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What Was the Olympia Newswire?
The Olympia Newswire was a non-profit news site that covered the regular session of the 2010 Washington state legislature. I founded it as an emergency response to the decline in number of paid reporters covering state government in Washington during a time of fiscal crisis and political upheaval. The Olympia Newswire is the only non-profit, public
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Analysis: Income Tax Initiative Will Transform 2010 Midterm Election, Hurt Republicans
Just as health care reform will dominate the 2010 national mid-term elections, the income tax will dominate Washington state’s election this year. All other issues will be sideshows. The culture wars no longer dominate American politics. Neither Christian conservatives nor multicultural liberals
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Who is Behind I-1098?: A Survey of Some of the Major Players Who Launched the Campaign
[NOTE: The income tax initiative has since been refiled and is numbered I-1098. The article title has been changed to reflect that, but the content of the article has been left the same since it was originally produced] Word went out on Tuesday, April 20 that “Bill Gates Sr. and Other Community Leaders”
Social Services Roundup: More Cuts in 2010, But Lobbyists Say It Could Have Been Worse
With reporting assistance from Rosette Royale Bitttersweet may be the best description of the legislative session, say advocates who spent the winter’s session at the state capitol defending health and human services programs from a $2.8 billion budget deficit. While cash assistance for poor
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Tax Relief Without Budget Cuts?: New Report Details How WA Taxpayers Could Save Hundreds of Millions
Washington state taxpayers are paying hundreds of millions more in taxes than they need to, according to a new study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and United for a Fair Economy. The report, “Leaving
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Op-Ed: States Need to Drop the Budget Ax
By Karen Kraut In the most shocking cut yet seen in the nationwide state budget cutting frenzy, 38,000 poor children in Arizona no longer have health insurance. Arizona policymakers eliminated the State Children’s Health Insurance Program–a first for any state–as a budget gap closing measure. Like
Op-Ed: What Right-Wing Backlash?
Are Washington Democrats facing a voter backlash this November? If all you consider is the conventional wisdom emerging from Olympia in recent weeks, the answer is “yes.” The argument goes like this: by repealing I-960, which required a 2/3 vote of both houses of the Legislature to approve
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College Students Campaign for Tax Reform: A Look at the Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget
Almost one month ago, 75 people burst into song in unison in the gallery that overlooks the floor of the Washington state Senate. And perhaps if they had been singing an anti-tax song, the news media would have covered it (as part of the 24 hour coverage now given to the small but loud minority of “tea
Op-Ed: Are State Democrats Pre-Empting a Backlash in 2010 by Self-Destructing Instead?
Does the Democratic Party in Washington state have a death-wish? Would it rather self-destruct now than stand up to a Republican challenge later? Otherwise, I can’t make sense of what is going on in Olympia right now. Handed a super-majority in the state’s House and Senate by voters in 2008,
Blame the Sales Tax: Legislature’s Democrats Cannot Agree on New Revenue
As the special session of the Washington State Legislature drags on into its second week with no end in sight, you can blame the sales tax. While there are many tax issues that have stopped negotiation’s progress, there’s nothing bigger than the state Senate’s $200 million proposal
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