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.
Should voters give Initiative 2117 the green light in November, the financial falloff for state coffers would also put public transit investment back about five years.
BP America cut the biggest check of August, sending another $1 million to Green Jobs PAC, which is opposing Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act, which established a cap-and-trade system for major emitters of carbon pollution.
This change, formally called a “public investment impact disclosure” was mandated by the Legislature in 2022 to make it more difficult to use the initiative process to repeal laws approved by lawmakers.
Protect Progress, a political action committee backed by cryptocurrency billionaires—some of whom also back Donald Trump—plowed $1.4 million into an independent campaign in support of Democrat Emily Randall.
The 6th is traditionally a safe Democratic Congressional district, so the victor of Franz vs. Randall in the August primary will likely cruise past Republican state Sen. Drew MacEwen in November. Labor votes and labor money could be the deciding factor.