Paul Queary, a veteran AP reporter and editor, is founder of The Washington Observer, an independent newsletter on politics, government and the influence thereof in Washington State.
With key Democratic leaders retiring, the race is on for a new state Senate majority leader. Meanwhile, at least five new members means a brand-new dynamic in the State Senate.
Ideas never die in Olympia, but since the Legislature works on a biennial cycle, the bills pushing up daisies this week will stay in the grave at least until 2025 unless they get the zombie budget treatment.
The Senate version currently would impose a 15% limit on rent increases, with an exemption for newly built housing. Local jurisdictions could impose tighter restrictions. If Sen. Cleveland doesn’t sign off on the bill, it would likely die for the year.
Even very limited versions of this idea – broadly known as “school choice” – have been DOA in Olympia for decades thanks to the combined influence of the teachers’ unions and local school districts. Conventional wisdom would have predicted the same fate had such an idea come before voters.
We could be looking at a new era of ballot initiative politics, in which conservatives routinely force statewide votes to rein in the more progressive inclinations of Democratic lawmakers and governors.
On Monday, Strategies 360, which is one of the largest public affairs and communications firms in the West, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The only Seattle City Council incumbent who looks to survive is Dan Strauss, who represents the Ballard-centered 6th District. Strauss’s opponent, Pete Hanning, did poorly in the August primary and didn’t draw the kind of independent support that other challengers did.