The week’s major votes included House passage of the NOTAM Improvement Act and the Chance to Compete Act, along with Senate confirmation of Brendan Owens to be the Defense Department’s Assistant Secretary for Energy, Installations and Environment.
Monthly Archives: January 2023
Posted inMeta
How sound data enabled NPI to anticipate a big Democratic victory in the 2022 midterms
This retrospective looks at NPI’s 2021–2022 research and explains why, in January of 2022, we assessed that the 2022 midterms could be more like 2018 than 2010 or 2014.
Posted inParty Politics
Shasti Conrad unanimously elected the new Chair of the Washington State Democrats
Shasti Conrad, the former Chair of the King County Democrats, was chosen unanimously by the Washington State Democratic Committee (of which I am a member) to be the successor to Tina Podlodowski at its biennial reorganization meeting in Olympia, after running unopposed for the position.
Posted inPolicy Topics
U.S., Canadian officials act to rescue rainforests in Alaska and British Columbia
The U.S. Department of Agriculture officially reinstated the Clinton-era National Roadless Rule in Southeast Alaska’s vast seventeen million-acre Tongass National Forest. On the other side of the border, British Columbia’s Premier David Eby announced protection of 75,000 hectares of the Incomappleux Valley.
Posted inLitigation
Impressions from today’s oral arguments in right wing’s capital gains tax legal challenge
Here’s what it was like to be in the courtroom for oral arguments in Quinn et al v. State of Washington et al, the right wing legal challenge to the constitutionality of our recently enacted capital gains tax on the wealthy.
Posted inPublic Service
Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles to retire from King County Council, public service
Two-term County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles has decided not to seek reelection and will retire from public service at the end of 2023, she announced in a letter to constituents and in a press release sent to the media.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Biden administration reportedly now willing to send U.S. made Abrams tanks to Ukraine
The U.S. has already agreed to provide Strykers and Bradleys to Ukraine. The Abrams is the final frontier with respect to what the U.S. can offer in terms of armored vehicles.
Posted inPolicy Topics
NPI urges Senate to advance constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom
Read NPI’s founder’s remarks in support of Senate Joint Resolution 8202, a proposed constitutional amendment which declares that “the state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom decisions.”
Posted inElections
National, state Republicans file against voters in signature verification legal challenge
State and national Republicans are filing briefs in a lawsuit that seeks to end the error-filled signature verification process on Washington’s mail-in ballots. The suit they are intervening in alleges that thousands of valid votes get rejected and that rejections hit a disproportionate number of younger, Black, Latino/Latina and disabled voters.
Posted inElections
Kshama Sawant joins Seattle City Council exodus; won’t seek reelection this year
In a guest editorial for The Stranger, Sawant said she will be focusing on launching a national political entity, “Workers Strike Back.”
Posted inPolicy Topics
NPI urges Legislature to enact a ban on military style assault weapons with HB 1240
Read NPI founder Andrew Villeneuve’s written testimony in support of House Bill 1240, which would prohibit the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of any assault weapon, subject to various exceptions for licensed firearm manufacturers and dealers, and for individuals who inherit an assault weapon.
Posted inElections
Joy Hollingsworth launches campaign for Seattle City Council in 3rd District
Speaking to a large crowd of energetic supporters at the MLK FAME Community Center, Hollingsworth explained that she’s a practical, pragmatic progressive who believes in the power of public policy to improve lives.
Posted inPolicy Topics
Martin Luther King, Jr.: We will reach the goal of freedom because that is America’s goal
Take a few moments to read this excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail.
Posted inLegislative Advocacy
Last Week In Congress: How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted (January 9th-13th)
The week’s major votes included House passage of a Republican bill to roll back part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the adoption of several antiabortion resolutions pushed by Republicans.