Seattle City Light has published its proposed strategic plan for the next five years. Among the key initiatives: Strengthen and fix customer services and support; New program to help customers meet their environmental and sustainability goals; Compete for state and federal grants, including funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs …
Continue readingMonth: June 2022
Mayor Harrell’s first veto
This afternoon, Mayor Harrell delivered his first veto of a City Council bill, Council Bill 120325, which would require all Seattle landlords to provide information on their rentals to a research university on a recurring basis. The “research university” would almost certainly be UW, which already houses the state-funded Washington …
Continue reading2021 Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities
In April the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released early statistics on motor vehicle traffic fatalities in 2021. Nationally, 42,915 people died last year, up 10.5% from the previous year. Here in Washington, there were an estimated 652 fatalities, up 16.4% from 2020. I hope you found this article valuable. …
Continue readingWashington Supreme Court ruling: State vs. Sum
This morning the Washington State Supreme Court handed down a ruling that rewrites the rules for “Terry stops,” when a police officer interrogates a person without a warrant. At issue is the point at which an individual being interrogated by an officer becomes “seized,” i.e. they believe that they are …
Continue readingJune 2022 Washington economic forecast
Today the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released its June 2022 forecast update. Here is the top-line summary: I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. Thanks!
Continue readingState rainy day funds
According to research by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington is the only state with a negative “rainy day fund.” This is in contrast to the nationwide trend leading to record amounts accumulated in states’ rainy day funds. The state does have other reserves it can draw on in times of …
Continue readingA Tale of Three Homelessness Dashboards
The surest sign that someone new is in charge of the response to the homelessness crisis is that they publish a new “dashboard.” Both Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and the King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) have recently published new dashboards, each presenting their own unique spin on the crisis. …
Continue readingKing County Regional Homeless Authority Proposed 2023 Budget
Last week the Governing Committee of the King County Regional Homeless Authority approved a proposed 2023 budget for the organization of $227,403,776, an increase of more than $66 million over the 2022 budget. Here is the presentation to the Governing Committee on the proposed budget. It contains a significant amount …
Continue readingKing County plan for City Hall Park
As reported by the Seattle Times this morning, the King County Executive prepared a report in January on what it would do to address safety and security concerns in City Hall Park and to establish a hygiene center nearby, should the transfer of the property from the City of Seattle …
Continue readingCDC mask mandate appeal
In April, a U.S. District Court judge in Florida struck down the Center for Disease Control’s mask mandate. Earlier this week, the U.S. government filed a brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to try to overturn the lower court’s ruling. I hope you found this article valuable. If …
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