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
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
Letter from the President
By Renee Radcliff Sinclair
On March 13, 2020, I sent our team home to let the dust settle on the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Legislative Session had ended the day before and I thought by mid-summer we would be back into our typical interim groove.… Continue reading TVW Update April 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
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 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
March 11, 2021
Senators June Robinson and Ann Rivers describe foundational public health as government services that are vitally important, but happen “behind the scenes” — and thus in the past have had a hard time winning legislative attention and funding.
For years local health departments have provided services… Continue reading Inside Olympia – Foundational Public Health and Capitol Journalists
March 4, 2021
Washington’s new Secretary of Health, Dr. Umair Shah, comes to our state after being executive director of the public health department in Harris County, Texas — the third-largest county in the nation, with a population two-thirds that of the state of Washington.
He takes the reins… Continue reading Inside Olympia – Health Secretary & First-Term Lawmakers
