Monday, April 12
Monday, April 12th, marked the 92nd out of 105 days of the legislative session. As the countdown continues, we started this week’s coverage with a review of both the House and Senate weekend floor debates.
Both chambers held full days of debate, working to beat a 5pm… Continue reading Legislative Highlights – April 12-16, 2021
April 15, 2021
This week host Austin Jenkins sits down with two guests who are directly involved in state prisons: Steve Sinclair, who is retiring as secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections after four years at the helm, and Joanna Carns, the director of the recently created state Office… Continue reading Inside Olympia – State Prisons
Monday April 5
On Monday, April 5th, the Senate Ways and Means Committee convened for a public hearing on Senate Bill 5476–an act, that if passed, could potentially change how the state penalizes drug possession.
Under current state law, any individual who unknowingly carries a controlled substance but is found… Continue reading Legislative Highlights April 5-8, 2021
April 8, 2021
Host Austin Jenkins sits down for an in-depth interview with two first-term Republican representatives, Peter Abbarno of Centralia and Mark Klicker of Walla Walla.
Abbarno grew up in Buffalo, New York, and got involved in what he calls the “bare-knuckle” politics of the state. He attended law… Continue reading Inside Olympia – First-Term Legislators
Monday, March 29
On March 28th, Sunday afternoon, state representatives debated the passage of senate bill 5038, which aims to ban the open carry of weapons that can cause injury or death at public demonstrations and state capitol grounds.The bill exempts law enforcement working at the scene, and anyone who… Continue reading Legislative Highlights March 29-Arpil 2, 2021
April 1, 2021
Majority Democrats in the State Legislature say this is not time for an austerity budget. They’re proposing significant increases in spending to address the ongoing COVID crisis and shore up state services. They’re also embracing a new state capital gains tax.
Minority Republicans, for their part,… Continue reading Inside Olympia – Operating and Capital Budgets
Legislative Highlights March 22-26, 2021
Monday, March 22
The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee convened for a public hearing on House Bill 1213–also known as the ‘Fair Start for Kids Act’ –which expands access to affordable childcare and early childhood development programs. The bill proposes to decrease… Continue reading Legislative Highlights March 22-26, 2021
March 25, 2021
Criminal justice legislation has been a major focus for majority Democrats during the 2021 session. Host Austin Jenkin sits down with Democratic State Sen. Jeannie Darneille and Republican Sen. Chris Gildon discuss areas where the parties have found bipartisan agreement, and where philosophical differences have led to… Continue reading Inside Olympia — Criminal Justice Reform
March 19, 2021
On Monday, March 15th, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 5096, also known as the ‘capital gains tax bill’. The bill aims to impose a 7% tax on sales and extraordinary profits (also known as capital gains) of high-valued assets, such as… Continue reading Legislative Week In Review – March 19, 2021
March 18, 2021
Once a basketball star, UW Associate Professor Kate Starbird now focuses her attention on social media. Her early research looked at how social media can help people come together to solve societal challenges. But more recently, she and her UW colleagues have been delving into the details… Continue reading Inside Olympia – Disinformation and Social Media & K-12 challenges during COVID-19
