The view from Olympia: Meet our new state politics reporter

It’s where funding for public schools and universities, highways and public transit, prisons and local law enforcement is determined. Laws governing housing density, environmental protections, firearm access, gambling and mental health care all begin there.  

It deserves your attention, and as the new state politics reporter at Cascade PBS, I want to help you make sense of it all. 

Jumping into the world of statewide politicking can be overwhelming, to say the least. Luckily, this isn’t my first gig covering Washington’s Legislature, its nine statewide elected officials, its cabinet agencies and judicial system. 

I moved to Olympia from my home state of Indiana in the spring of 2020 (a totally normal time to move across the country). I joined the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review as a statehouse reporter funded in part by a national program called Report for America. 

I spent the first year of my career covering some unprecedented events in our state’s history. I the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I watched protesters chant “Black Lives Matter” on the Capitol steps. I spent months talking to candidates ahead of the 2020 election and reported on the fallout afterward, including when more than 100 people broke onto the lawn of the governor’s mansion on Jan. 6, 2021. I covered my first legislative session remotely and saw how our state representatives and senators got used to lawmaking over Zoom. 

Nearly three years later, I joined States Newsroom, a national nonprofit organization focused on covering state government and politics across the country. I helped launch a new outlet in Olympia: the Washington State Standard. I spent a year and a half there writing about housing, homelessness, child care, wildlife protections, agricultural issues and more. 

I am excited to continue this work at Cascade PBS. It’s not an easy time to be a journalist, and it’s certainly not an easy time to be following politics. But I am committed to ensuring our readers understand the decisions made by their elected officials and holding those officials accountable as they make them. 

My first task is to catch you up a bit.  

Lawmakers are about halfway through a 105-day legislative session in which their top priority is writing a budget to fund government services. 

That won’t be easy, given an estimated $15 billion budget hole they are facing over the next four years. Cuts are almost certain, and new taxes are on the table. Lawmakers also face headaches from a new federal administration that is threatening significant cuts to funding that many states rely on for things like health care and public schools. 

But money isn’t the only thing on Washington legislators’ minds. 

There’s a proposal to cap yearly rent increases that could have lasting effects on both renters and property owners. There’s a bill to overhaul the state’s recycling system. There’s an idea to require permits to purchase firearms.  

Lawmakers are discussing changes to an initiative last year that gave parents a “bill of rights” for accessing their children’s information at public schools. There are conversations about how to ensure farmers receive exemptions from costs added to their fuel under the state’s climate policies. Increasing funding for local law enforcement is a top priority for many, and allowing striking workers to receive unemployment insurance may become a reality. 

And there’s talk of finally making “The Evergreen State” the official state nickname. 

My goal for the next 40-plus days is to help you understand what all of that might mean for your everyday life. On the other side of every public policy is someone whose life will be affected, and I’m determined to help readers – and those in power – remember that. It’s the reason why I got into this business in the first place.  

If you have a story idea or a tip, if you have a question on a proposed bill, or if you feel I’ve missed something, you can find me at laurel.demkovich@cascadepbs.org.