Being a parent is nonstop hard work, which makes following all the news happening in city, state, and U.S. decision-making circles challenging. Here are highlights of Washington political news from last week (March 23-30) and a hint at what’s up this week.
So close, and yet, so far …
It’s been a looooong legislative session in Olympia, Washington — keeping us busy with political news. It’s been made more chaotic and uncertain by an unending onslaught of federal funding threats to programs proven to improve outcomes for kids and keep families healthy. But the rubber is about to meet the road in the final weeks of the 2025 legislature’s 90-day run. House and Senate Democrats each released their budget plans last Monday, held public hearings on Tuesday, and voted the budget bills out of their respective fiscal committees. So far, the two caucuses appear to agree on at least one thing: it’ll take hefty taxes on wealthy individuals and companies to solve the state’s budget shortfall.
Beyond that, the two houses have charted diverging paths in their plans for state spending for the 2025-27 biennium. Learn the similarities and significant differences between proposals, including plans for state-funded early learning and child care programs, furloughing state workers, special education funding, and other public school needs. Check out Washington State Standard’s article on the proposals and a side-by-side comparison of the competing budgets from the League of Education Voters.
The Senate debated and passed it’s budget bill on Saturday. This week, the House budget bill will go to the floor for debate and passage. Several procedural moves later, representatives from the two sides will form a committee and start to negotiate.
“If this sounds confusing and a bit like legislative ping-pong, you are right – it pretty much is just that,” said Arik Korman, executive diretor of the League of Education Voters.
There’s no better time than budget talks to reach out to your lawmakers to tell them how you want your tax dollars spent.
A gift for the future
It’ll be sad to see Dow Constantine step out of politics. Yes, there have been challenges (the region’s continued struggle with homelessness, for one), but local families have a lot to thank the outgoing King County executive for, including:
- development of 3,800 units of affordable housing units
- expansion of mental health and addiction services, including help for kids, through the Crisis Care Centers initiative
- conservation of lands for future generations to enjoy and to address climate change
- initiating the carbon-reducing Re+ zero-waste initiative and transitioning to electric vehicle and bus fleets
- pushing light rail construction and train safety — Sound Transit tracks will soon reach 62 miles with 51 stations.
Of all these, the last is the most important to future generations. Constantine was instrumental in the passage of Sound Transit 3 to expand the region’s light rail system. Getting cars off the road by offering real alternatives is a win for all in the protracted war against climate change. So it seems fitting that Constantine will move on as CEO of Sound Transit, a big announcement in Washington political news last week. If anyone can speed construction and make light rail a primary travel option for all families, it’s him. So here’s my message to Dow: make it happen faster, make it so safe that school-age kids can have confidence riding alone, and make it free. Free is what will get people off the roads and into train seats.
Keep fighting against gun violence — in both Washingtons
The bill to restrict firearms in even more sensitive places is looking good so far. Last week, it passed out of committee in the House and Senate. Senate Bill 5098 now awaits consideration by the House Appropriations Committee. That, says Michael McIntyre, “is a huge accomplishment, and it’s all due to the immense amount of advocacy we have seen across the state.” McIntyre is the director of Government Affairs for the statewide advocacy group Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
Also in Washington political news as it relates to gun reform; the Alliance is asking parents to put their voting weight behind House Bill 1163 by urging lawmakers to turn it, and 509 into law. Among other things, HB 1163 would require a permit to purchase firearms, specifying requirements and standards for firearms safety training programs. Last week, the bill became the first one of the 2025 legislative session to receive Washington Attorney General Nick Brown’s pro-passage testimony:
“I’m proud to be here testifying for the first time as Attorney General, and actually for the first time ever, in support of House Bill 1163,” Brown said. “I chose this bill to make the first time that I testified because I believe that this bill is a measure that will save lives. Let me say that again. When the legislature passes this bill, it will save lives in Washington state.”
We need all the protections we can get in our state because in the “other” Washington, Donald Trump is dismantling decades of work in the fight against preventable gun violence. By ordering the shutdown of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and removing life-saving data from federal websites, Trump continues to cater to gun lobbyists.
Slowing early childhood program growth
“The reality of our state’s current fiscal situation and the uncertainty of an ongoing partnership with the federal administration means that there are very few bills still making it through the legislative process in Olympia,” said Korman. But lawmakers remain focused on early learning as budget negotiations begin.
“Legislators know the importance of early learning programs and the positive impact they make for families, but they are having to balance that with the significant price tag that it plays in our operating budget,” he said.
Leaders are having to make difficult decisions in their attempt to slow down the growth of these popular early learning programs, including the state-funded early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Working Connection Child Care (WCC). Both House and Senate-proposed budgets delay expanding the eligibility for both programs. At the same time, lawmakers are still considering two bills that would pause the Transition to Kindergarten program and another that would place a financial cap on the program by limiting it to the number of enrolled students for the 2024-25 school year. Doing so would save the state $70 million, and at the same time require state education and child welfare departments to develop recommendations for a phased-in expansion of Transition to Kindergarten limited to 5 percent growth each year. These bills must make it out of the House Appropriations Committee by April 8.
Stand up for the Smithsonian
It’s become a sort of game for news junkie reporters like me. Which long-standing American institution will President Donald Trump attack, threaten to defund, disparage, try to close, or otherwise harass today? In the last week:
- The president spent a lot of time attacking the legal foundations of the country, intensifying barbs against judges who ruled against his policies. In some cases, he called for their impeachment. At the same time, he placed sanctions on law firms leading litigation against the Trump administration.
- The administration strong-armed universities into restricting demonstrations and reviewing curricula, both authoritarian infringements on academic freedom.
- Along with eliminating the Department of Education, he vowed to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects families from wrongful actions by banks and other financial institutions.
But the one that really got me riled up was an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” It targeted America’s repository of history — the Smithsonian Institution — for improper ideology or what Trump describes explicitly as “divisive, race-centered ideology.”
The order vows to block funding for “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and policy,” as Trump defines those things.
Since when does the president get to decide what Americans’ shared values are? One more nail in the coffin of cultural diversity, artistic freedom, diverse representation, and, let’s say it, historical accuracy and truth-telling.
Why is it important that the Smithsonian represent all of the American experience? Here’s why.
- Racism and divisiveness around race has been and remains a reality of American history
- Educators and students across the country rely on the Smithsonian for educational materials. The state Office of Public Instruction (OSPI) actively incorporates Smithsonian materials into their curricula, particularly through initiatives like the Washington State Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program
- Factual America is made up of as many heritages as there are cultures in the world, and while they all may not share the same values, they share the same country and deserve to be represented at the Smithsonian
And because in a democracy a president should not have the power to dictate which parts of its history and cultural melting pot are allowed to be part of the country’s story.
It’s time we heed the prescient writers of the past who understood these truths:
- “Whoever controls the narrative controls the people.” –Abhijit Naskar, neuroscientist and author
- “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell, in “1984”
- “Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.” – Aldous Huxley, in “Brave New World”
We’ll be back next week with more Washington political news.
