WA governor calls U.S. House Medicaid cuts ‘dire,’ vows to fight

This story was originally published by the Washington State Standard.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday rescinded a memo issued less than 48 hours earlier that had called for a spending freeze on numerous federal grant and loan programs.

The original memo, released Monday evening by the Office of Management and Budget, led to widespread confusion and frustration by organizations like Meals on Wheels and grantees that rely on funding from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, as well as members of Congress from both political parties.

Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., released a statement on Wednesday afternoon that the Trump administration reversing course was the right decision.

“This is an important victory for the American people whose voices were heard after massive pressure from every corner of this country — real people made a difference by speaking out,” Murray wrote. “Still, the Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard of the law — caused real harm and chaos for millions over the span of the last 48 hours which is still ongoing.”

OMB’s decision to rescind the memo Wednesday followed the White House making public assurances Tuesday that the spending freeze wouldn’t impact Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and direct food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Two separate lawsuits seeking to block the OMB memo from taking effect on Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. were filed in federal district court.

The lawsuit filed by the National Council of Nonprofits, American Public Health Association and Main Street Alliance led to a federal district court judge placing a temporary hold on the planned spending freeze until Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

A separate federal judge is set to hear arguments from Democratic state attorneys general Wednesday afternoon over whether he should issue a temporary restraining order that would also block the OMB memo from taking effect while the court case continues.

It wasn’t immediately clear how OMB rescinding its Monday evening memo would impact those two lawsuits, though they would likely be dropped.

The Washington State Standard originally published this story on Jan. 29, 2025.

This story was originally published by the Washington State Standard.

WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled Tuesday the Trump administration must wait until at least next week before it can move forward with pausing federal spending on trillions in grants and loans, though she emphasized the short-term administrative stay might not continue after a Feb. 3 hearing.

District Judge Loren L. AliKhan’s decision temporarily blocks the Office of Management and Budget from moving forward with plans to stop payments on multiple federal programs, which it announced late Monday.

The two-page memo from the Office of Management and Budget announcing the freeze led to significant confusion throughout the day Tuesday among members of Congress — including Republicans — about what programs were affected and frustration the White House appeared to be eroding lawmakers’ constitutional spending authority.

AliKhan’s ruling came less than 24 hours after news broke of the Trump administration’s planned action.

AliKhan said after hearing arguments from an attorney for the organizations that filed the lawsuit earlier Tuesday, and from an attorney representing the federal government, that “anything that was due to be paused as of 5 p.m. today to open funding on grants is stayed.”

AliKhan, appointed to the bench by former President Joe Biden, added that any funding impacted by separate executive orders is not covered by the temporary administrative stay she issued. She ordered for both sides in the case to file briefs to her later this week, and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. Eastern.

Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, one of the organizations that filed the suit, said shortly afterward there are several steps ahead to fully block OMB’s actions.

“A lot more work to do in the courts … to ensure that this reckless action, or attempted action by OMB, can’t move forward in the long term,” Yentel said.

Confusion on Medicaid

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to downplay the impact of the spending freeze during her first-ever briefing, saying it wouldn’t apply to individual assistance programs, like Social Security or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or welfare benefits.

She was unable to answer questions about the effect on Medicaid benefits but a later White House memo claimed they would continue without interruption. Nonetheless, Democratic U.S. senators reported Medicaid portals in all 50 states were down on Tuesday.

Leavitt said the White House counsel’s office had signed off on the temporary spending pause and believed it was legal and constitutional, but she later told reporters she didn’t know the full scope of the impact and would have to circle back after the briefing ended.

“I have not seen the entire list because this memo was just sent out, so I will provide you all with updates as we receive them,” Leavitt said. 

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said in a brief interview she supports the Trump administration reviewing federal spending to look for ways to improve efficiency, but said the OMB’s action was too broad.

“This is far too sweeping and will have an adverse effect on the delivery of services and programs,” Collins said. “I do appreciate that the administration did not apply it to Social Security, Medicare, direct benefit programs. But nevertheless, it does have a large impact on the provision of services and programs.”

Collins said she had concerns about the Head Start program being listed among those that will have a spending freeze. 

“There are a lot of federal programs that appear to be swept up in this order, and I think the administration needs to be more selective and look at it one department at a time, for example,” Collins said. “But make sure important direct service programs are not affected.”

Multiple memos

The original OMB memo sent out late Monday evening appeared to apply to large swaths of federal financial assistance, including grants and loans, though a memo footnote said it should not be “construed to impact Medicare or Social Security benefits.” It did not mention an exemption for Medicaid.

“Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again,” the OMB memo states.

A separate memo from OMB lists off the programs that will be paused temporarily while it reviews which federal spending it deems appropriate.

The list includes the Department of Agriculture’s tribal food sovereignty program, Head Start, the Veterans’ Affairs Department’s suicide prevention and legal services grants, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, or LIHEAP, program, and numerous sexual assault prevention programs within the Department of Justice.

A third document from OMB, sent to Capitol Hill, claimed that Medicaid would not be affected. However, some senators reported the Medicaid portal was inaccessible on Tuesday afternoon.

“In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause,” the OMB document states. “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused. If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.”

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden posted on social media that his staff had “confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night’s federal funding freeze.”

“This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed,” Wyden wrote.

Yentel, of the groups that sued, said while Leavitt argued that the memo did not impact those in need of direct assistance, OMB did not define who counts as “direct assistance.”

She said during a briefing with reporters that the memo leaves “a lot of room to who defines direct assistance to Americans.” Yentel said she would consider one of the programs impacted, Head Start, as direct assistance.

Order prompts legal challenges

Numerous organizations — including the National Council of Nonprofits, American Public Health Association and Main Street Alliance — filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday ahead of the temporary pause taking effect.

Democratic attorneys general were also preparing to file a lawsuit, challenging the legality of the temporary spending pause on grants and loans.

New York state Attorney General Letitia James said during a virtual press conference announcing the lawsuit that Trump had overstepped his presidential powers by instituting the temporary spending pause.

“This president has exceeded his authority, he has violated the Constitution and he has trampled on a co-equal branch of government,” James said.

She said Democratic attorneys general filing the lawsuit were not trying to be “adversarial” or seeking to block Trump’s agenda.

“This is a question of the Constitution and the rule of law. And all of us took an oath to obey the Constitution and to uphold it,” James said.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said during the press briefing that the lawsuit wasn’t “about nibbling at the edges of the president’s authority.”

“We’re talking about ignoring the entirety of the United States Constitution,” Platkin said.

Attorneys general from New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia plan to file the lawsuit.

Appropriators protest

The top Democrats on the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations committees sent a letter to acting OMB Director Matthew J. Vaeth, expressing alarm about how the stop in payments would affect people throughout the country and challenging the legality of the executive branch trying to overrule the legislative branch on spending decisions.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote that the scope of the halt in funding, which was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis, “is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country.”

“While we may have strong policy disagreements, we should all be united in upholding our nation’s laws and the Constitution,” DeLauro and Murray wrote.

“We will be relentless in our work with members on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers to protect Congress’s power of the purse,” they added. “The law is the law — and we demand you in your role as Acting OMB Director reverse course to ensure requirements enacted into law are faithfully met and the nation’s spending laws are implemented as intended.”

Power of the purse lies with Congress

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution gives Congress the so-called “power of the purse” by granting it the authority to approve federal spending. 

Congress has passed several laws regarding that constitutional authority, including the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, which says that the president cannot simply refuse to spend money Congress has appropriated.

Trump’s pick for OMB Director, Russ Vought, has repeatedly called that law unconstitutional and said he believes the president does have the authority to simply ignore sections of spending law that have been passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Senate has yet to confirm Vought to the role of White House budget director, but is likely to do so in the weeks ahead.

Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, posted on social media that the OMB memo’s “vague and contradictory language makes it hard to know if funding is imperiled for public schools, community health centers, state and local law enforcement, veterans’ housing, health care through Medicaid, public services on tribal lands, etc.”

“This confusion & apparent withholding of funding isn’t a political game – real estate, local, & tribal governments, school districts, nonprofits, & private charities delivering services we all depend on, funded with taxpayer dollars, can’t function without resources and clarity,” Parrott wrote. “Congress has enacted legislation that requires the Executive Branch to fund public services, and the Trump Administration seems determined to subvert Congress, its hand-waving about following the law notwithstanding.”

Parrott worked at OMB as associate director of the Education, Income Maintenance, and Labor Division during then-President Barack Obama’s second term.

Jenny Young, vice president of communications and chief of staff at Meals on Wheels America, said the OMB memo “could presumably halt service to millions of vulnerable seniors who have no other means of purchasing or preparing meals.”

“And the lack of clarity and uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local Meals on Wheels providers not knowing whether they’re going to be reimbursed for meals served today, tomorrow, who knows how long this could go on,” Young said. “Which unfortunately means seniors may panic not knowing where their next meals will come from. This adds insult to injury as these programs are already underfunded to begin with. Largely speaking, local providers don’t have the ability to absorb a blow like this, especially if it persists for any extended period of time.”

Young said the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program, which provides some of Meals on Wheels funding, is a grant program administered by the Administration on Aging.

Members of Congress react

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was talking with staff at OMB to “try to get more information on how this works.”

Graham said he wouldn’t delay a committee vote Thursday to send Vought’s nomination to the Senate floor.

“We need more information about this, but we also need a guy in charge,” Graham said.

Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, a senior appropriator and chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said during a brief interview that leadership at the VA was supposed to talk with OMB officials on Tuesday afternoon to figure out how exactly they were supposed to carry out the spending freeze for certain grant and loan programs.

“We’re trying to get additional information about what it means on grants,” Moran said. “I just came from a veterans’ hearing where that was the topic of conversation. And my understanding is the VA leadership is meeting with OMB to learn the details, and then I’ll have more of a response.”

Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, echoed similar remarks that she wanted more information on how much the memo impacted those federal programs.

North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven, a senior appropriator, said he isn’t too concerned about the temporary pause to federal grant and loan programs.

“He’s taking a look at a lot of the spending as he should; reviewing it, finding out what makes sense and what doesn’t,” Hoeven said. “Just because it gets paused doesn’t mean it won’t get funded. And hopefully the ones that are funded are funded in a better way, more in line with our priorities.”

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said she wasn’t worried about the impact of the temporary pause to grants and loans at the Defense Department and VA.

“I think they will take a look at it, they will release the funds as they find it necessary,” Ernst said. “So I think there’s a big flurry in the press right now, but I think that President Trump is doing the right thing by scrutinizing our spending.”

‘Take a deep breath’

North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, an advocate for federal disaster aid, said he was skeptical that the freeze would immediately impact people in need of disaster relief.

“I can’t imagine that the president would knowingly cut off housing assistance for people displaced from their homes,” he said. “We need to get to the facts versus the fear.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said during a press conference that he expected additional information from the Trump administration about the pause.

“They’re providing additional clarity and guidance on that, and hopefully they will further clarify what exactly will be impacted,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s unusual for an administration to pause.”

Sen. James Risch of Idaho added: “This is a work in progress. Everybody take a deep breath, stay calm. Every one of these programs is gonna be looked at.”

Ariana Figueroa, Shauneen Miranda and Ashley Murray contributed to this report. 

The Washington State Standard originally published this story on Jan. 28, 2025.

The Franklin County Public Utility District will transition to a district-based election after reaching a settlement with plaintiffs of a voting-rights lawsuit, the UCLA Voting Rights Project and the Morfin Law Firm announced in a news release Monday.

A group of voters in southeastern Washington’s Franklin County alleged that the agency’s electoral voting system violated the Washington Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Latino residents who live in the public utility district, which provides various services, including electric service and broadband, for county residents.

Currently, the Pasco-based agency’s three commissioners are elected in a hybrid system — districts are used in the primary and then transition to at-large for the general election. Under the settlement, the Franklin County PUD will transition to an entirely district-based election in 2026.

The PUD will use district boundaries created in a 2022 update of its map, with District 3 having a high concentration of Latino residents.

Attorneys from the UCLA Voting Rights Project and the Morfin Law Firm notified the Franklin County PUD in June 2024 of the alleged voting rights violation, urging the Franklin PUD to adopt a district-based system. They filed suit in September.

The settlement is the latest push by advocates to enable Latino voters to vote for the candidate of their choice at all election levels. In 2022, Franklin County settled a different lawsuit that contended that the election system for its county commissioners violated state voting rights law. That settlement led to the implementation of a district-based system last year.

“Latino voters in Franklin County have continued to vindicate their voting rights by challenging at-large methods of election and changing election systems to districts,” said plaintiff Gabriel Portugal, president of the Tri-Cities LULAC, the local chapter of the civil rights organization, in the news release. This change will have an impact on all people in Franklin County.”

Voting for the Feb. 11 special election starts today. Thirty-two counties, including King, Yakima, Snohomish, Spokane and Thurston, have issues on next month’s ballot. The deadline for counties to send ballots to voters is today (Friday, Jan. 24).

Local ballots will include levy and bond measures in 56 school districts across the state, including Seattle, Issaquah, Puyallup, Vancouver and Toppenish; competing social housing measures in Seattle; a minimum wage measure in Burien; and other local issues across the state.

Not all districts or counties will have a measure next month. According to the state, about 1.5 million out of 5 million Washington voters will get a ballot for February. Voters can check their local county elections office or VoteWA.gov to see if they are supposed to get a ballot.

The last day for online and mailed registrations is Feb. 3, though voters can register in person at their local counties until Feb. 11. Ballots must be turned in at county ballot boxes or postmarked by 8 p.m. Feb. 11.

This article originally appeared in the Washington State Standard.

Emily Alvarado moved from the House to the Senate in the state Legislature on Tuesday after the King County Council appointed her to replace Joe Nguyen, who Gov. Bob Ferguson tapped last month to lead the state Department of Commerce.

Alvarado, a Democrat, was sworn into the Senate shortly after the Council selected her for the seat in the 34th Legislative District, which includes West Seattle, Vashon Island, White Center, and part of Burien.

Alvarado was elected to the House in 2022. She’s worked as an executive with an affordable-housing nonprofit and as the director of Seattle’s Office of Housing. 

“I believe we all have a shared obligation to provide high-quality public services to our communities,” Alvarado said. 

Nguyen was first elected to the state Senate in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He was the first Vietnamese American elected to the Washington state Senate.

The council also approved Brianna Thomas as Alvarado’s replacement in the state House of Representatives. 

Thomas currently works as the senior policy and labor advisor for the Seattle mayor’s office and previously was chief of staff for former Seattle City Council member Lorena González.  

“I’m not here for a power grab, I’m here to hold the door open for the same people that held the door open for me so more folks like me have those opportunities,” Thomas said. 

The Council also chose Janice Zahn to replace Tana Senn, former state representative for the 41st Legislative District, who Ferguson picked to lead the Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

Zahn is the chief engineer at the Port of Seattle and has been serving on the Bellevue City Council, which she was first elected to in 2017. 

“I bring unique perspectives as an immigrant, engineer, elected and staffer, with extensive and broad experience at every level of government,” Zahn said. 

Senn first joined the state House in 2013 when the King County Council appointed her to the seat in the 41st District, which covers parts of Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island and other communities.

Both the House and Senate positions will be on the ballot in a special election in November, with the winners serving through 2026.

The Washington State Standard originally published this article on Jan. 22, 2025.

A “Youth Bill of Rights” adopted by the King County Council this month doesn’t require any action from elected officials, but its sponsor hopes this and the creation of a youth council will ensure that young peoples’ priorities have a meaningful role in policy debates. 

The Youth Bill of Rights was drafted over several years with input from more than 2,000 local young people ages 7 to 24. The document lists 10 priorities: basic needs and well-being; health; education and learning; equity and social justice; safety and security; community and belonging; environment; transportation; youth voice and recreation and sports. 

A motion to adopt the Bill of Rights passed unanimously earlier this month, with one councilmember excused. 

“As a country, we’re not always the best to our young people,” Rod Dembowski, the King County Councilmember who sponsored the motion, told Cascade PBS. “This is a way to lift up their voices, put them in front of people that are writing budgets and passing laws to say ‘Here’s what we think we need.’”

Will the Bill of Rights have a concrete impact on King County’s policies? Dembowski said “The truthful answer is it could go either way.” 

The effectiveness of the document will depend on how seriously elected officials decide to take it, Dembowski said. He hopes councilmembers consult the Youth Bill of Rights when considering budget or policy decisions that could impact young people. 

“One of the things we can do is bring forward this Bill of Rights and say ‘Well, the young folks in this county said they care about basic needs and well-being,” Dembowski said. “‘They care about health. They want investments in education and learning.’” 

The task force of young people who worked on the Youth Bill of Rights also recommended that the County Council create a youth commission of appointed representatives to advise the Council. Several Washington cities, including Seattle and Tacoma, have youth commissions in advisory roles. Dembowski said a youth commission could help “empower” the new Youth Bill of Rights. He hopes to start working on establishing the commission later this year. 

“If folks don’t bring the [Youth Bill of Rights] forward, or if we don’t establish the youth commission, then it certainly could fall by the wayside and be set on a shelf like a lot of government reports,” Dembowski said. “But hopefully that doesn’t happen.”

The Department of Natural Resources announced a six-month pause on timber harvest from some mature forests on Friday.

Limiting timber sales from such forests, also known as legacy forests, was a central campaign promise of the new Commissioner of Public Lands, Dave Upthegrove. Legacy forests are mature forests that have naturally regrown after logging activity or other disturbances, such as fire or landslides.

During the pause, DNR plans to identify and map the characteristics of the forests the agency manages in order to comply with its policy to conserve 10% to 15% of structurally complex forests. 

A key function of the DNR is to sell timber from public lands to generate revenue for rural communities to cover things such as education.

Environmental groups have expressed concern about harvesting from legacy forests, stating that they are essential in storing carbon and maintaining the area's biodiversity. Removing trees from such forests would negatively impact species and plants in the area. Advocacy groups have urged the DNR to implement more regulations regarding timber harvests on public lands. 

“Forests define Washington — they are vital to our habitats, to our communities, and our economy,” Upthegrove said. “I want to ensure that our forests will continue to work sustainably for the people of Washington for generations to come. The timeout will help us make that a reality.”

Once the criteria to exclude forests critical to carbon storage and habitat biodiversity is established, DNR said it will resume some of the paused sales.

Monday morning, former President Donald Trump will officially return to the office as the transfer of power from the Joe Biden administration takes place. Trump becomes only the second American president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. 

You can watch streaming live coverage of the event starting at 7:30 a.m. PT on the PBS NewsHour website and on its YouTube page. We will also carry the coverage locally on Cascade PBS, with the coverage slated to end at 1:00 p.m. PT. The actual swearing-in ceremony is expected to start at 9:00 a.m. PT. PBS NewsHour has this more detailed schedule of the expected events of the day. 

The Cascade PBS newsroom will be following any local developments related to the inauguration, as well as the implications of policies from the new administration. Many Washington politicians, including Governor Bob Ferguson, have said they plan to hold the administration accountable if necessary. Ferguson told Cascade PBS his approach will be to “work with the Trump administration when we can, and we will stand up to the Trump administration when they’re harming Washingtonians and exceeding their lawful authority.” 

The Seattle City Council narrowed the field of 20 qualified candidates vying to fill the vacant District 2 seat to six finalists on Friday.  

Former Councilmember Tammy Morales, who represented southeast Seattle from the Chinatown-International District through Rainier Beach, retired from the Council on Jan. 6 with three years remaining in her term.  

Whoever is appointed to fill the D2 vacancy will serve in the role through November. Seattle voters will elect a Councilmember this fall to finish the remainder of Morales’ term through December 2027.  

Each Councilmember was allowed to nominate one finalist but not required to do so.  

Councilmember Maritza Rivera nominated Mark Solomon, a crime prevention coordinator at the Seattle Police Department. He ran and lost against Morales for the D2 Council position in 2019 and was a finalist for last year’s Council vacancy appointment.   

Councilmember Rob Saka nominated Chukundi Salisbury, a sustainability and environmental engagement manager with Seattle Parks and Recreation. Saka said he’s looking for a “caretaker” for the appointment who will focus on governing and not seek election in November, which Salisbury stated is his plan.  

Councilmember Dan Strauss nominated Adonis Ducksworth, a senior transportation policy manager for Mayor Bruce Harrell and former deputy chief of staff at the Seattle Department of Transportation.  

Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth nominated Thaddaeus Gregory, a land-use lawyer with Van Ness Feldman. The Councilmember cited Gregory’s land-use expertise since the appointee will lead the Land Use Committee.  

Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck nominated Edward Lin, who has worked as an attorney with the Seattle City Attorney’s Office since 2017.   

Council President Sara Nelson nominated Hong Chhuor, a nonprofit communications professional with Friends of the Children – Seattle, who previously worked for Plymouth Housing and El Centro de la Raza. Nelson picked Chhuor in part because of his experience on the board of Friends of Little Saigon, explaining that one of the most common concerns she hears from D2 residents are about public safety problems in the Chinatown-International District.  

In contrast to Saka, Nelson said she wants a candidate who will run to stay in office this fall, arguing that the decisions the appointee makes will have long-term ramifications and campaigning will require them to meet with and be accountable to district residents.  

Councilmember Bob Kettle declined to nominate a finalist. Last year the Council also filled a vacancy left by Teresa Mosqueda’s election to King County Council. Kettle said that based on that experience, it’ll be better to have a smaller pool of finalists so the Council can get to know them better.  

Councilmember Cathy Moore was absent from the meeting.  

Voters will get a chance to hear directly from the finalists and ask questions at a public forum on Jan. 21 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Columbia City Theater. Seattle Channel will live-stream the forum as well.  

The Council will select the appointee at a special meeting on Jan. 27 at 9:30 a.m.

House Democrats introduced a new bill to bolster and broaden the state’s authority to inspect private detention facilities amid recent legal battles over the monitoring of the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma.

Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, the bill’s primary sponsor, said the updates are designed to expand a 2023 bill to include private detention facilities such as the Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Facility in Spokane County. Previous legislation applied only to the Tacoma immigration center, and the company that runs it sued the state claiming discrimination as the only site of its kind in the state. 

“The biggest thing is allowing inspections so we can have eyes in there and know what’s happening,” Ortiz-Self said, mentioning that she heard reports of a chicken pox outbreak but cannot know how it’s being handled without Department of Health access. “There’s that lack of transparency that’s paramount in all of this.”

Separately, a judge ruled on Thursday against GEO Group, the company operating the NWIPC, in another lawsuit. The decision from the Ninth Circuit Court found that the company violated state minimum wage laws when it paid detainees $1 per day, and requires GEO Group to pay nearly $20 million in back wages.

DOH and Labor & Industries attempted to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center after a bill passed in 2023 regulating private detention centers and codifying “routine, unannounced inspections.” Court records state that the facility administrator for NWIPC denied both agencies entry, and the issue ended up in court. DOH is still in litigation, but L&I gained access under a different statute. The inspection yielded no violations. 

Newly introduced House Bill 1232 includes defining abuse and neglect, escalating actions for failed inspections, outlining food and staffing requirements and granting the Department of Health access to inspect at any time. 

“There shouldn’t be any fear of letting our agencies in to make sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to if you’re following the law,” Ortiz-Self said. “Our concern has always been that: Why are you so afraid of transparency?” 

Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, who voted against the 2023 bill, said he believes managing NWIPC should be up to the federal government, arguing there are more pressing issues for the state to focus on. 

“These bills are less about these private detention facilities than it is about this political hot potato that is ICE and detention of people who are in the country illegally,” he said. 

The new bill is currently in committee.