In the session's final days, the Democratic majority settled on a deal for new rent caps, approved a gun permit requirement, and signed off on unemployment benefits for striking workers. The state budget passed with a slate of new tax hikes -- and without a single Republican vote in support.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/rent-limits-tax-hikes-head-to-governor-as-washington-lawmakers-end-session
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The House on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 5263, which boosts special education funding multipliers for students in pre-K through 12th grade and eliminates the state's 16% cap on special education funding.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/long-overdue-wa-lawmakers-may-remove-cap-on-special-education-funding
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Can Washington state hold off harvesting older forests in the face of a projected $12 billion budget deficit without impacting local governments and school districts that get money from those timber sales?
https://www.kuow.org/stories/new-washington-public-lands-chief-defends-pause-on-logging-almost-old-growth-forests
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The legislative session kicks off next week, and school districts statewide are pushing for a boost in funding. Five districts on Seattle's Eastside joined forces this week to bring their issues to lawmakers.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/we-are-at-a-crisis-seattle-eastside-schools-call-for-increased-state-funding
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The election dust has settled in Washington state and for the first time in over a decade residents have overwhelmingly voted in favor of taxing the wealthy.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/off-the-charts-washingtonians-across-the-state-agree-tax-the-wealthy
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Washington state officials report $433 million in payments in April, down from $786 million in 2023. Lawmakers may need to address the decline.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/capital-gains-tax-receipts-in-washington-tumble
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