court decision on Thursday, Inslee said, “Our state will continue advancing the cause of equity in higher education and government. As with past rulings from this court that have made our society less equitable for women, people of color, and other marginalized communities, Washington state will respond however necessary to continue advancing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the arc of the moral universe that bends toward justice.”

Eight other states have also banned affirmative action: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Oklahoma. Texas joined that group because of a court decision, and other courts have chimed in on affirmative action, contributing to the nation’s patchwork of rules on this issue.

More than 3 million Washington residents will begin earning benefits through Washington’s new long-term care insurance program on July 1.

Working people who did not opt out will contribute 0.58% of each paycheck to the Washington Cares Fund through automatic payroll deductions. Those who contribute to the fund will be entitled to a $36,500 lifetime benefit, which will be adjusted for inflation, for long-term care services when they need them.

The deductions begin July 1, 2023, but the benefits won’t be accessible until July 1, 2026.

The money can be used for a range of services to help people meet their long-term care needs while remaining in their homes. Those services could include transportation, paying a caregiver, home safety modifications or home-delivered meals.

Washington employers are required to withhold contributions from workers’ paychecks for the program. People with private long-term care insurance can opt out of the program, however, by filling out an exemption application.

Washington state will receive $1.2 billion — about $300 million more than previously projected — as part of a federal government program that aims to bring broadband internet to every household in the country.

The funding, announced by President Biden earlier today, represents the most ambitious federal effort yet to bridge the digital divide in rural communities. The money comes from the 2021 infrastructure spending bill.

Mark Vasconi, head of the Washington state Broadband Office, said challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s long-criticized maps of national internet service helped identify some 71,000 additional unserved households across Washington, a more than 40% increase over previous estimates.

Vasconi said the crowdsourced map revision process likely contributed to the state’s netting significantly more money than previously projected, since the program favored states with spottier access. Officials had expected to receive about $900 million for the state prior to today’s announcement of $1.2 billion.

“It’s a dramatic improvement,” Vasconi said of the mapping process outcome.

States now have six months to submit initial proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to unlock the first 20% of the funds.

Vasconi said the subsequent planning process will be more “prescriptive” than previous efforts, with tighter rules about how administrators evaluate which projects to fund and more explicit rules regarding tribal consultation and workforce development. 

“We’ve been wanting to see this kind of funding support for as long as broadband service has been available,” Vasconi said. “It’s finally here, and a lot of work is going to proceed in order to effectively use the funding so that broadband service is a reality for all households in the country.”

Washington state Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Port Angeles, announced a bid Wednesday for Public Lands Commissioner in 2024.

A statewide elected position, the Lands Commissioner oversees the Washington Department of Natural Resources and, among other things, the state’s wildland firefighting capabilities. 

Wednesday’s announcement comes as current Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz pursues a bid for governor in next year’s election.

In a statement, Van De Wege, a moderate whose Olympic Peninsula legislative district is one of the last rural regions in Washington to elect Democrats, touted his experience as a career firefighter.

"When I say I understand the danger and destruction caused by wildfires, which are becoming more frequent and more destructive, I speak from experience,” Van De Wege said in prepared remarks. “Of everything our state Department of Natural Resources [DNR] can do, preventing and reducing wildfires needs to top the list.”

First elected to the Senate in 2016, Van De Wege previously served five terms in the state House. He currently chairs the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee.

King County Metropolitan Council Chair Dave Upthegrove has already said he is leaning toward a bid for Lands Commissioner next year. Upthegrove is a three-term council member who previously served in the Legislature, including time chairing the House Environment Committee.

Also this week, Nick Brown, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced he was stepping down from that position. Brown is reportedly interested in running for state Attorney General, as incumbent and Democrat Bob Ferguson also pursues a gubernatorial bid. Brown previously served as counsel to Gov. Jay Inslee.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has spotted the first adult Japanese beetle of this year in Yakima County on Tuesday. 

The beetle, which is not established in Washington, can feed on 300 different plants, creating concern that it could negatively impact several of Washington’s top agricultural commodities, such as cherries and hops. It was first spotted in Sunnyside in 2020.

The Japanese beetle’s presence in the Central Washington county has grown since then. Tens of thousands of beetles have been spotted in Sunnyside, Grandview and Wapato, and the state has started a yard debris quarantine program along with other measures in a multiyear effort to eradicate these beetles.

Public engagement specialist Karla Salp wrote on the WSDA blog that the Department has set traps in areas near the high school in Grandview where the beetle was detected, in anticipation of thousands of additional beetles emerging there. 

Salp also outlined several ways Yakima Valley residents can assist the agency in its capture and eradication effort, including reporting sightings online, installing traps on their property and allowing WSDA to spray on their property. 

The Washington State Department of Agriculture recently completed a second round of pesticide treatment in the affected areas this spring. 

Despite low unemployment and solid job growth in May throughout the state and most counties, new figures from the Washington Employment Security Department point to slowing economic activity. 

The state posted a 3.3% unemployment rate in May, compared to 3.8% in May 2022, according to the figures released Tuesday. 

Among the state’s metropolitan areas, Walla Walla, which includes the southeast counties of Walla Walla and Columbia, reported the lowest unemployment rate at 2.9%, a drop from 4.2% in May 2022. In contrast, Yakima County, in south-central Washington, reported the highest unemployment rate among metropolitan areas at 4.2%, a drop from 5.6% in May 2022. 

The Seattle metropolitan area — which includes King and Snohomish counties — showed a 3.2% unemployment rate, an increase from 2.6% in May 2022. The job losses may reflect the thousands of layoffs at tech companies headquartered here. 

Asotin County reported the lowest employment rate among the state’s 39 counties, at 2.4%. The rural county, in Washington’s southeast corner, is part of the Lewiston, Idaho, metropolitan area. 

Ferry County, in northwest Washington, reported the highest unemployment rate, at 6%, though that was a decrease from 8.3% in May 2022. 

Employment Security reported seasonally adjusted unemployment rates, which account for occurrences such as holiday hiring, for the state and the Seattle area last week. Rates for the state and Seattle area, seasonally adjusted, were 4.1% and 3.0% in May, respectively. 

While unemployment dropped from April’s figures, it increased compared to May 2022, when the unemployment rate was 3.9% for the state and 2.9% for the Seattle area.

While the drops in unemployment in most counties are a positive indicator for the economy, Washington’s year-over-year job growth appears to be gradually slowing, according to the state.

In May, Washington reported 104,700 more jobs year over year, a 2.97% increase. However, that is a less robust year-over-year increase than April’s, when the state saw a 3.18% job growth rate, or 111,300. 

Job growth statewide has been slowing in recent months, especially compared to several months in 2022, which may serve as a lagging indicator of an impending recession or an economic slowdown. 

Among the most robust job growth in the state’s metropolitan counties was in Olympia, in Thurston County, which reported 5,200 more jobs year-over-year, a 4.1% increase. In contrast, the Wenatchee metropolitan area, which consists of the north-central counties of Chelan and Douglas, reported 200 fewer jobs year-over-year, a 0.42% decrease.

Six immigrants from India are on a hunger strike at the ICE Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, according to advocacy organization La Resistencia.

The immigrants are refusing food to draw attention to a number of issues, including lengthy and indefinite detention. They note that one man in the group has been held for eight months. Another striker says he has medical issues that have not been adequately addressed.

The Indian detainees, all vegetarians, also say their food has not been adequate and they cannot supplement their diet with food from the commissary because the prices are so high. The strikers also say their health has been affected by a lack of exercise outside, and that their immigration proceedings have not been handled properly.

A request for comment from the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, was not immediately returned on Thursday. La Resistencia says they are planning a protest at the Tacoma facility for Sunday, June 18.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, which requires child welfare departments to prioritize adoption and foster care placement of Indigenous children with family or extended kin.

Haaland v. Brackeen questioned the constitutionality of this 1978 law, which also requires child welfare departments to give Native nations notice as soon as an investigation begins into a Native family to determine if the child needs services or removal.

The case involved three children with Native heritage and white families that either wanted to adopt them or were fostering them. They challenged the Indian Child Welfare Act as unconstitutional using several different arguments, including alleging that Congress lacks authority in those decisions.

The 7-2 decision, written by Amy Coney Barrett, lifts an especially sharp pen against the state of Texas for claiming with “creative arguments” that the ICWA harms Texas by requiring it to break its promise to its citizens that it will be “colorblind” in child-custody proceedings. Barrett writes that if this argument were legitimate, then states would be able to bring constitutional challenges every time they have to enforce a federal law.

She goes on, “Texas tries to finesse this problem by characterizing ICWA as a ‘fiscal trap,’ forcing it to discriminate against its citizens or lose federal funds.” Barrett dismisses this argument as vague and disconnected from reality.