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OLYMPIA – A controversial statewide cap on carbon emissions scraped through the Legislature in a 25-24 vote late April 8 after lawmakers passed a Climate Commitment Act that majority Democrats say will boost the state’s economy and address a looming climate problem. “It’s good for our grandchildren’s children,” Sen. Reuven Carlyle, the bill’s sponsor, told the Senate during a six-hour debate on the bill. The program is estimated to cost $27.3 million and will likely bring in $228.5 million for the state to partly fund t...
OLYMPIA – Rep. Kirsten Harris-Talley, D-Seattle, often sees her grandmother’s features when she looks in the mirror. She thinks of how her grandmother, a woman of color, experienced systemic racism and fought for a better life despite societal barriers in rural Missouri only a few generations before Harris-Talley. Harris-Talley told the House of Representatives Feb. 25 she supported Juneteenth as a state holiday because of the existence of structural racism in the country today. She said what may seem like a simple acknowledg...
OLYMPIA – As a single mother who survived on food stamps, an added $20 monthly cost for her four children’s lunch was more than Rep. Melanie Morgan, D-Tacoma, could afford at that time. Eliminating copays on her children’s lunch would have made a dramatic difference for her and her children, she said. “There was a reason I was on food stamps,” Morgan told the House of Representatives Feb. 12. “This may not seem like a lot to many people, but for me … $20 was a lot of money.” House Bill 1342, which would force schools that hav...