WA Supreme Court issues rule to reduce public defense caseloads

Following weeks of questions about how the new executive might respond to legislative Democrats’ approved tax increases, Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday signed a two-year almost $78 billion spending plan with new taxes and program cuts.

The plan, approved last month by the Legislature, includes $4 billion in new taxes on businesses, wealthy residents and some services; about $3 billion in cuts; and more than $7 billion in new spending on education, wage increases for state employees and long-term care.

After months of push-back on Democrats’ tax proposals, Ferguson signed off on what he called “a balanced approach.” In the end, he made only minor changes, vetoing about $25 million more in spending and promising to look more closely at approved taxes before the next legislative session begins in January 2026.  

“I understand very clearly that this will be a challenging budget for Washingtonians,” Ferguson said. “But I believe it’s a balanced approach that sets us up on a trajectory for a more sustainable future.”

Lawmakers came into the legislative session this year with a nearly $16 billion budget shortfall to fill over the next four years. Democrats’ initial funding plans relied on a suite of hefty new taxes, including a tax on the wealthiest residents, which Ferguson quickly nixed.

Despite his reservations, Ferguson ultimately approved $4 billion in taxes, including on businesses, financial assets and technology services. The budget also includes new fees on state parks’ passes, hunting and fishing licenses, and liquor permits.

Ferguson did veto one tax increase, choosing to keep a tax exemption for interest collected by community banks, which he said is important to keeping housing affordable.

The governor said he will be having more conversations with his team, lawmakers and the business community on the taxes to make sure there aren’t “unintended impacts.”

He said he may want to make changes to the budget in the next legislative session in January, which could upend the revenue lawmakers relied on when balancing the current spending plan. If that happens, lawmakers may need to make deeper cuts next year during a supplemental budget process, Ferguson said.

Already, the budget includes $2.7 billion in cuts to higher education, health care and the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

On Tuesday, Ferguson vetoed another $25 million in spending. Programs that support counseling and case management for teens, language services for low-income Afghan women and girls, supports for Spanish speakers accessing HIV treatment, stipends for sexual assault nurse examiner training and outdoor recreation access for underrepresented communities were all among the cuts.

Ferguson said he plans to look more closely at the approved spending cuts over the next few months in preparation for the next legislative session and his supplemental budget proposal, due in December.

The governor’s approval of the budget was welcome news to Democratic budget leaders but was met with harsh criticism from their Republican counterparts.

"Ultimately, the governor folded to his party and signed off on an irresponsible and unsustainable plan,” said House Republican Budget Leader Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn. “Washington taxpayers will pay the price."

This article was originally published by the Washington State Standard.

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed three bills to protect immigrant rights this week. 

These included measures to strengthen state power to inspect private detention facilities, prevent coercion in the workplace, and prohibit bail bond agents from enforcing immigration laws. 

Lawmakers put forward the legislation at a time when President Donald Trump is trying to crack down on people crossing into the country illegally and as his administration presses to deport immigrants already in the U.S. without legal authorization. 

Here’s a look at what the new state laws would do. 

Detention centers 

State lawmakers have been pushing for greater transparency at the Northwest ICE Processing Center, a for-profit immigrant detention center in Tacoma. Previous efforts on this front have landed the state in court battles with the company that operates the facility, The GEO Group.

House Bill 1232 is the latest attempt to pave the way for the state’s Department of Health to inspect the Center and enforce compliance with state and federal laws there. 

It establishes additional standards for such facilities in areas like sanitation, ventilation and medical care, along with new safeguards against abuse. 

The bill also expands the definition of private detention facilities to include those run by nonprofit organizations after The GEO Group claimed to be singled out under existing law. The nonprofit Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Facility near Spokane will now join the list of these facilities. 

Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, sponsor of the bill, said she hopes this legislation demonstrates that the state is not targeting a single facility. 

The law is effective immediately. 

Workplace coercion

There is often limited recourse for immigrant workers facing threats or being exploited by their employer. Senate Bill 5104, sponsored by Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, intends to give immigrant workers better tools when facing coercion in the workplace. 

The bill would require the state’s Department of Labor and Industries to investigate complaints of coercion and would allow the agency to impose civil penalties when violations occur.

Coercion differs from retaliation because it happens before an employee raises an issue. Retaliation happens after the employee does so. 

During the complaint process, when a worker files a complaint, the department will notify the employer, but language in the bill was added to make a worker’s personal information confidential to anyone other than the department and the employee. 

“Every Washington worker can and should feel safe to report workplace injustices without fear of coercion or retaliation of any kind,” Ferguson said at the bill signing.

The bill would take effect on July 1. 

Bail bond agents

Following an incident in January during a public meeting in Sunnyside, Wash., a person claiming to be a “bounty hunter” said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would soon use bail bond agents to arrest people in the U.S. without legal authorization and pay them $1,000 for every arrest. ICE had detained two people in Sunnyside around this time.

Senate Bill 5714 would expand the list of unprofessional conduct for bail bond agents to include enforcement of a civil immigration warrant. The Department of Licensing could take disciplinary action against agents found to be in violation.

Bail bond agents already largely lacked the authority to get involved in immigration issues. But Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, said she introduced the bill because “people can operate right on the boundaries.” The law, she said, will provide clarification about those boundaries and the penalties for crossing them. 

It would also prevent agents from sharing a defendant’s immigration status with anyone outside their business. 

The bill would take effect on July 27. 

Other legislation

In addition to the laws the governor signed Monday, the Legislature approved a bill to allow immigrants to use paid sick time for immigration proceedings, which Ferguson signed in April, and a bill to have an expedited pardon process for those facing deportation, which is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Lawmakers also maintained approved funding in the budget for a state program that provides health care coverage that mirrors Medicaid to a limited number of immigrants without legal status. Ferguson has still not signed off on the budget legislation.

Jacqueline Jimenez-Romero is a WSU News Fellow who writes for the Washington State Standard, which originally published this story on May 14, 2025.

Eight people, including two current King County Council members, are vying to become the next King County Executive. The seat is open for the first time in more than a decade after former King County Executive Dow Constantine’s announcement last year that he would not run for reelection.

Earlier this year, Constantine vacated his position before the end of his term to become the new head of Sound Transit. The remainder of his term is being carried out by current King County Executive Shannon Braddock, whom the Council appointed temporarily to fill the seat. At the time of her appointment, Braddock told reporters she would not seek election.

The position is nonpartisan. Top fundraisers in the race so far are Girmay Zahilay ($698,379.27), Claudia Balducci ($552,720.29), John Wilson ($65,214.50) and Amiya Ingram ($6,028.51). Here’s what else to know about the slate of candidates who’ve filed to run.

Claudia Balducci

Balducci sits on the King County Council and has represented District 6 since she was elected in 2015. District 6 includes Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, the Points Communities and Redmond. Balducci announced her candidacy shortly after Constantine announced he would not run for reelection. Balducci formerly served on the Bellevue City Council and is one of two vice chairs of the Sound Transit board.

Derek Chartrand

Derek Chartrand is a Redmond resident who has worked for Rentar Environmental Solutions, a Florida company that develops technology to help companies save fuel costs and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Chartrand has challenged U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene twice, in 2024 and 2022, running as a Republican.

Bill Hirt

Bill Hirt is a familiar name on area ballots. The Bellevue resident has run for office at least a dozen times, including for governor in 2024, U.S. Senator in 2022, county executive in 2017 and more. This year, he says he will use his statement in the voter guide to bring attention to his criticisms of Sound Transit.

Amiya Ingram

Amiya Ingram is an AI policy strategist at Microsoft. Billing herself as a member of the next generation of leadership, Ingram lists housing, safety, education and small businesses as her campaign priorities.

Don L. Rivers

Don Rivers ran for governor as a Democrat in 2020 and 2024. Rivers has said he has advised elected officials, law enforcement agencies and others and has been a union worker for 50 years.

Rebecca Williamson

Rebecca Williamson is a previous candidate for Seattle City Council. Williamson lists Socialist newspaper The Militant as her campaign website.

John Wilson

Wilson is the King County assessor. He was first elected to that position in 2015. A former journalist who also served as chief of staff under former King County Executive Ron Sims, Wilson said he is prioritizing crime and public safety in his campaign.

Girmay Zahilay

Zahilay, a business attorney who also worked in President Barack Obama’s administration, has served on the County Council since 2020, after defeating longtime Councilmember Larry Gossett. Zahilay ran to the left of Gossett, an influential Seattle civil rights leader. Zahilay, who was born in a refugee settlement in Sudan and grew up in Seattle, represents District 2, which includes much of the eastern portion of Seattle south of the University District as well as Skyway.

The primary this year is Aug. 5.

Also up for election this year are five of the nine King County Councilmember positions, including the seat vacated by newly elected Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove.

Those who have filed to run for County Council are:

District No. 1

• Rod Dembowski

District No. 3

• Sarah Perry
• Rob Wotton

District No. 5

• Ahmad Corner
• Steffanie Fain
• Angela Henderson
• Peter Kwon
• Ryan McIrvin
• Kim-Khanh Van

District No. 7

• Pahaliyah Brown
• Maya Vengadasalam
• Pete von Reichbauer

District No. 9

• Jude Anthony
• Reagan Dunn

Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a farmworker and union organizer whose March arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement drew national outcry, will remain in detention after a judge announced Friday that she lacked jurisdiction to release him on bond.

Juarez’s case falls in line with what immigration lawyers have argued is a unique pattern of denying bonds over jurisdiction at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a Seattle-based immigrant rights group, filed a class-action lawsuit in March to challenge those practices.

“It’s kind of a very complex legal argument, essentially, I don’t think that there’s merit to it,” Juarez’s attorney Larkin VanDerhoef said. “I think it’s very clear. And in fact, the Department of Homeland Security lawyer in the courtroom today also said they agreed there is jurisdiction here. And they’ve been saying that … since the beginning.”

Juarez helped found Familias Unidas por la Justicia, a Burlington-based union representing Indigenous and migrant farmworkers across the state. ICE arrested Juarez in Sedro-Woolley on his way to drop off his partner at work, and later took him to the NWIPC.

Inside the court on Thursday, an attorney for ICE contended Juarez would be a “flight risk.” 

VanDerhoef countered that Juarez has extensive support from community members and elected officials who could testify to his strong community involvement and political advocacy. He has no criminal charges on his record.

Activists called his arrest an act of retaliation for his labor organizing. Familias Unidas political director Edgar Franks said Juarez’s immigration hearing had been set for November until Thursday’s hearing  “sprung out of nowhere.”

Franks said he visited Juarez at the NWIPC a few weeks ago, an experience he described as “stressful” due to concerns he had about Juarez’s mental and physical well-being in ICE detention.

“Lelo still had a good spirit, we were joking around,” he said. “He’s a very caring person, doesn’t yell. … I don’t think I’ve ever even seen him swear.”

Juarez’s hearing also drew a crowd outside of the NWIPC’s gates of supporters and activists from Community to Community Development.

“Alfredo Juarez Zeferino is fearless,” C2C founder Rosalinda Guillen said. “He wouldn’t hide from anything, never have and he never will. So I think that’s the nature of this kind of repression … putting a characteristic to a person based on their color and the work that they do in this community is just blatantly wrong.”

VanDerhoef told Cascade PBS he plans to appeal the decision. 

Caps on yearly rent increases are officially law after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the contentious bill on Wednesday.

Ferguson, who had remained silent on his position throughout the legislative session, said Wednesday that the new law will be “especially consequential” for Washington residents.  

Under the final version, property owners cannot raise most tenants’ rent by more than 7% plus inflation, not to exceed 10%. For mobile homeowners, increases are capped at 5% every year.

“This is a really positive piece of legislation that will help a really challenging situation for us,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson signed the rent cap bill and nine other housing-related bills at an event at Blake House in Seattle. The other policies included limits to parking minimums, reductions to the permit timeline for new housing and expansions of tax breaks for people who own accessory dwelling units and rent to low-income households.

The rent cap policy passed the House of Representatives 54-44 and the Senate 27-20, with a handful of Democrats voting with Republicans against it. It took a dramatic path through the legislative session, eventually ending up in a version even some of its original backers were hesitant to support. At the start of this session, the policy included a 7% cap on yearly rent increases with no adjustment for inflation.

The bill’s final version includes a host of exemptions for certain types of housing, including dwellings owned by nonprofits, housing that receives federal low-income housing credits, and new construction built in the past 12 years.

Still, supporters say the policy is an important step to help many renters across the state avoid steep unexpected increases. Opponents of the policy say it will stifle new development, which could worsen the state’s housing shortage and increase rents overall.

On Wednesday, Ferguson said that he believes legislators landed on a “balanced approach” with the final version of the policy, adding that it will help keep Washingtonians from being priced out of their homes.

“We’ve got a crisis here in Washington state,” Ferguson said. “Doing things business-as-usual is not going to work.”

Cascade PBS and Daybreak Star Radio hosted a community event Sunday around the Origins: The Last Reefnetters docuseries at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Discovery Park.  

The event, attended by over 30 participants, included a screening of the first three episodes of Origins: The Last Reefnetters followed by a roundtable discussion to hear from community members. Some attendees shared that the documentary was their first foray into the history of reefnet fishing in Puget Sound, while others shared details of future events and powwows aimed at preserving Indigenous practices. Participants highlighted how history can be shaped based on the different voices, perspectives and backgrounds of the storytellers, and how nuances can be erased by popular narratives. 

When asked their “origins” story — what they would want to share about their families and culture — participants shared stories of joy, perseverance and humor. Some attendees vocalized a desire to see cross-pollination among communities, giving people the opportunity to connect with stories outside their immediate communities.
 

If you're interested in attending future community events, the Cascade PBS documentary Wolf Land will premiere at the SIFF Film Festival on May 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Shoreline Community College and May 18 at 1:30 p.m. at AMC Pacific Place. United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, which supports Daybreak Star Radio, will host their annual Seafair Powwow at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center July 18-20. Origins: The Last Reefnetters is available to stream on Cascade PBS.  

We also want to provide our readers with coverage that benefits you. Let us know what issues you want to hear more about and what topics or communities you feel are overlooked by taking our latest reader survey. 

Mayor Bruce Harrell signed an executive order on Tuesday, April 22, for Seattle to revise its 2013 Climate Action Plan and take new steps to reduce citywide carbon emissions. 

The updated climate plan will include strategies to reach a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, largely focused on transportation, energy use in buildings and waste. 

The executive order also mandates numerous near- and medium-term changes to cut down on Seattle’s transportation emissions.

Transportation accounts for 58% of Seattle’s total emissions. Harrell’s order outlines several strategies to decrease that number, including installing more electric vehicle charging stations, supporting more pedestrian-focused spaces, and developing three low-pollution neighborhoods by 2028.

“We’re proud that Seattle has been a national and global leader on sustainability and climate action for decades,” Harrell said at an Earth Day press conference announcing the order. “Updating our climate plan at this critical moment gives us a chance to take stock of the progress that we’ve made and to roll up our sleeves and do more.”

The order also aims for 80% of attendees at the 2026 FIFA World Cup to arrive without the use of personal vehicles. 

“We will do this by working with local partners to expand shared micromobility, improving transit options, and creating welcoming, walkable streets near Seattle Center, Pike Place Market, the Chinatown/International District and Pioneer Square,” said interim director of the Seattle Department of Transportation Adiam Emery. 

While, according to a 2022 report, total emissions have declined 12% since 2008, leaders said a more aggressive approach is needed to meet their 2050 goal.

“We don’t need another plan that sits on a shelf,” said Seattle City Council member Alexis Mercedes Rinck. “We need bold action that matches the scale of the crisis ahead of us.”

This latest move comes amid the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to climate programs nationwide, including an attempt to cancel $14 billion in climate grants approved by the Biden administration. 

“Despite the Trump administration’s disinvestments in and opposition to climate action, Seattle will not back away from the work that needs to be done to protect our environment and adapt our city to the changing climate,” Harrell said.

The executive order requires the Office of Sustainability and Environment to implement the new climate action plan by 2026.

Seattle author and artist Tessa Hulls has won a 2025 Pulitzer Prize for her first book, Feeding Ghosts. Earning the award for best memoir or autobiography, the book blends historical research, personal revelations and comics-style storytelling to paint an emotionally fierce family portrait.

The Pulitzer Prize committee announced this year’s winners May 5, calling Feeding Ghosts “an affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women — the author, her mother and grandmother, and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.”

In the book, Hulls explains how her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist and single mother, was forced by government persecution to flee to Hong Kong in 1949. She brought her daughter Rose (Hulls’ mother) along with her — both hidden in the false bottom of a fishing boat.

Once arrived, Sun Yi penned a bestselling memoir, Eight Years in Red Shanghai: Love, Starvation, Persecution, and used the income to send Rose off to boarding school. Soon after, Sun Yi had a mental breakdown and was never the same.

With drawings that swim between realistic and surreal, Hulls reveals that in her own childhood, she knew Sun Yi only as the “broken ghost” of a grandmother who lived with her and her mother. In Feeding Ghosts — which took Hulls nearly 10 years to complete — the author/illustrator fleshes out her own intergenerational stories of immigration, creative escape and mother/daughter relationships.

While this is Hulls’ first book, she has been an active member of the Seattle art community for decades, as an artist, writer, illustrator, performer and interviewer, including the time she literally camped out at the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) to capture and illustrate the stories of the various parties involved.

In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize, Feeding Ghosts has received many accolades since its publication, including both the Libby Award for Best Graphic Novel and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, as well as being named a “Best Book of the Year” by Time magazine, NPR, Publishers Weekly and others.

The article originally was published by The Spokesman-Review.

After decades of delays, the federal government will begin enforcing REAL ID requirements to fly domestically starting May 7 – for real this time.

“Our offices are busier than usual because of the deadline,” said Thomas Charlson, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Licensing. “We recommend that people get an appointment if they’re coming to visit us.”

Although Washington state is issuing “Enhanced Driver’s Licenses,” Charlson said it’s the same as the REAL ID. He said it confirms your identity and U.S. citizenship, and will be required to board domestic flights.

“You can use this to board domestic flights, you can use it to enter certain federal facilities, and then one of the perks of having an Enhanced Driver’s License is that you can also use it to cross the borders of Canada and Mexico by land or sea,” Charlson said.

To obtain an Enhanced Driver’s License, Charlson said the person must bring the following documents with them – proof of U.S. citizenship, proof of identity, proof of Washington residency and your Social Security number. Documents that show some of that information include a birth certificate, W2 form, vehicle registration and more. A full list of acceptable documents is available at fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/esp/NoLogon/_/.

The enhanced license total cost is $116 for five years if you are getting your first Enhanced Driver’s License. Or if you are upgrading your current Washington driver’s license to the enhanced version, you can pay $7 per year for the time remaining on your current license.

If travelers do not have a REAL ID or any other TSA-acceptable ID, they will face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being allowed into the security checkpoint, according to the Transportation Security Administration’s website.

If you don’t get an Enhanced Driver’s License, or aren’t eligible for one, other ID accepted options can be used for travel, Charlson said. These include a U.S. passport, a Permanent Resident card, a green card and an Employment Authorization Card.

He said the Washington State Department of Licensing also has an Enhanced Driver’s License checklist in both English and Spanish for travelers to know if they are eligible and what other documents they may need to obtain this enhanced identification.

“Make sure that you plan ahead,” Charlson said.

This article originally appeared in the Kitsap Sun.

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health has entered a “strategic affiliation” with Seattle Children’s Hospital, the company announced Tuesday, hoping to bring services from the renowned pediatric hospital directly to patients on the Kitsap Peninsula and other areas around Puget Sound. 

Virginia Mason Franciscan operates 10 Puget Sound hospitals, including two on the Kitsap Peninsula. 

Through the affiliation, access to perinatal, neonatal and related specialty services will expand across VMFH Birth Centers, the company says.

Right now, Virginia Mason Franciscan–owned hospitals — which deliver 10% of Washington's births — send 25 vulnerable newborns per day to Seattle Children’s Hospital. Many of these families travel to their North Seattle campus or to a clinic in Federal Way. Embedding Seattle Children’s physicians across the Virginia Mason Network is expected to reduce those barriers. 

“Our goal is to keep every mother and baby together in their home community whenever possible, and any kid with a specialty need that otherwise would have to drive up to Seattle home, by bringing Seattle Children's doctors down physically or using technology into VMFH sites of care,” said Mark Salierno, Children’s senior vice president and chief strategy and business development officer.

The specifics of how physicians will be deployed at VMFH sites and how many staff could be hired are still being worked out, Salierno said. A strategic oversight committee, with representatives from both organizations, will guide the affiliation.  

Tom Kruse, chief strategy officer for Virginia Mason Franciscan who served as chief strategy officer for old Harrison Hospital in Bremerton from 2007 to 2011, said the peninsula has been dealing with limited medical care for a long time, and the partnership will bring needed services to the community.

 “All of this is to help improve the overall health of the community by intervening sooner and bringing a truly world-class children’s hospital to all the members of the peninsula who’ve never had that caliber before,” he said. “It should be a game changer.” 

The Kitsap Sun published a longer version of this article on April 30, 2025. Conor Wilson is a Murrow News fellow, reporting for the Kitsap Sun and Gig Harbor Now, a nonprofit newsroom based in Gig Harbor, through a program managed by Washington State University.