Washington Saves retirement act signed, set to launch in 2027

Washington’s continued job growth has resulted in a June unemployment rate at pre-pandemic levels. 

The rate of 3.8% in June was a drop from 4.1% a month earlier, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Washington Employment Security Department. The previous time Washington’s unemployment rate was that low was February 2020, Employment Security economist Paul Turek said in a news release. 

In the Seattle metropolitan area, which includes Bellevue and Everett, the June unemployment rate was 3%, the same as in May. 

In June the state added 11,900 nonagricultural jobs, including 8,800 jobs in the private sector, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by Employment Security. 

Leisure and hospitality, a sector negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, reported 8,900 more jobs in June, including 5,200 for food service and drinking establishments.

Other sectors reporting job gains included education and health services, with 4,600 jobs. Professional and business services reported an increase of 500 jobs. 

While the state saw solid job growth overall, some industry sectors have seen declining job numbers. Manufacturing jobs fell by 2,500 over the month. Retail trade also reported a drop of 2,800, including 900 jobs in food and beverage stores. 

The information sector, which includes tech jobs, saw a sizable contraction, losing 5,500 jobs between June 2022 and June 2023. Seattle-area tech companies have laid off thousands of workers in recent months. 

However, there was robust year-over-year growth in other sectors. Education and health services and leisure and hospitality also reported in June the most job gains year-over-year, with 32,700 more jobs and 25,200 more, respectively. Government was also among the top three sectors for job growth, with 25,600 jobs. 

Employment security provides seasonally adjusted figures, which account for occurrences such as holiday hiring, to make month-to-month comparisons. The year-over-year figures are not seasonally adjusted. 

The Cashmere School District has committed to bystander intervention training for faculty and students, as well as to other anti-harassment programs, after an independent investigation found students at Cashmere High School harassed a Black classmate using racial slurs at school and in a group Snapchat.

In a Crosscut story that ran last month, the student who made the complaint talked about a pattern of harassment and racist language over many months both at school and in a group chat with multiple classmates.

Four students had been disciplined for discriminatory harassment, including the use of racial slurs, according to the school district. An allegation that a staff member failed to respond or address the behavior was “not substantiated.”

District administrators outlined the results of the investigation and its plans for the future in a letter to the community.

The two-page letter read in part “We have committed to making this unfortunate incident a learning opportunity where we can all elevate our awareness, grow and be better,” and was signed by Superintendent Glenn Johnson, Cashmere High School Principal Craig McKenzie, and other district and school administrators.

Separately from the student’s individual complaint, Cashmere community members also told Crosscut they had ongoing concerns about the school atmosphere, citing one student who wore a Confederate flag as a cape at the annual Senior Parade and students who tore down the high school’s Equity Club posters, which bore a rainbow Pride symbol and messages of inclusion and acceptance.

The student, who graduated in June, said he filed the complaint because he hoped the school would do more for future students about combating bullying and racist and bigoted language.

In its letter to the community, the district’s action items included providing professional development around inclusion and diversity; focusing a student-produced public service video on anti-bullying on language and bystander intervention; and developing a school improvement plan in August around well-being, belonging, and safety with student leaders and staff members.

Washington state saw a record-high 394 murders in 2022, according to a new statewide collection of law enforcement data, up from 336 murders in the year before. Released Monday, the 2022 Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs’ annual crime statistics report also showed an increase in the number of assaults, thefts and other crimes.

The Association has released a crime report every year since 1980. The data is often debated in the Washington Legislature, where elected officials write and rewrite laws on everything from what should be a crime to directing how law enforcement officers conduct their work.

Given Washington’s population growth, the overall murder rate is still effectively lower than it was in 1994, according to Steve Strachan, executive director of the nonprofit Association. Still, recent numbers are a marked increase from before the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2019, the state saw 205 murders, according to the new report.

There were also 47,448 vehicle thefts statewide last year, according to the new report, up from about 35,400 in 2021.

The new annual report also shows what could be record-breaking use of firearms during violent offenses. In 2022 there were 7,216 instances of violent crimes involving a firearm, more than triple the organization’s 2019 tally of 2,318 instances. The figure has grown in recent years, with 4,358 instances in 2020 and 5,665 in 2021, according to a review of previous reports.

Meanwhile, the number of assaults against law enforcement officers increased after a dip in last year’s statistics. The latest report notes 2,375 assaults against officers last year, up from 1,968 recorded in 2021 and 1,676 in 2018.

The new report notes a decline in commissioned law enforcement officers in Washington by 70 individuals, to 10,666 officers total, said Strachan during a news conference on the report. Washington had a net loss of nearly 500 commissioned officers in 2021, he said.

For 13 years, Washington has had the lowest number of law enforcement officers per 1,000 people among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to Strachan. The figure in the new report is also the lowest on record for the state.

Staff shortages don’t affect only the number of officers on patrol, because they include other roles such as detectives who investigate crimes, Strachan said.

“We are way outside the norm; we are literally at the far end of the curve,” he added.

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.