If the Senate signs off on the proposed modification to the labor agreement, President Biden could sign the new terms into law and obligate railroads to provide sick leave to their workers, which they should have simply agreed to do in the first place in negotiations, obviating the need for congressional intervention.
Monthly Archives: November 2022
Posted inLitigation
Washington State Supreme Court rules capital gains tax on wealthy can be collected for now
The ruling, requested by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, frees the Department of Revenue (DOR) to proceed with collecting the new capital gains tax, which is a crucial new funding source for education, preschool, and early learning.
Posted inCivil Liberties
Respect for Marriage Act wins final passage in the U.S. Senate; returns to U.S. House
“Nobody should face the gut-wrenching pit in their stomach with the possibility that some politically motivated Supreme Court justices might suddenly tell them that their marriage is no longer recognized,” said Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
Posted inElections
Counties certify 2022 midterm election in Washington State; turnout about average
How does turnout compare to past midterm elections in Washington State? Read this NPI analysis if you’d like to get acquainted with the historical data.
Posted inElections
Lawsuit contends Washington’s signature-based ballot verification is unconstitutional
A lawsuit filed last week in King County Superior Court is challenging the “signature matching” process used by election officials across the Evergreen State that results in tens of thousands of Washington voters having their ballots rejected and being disenfranchised every election cycle.
Posted inHolidays
Happy Thanksgiving 2022!
Here’s what our team at the Northwest Progressive Institute is grateful for this year.
Posted inElections
Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Mary Peltola win reelection, in double defeat for Donald Trump
Trump had endorsed and campaigned in Alaska for Murkowski’s Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka, and for Sarah Palin’s special and general election bids for the state’s at-large House seat. Palin lost to U.S. Representative Mary Peltola for the second time in several weeks.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Net pen aquaculture in Washington’s waters must end, Commissioner Hilary Franz orders
“We, as a state, are going to do better by our salmon, by our fishermen, and by our tribes,” said Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands. “Commercial finfish farming is detrimental to salmon, orcas and marine habitat.”
Posted inElections
The day before Election Day, Tim Eyman said he was praying for a red wave. It never came.
Eyman had fantasized in mid-2022 about voters electing a Republican-controlled Legislature that would take on Governor Jay Inslee and potentially adopt a slew of right wing initiatives introduced by his friend Brian Heywood. But not only did Republicans fail to capture control of the Legislature, they lost seats to the Democrats.
Posted inPublic Service
Joe Fitzgibbon elected Majority Leader of the Washington State House of Representatives
“I want to thank my colleagues for their continued trust and confidence in me,” said Fitzgibbon. “More than ever, our caucus is reflective of the many diverse communities that make up this great state, and that ultimately makes the work we do better.”
Posted inElections
The people have spoken, and they want even-year elections for local government positions
The passage of King County Charter Amendment 1 is part of a nationwide success story in these midterms. There’s a growing movement in this country favoring even-year elections that had a clean sweep in 2022, with a total of thirteen even-year election measures identified by Ballotpedia all winning approval.
Posted inPolicy Topics
LGBTQ+ community in Colorado Springs attacked; five killed by gunman at nightclub
The horrific attack, which authorities are investigating, reminded many of the slaughter at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in 2016, which remains the deadliest incident in the history of violence against LGBTQ+ people in the United States and one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
Posted inSeries & Special Reports
Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (November 14th-18th)
The week’s major votes included House passage of the Speak Out Act and the Lymphedema Treatment Act as well as the Senate’s invocation of cloture on the Respect for Marriage Act.
Posted inElections
The November midterm results are (mostly) in. How do they compare to our 2022 polling?
In this retrospective, NPI’s founder and executive director assesses what our 2022 electoral poll findings were able to tell us about state and county-level races on the midterms ballot.