Washington Policy Blog

Washington Policy Center, a non-profit, independent research organization based in Seattle, launched an extension of its Young Professionals group with an official University of Washington Club, WPC Young Professionals @ UW, last night in the University District.

WPC’s Young Professionals group engages and educates future leaders about public policy issues facing our state and works to get young people involved in policy. The group launched in the spring of 2010 and boasts a membership upwards of 200 people in their 20s and 30s.

If Governor Inslee signs Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1129, prepare to possibly pay more to renew your tabs or transfer a vehicle’s title.

Currently, when you go to renew your tabs or transfer a title you can choose whether to renew through the Department of Licensing (DOL) or go to an authorized subagent (a private company that operates on behalf of the DOL in many communities).

The state House of Representatives on Tuesday passed its version of the 2014 supplemental operating budget, seeking to spend an additional $236 million over the $33.6 billion 2013-15 budget approved last year. The vote was 53-44, along party lines, with one Democrat and all Republicans voting against the bill.

It was a pleasure to speak to the Building Owners and Managers Association Seattle King Counties Suburban Cities meeting earlier this week about the proposed tax increases on the April ballot.

You can find the slides to the presentation, here.

In just a few weeks the country will be celebrating "Sunshine Week," a time committed to celebrating the people's right to know about what their government is doing. Recent developments in Olympia, however, may put a damper on those celebrations.

At the invitation of Rep. Pollet and Rep. Hawkins (Co-Chairs) I had the opportunity to make a presentation before the House Open Government Caucus today on ways the Legislature could accommodate remote testimony and improve its public notice process.

House Democrats in Olympia released a 2014 supplemental budget proposal Wednesday that would restore cost-of-living (COLA) increases for teachers and would spend additional money on school programs, while ending some tax exemptions, including imposing a state sales tax on bottled water.  The bottled water tax would narrow the state’s general sales tax exemption on food items.