Tag Archives: olympia

43rd Rep. Scott unveils ‘Well Washington Fund’ proposal that would spread Seattle’s JumpStart tax across state

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(Image: @scott43ld)

43rd District Rep. Shaun Scott has unveiled his proposal for a new “Washington Wealth Tax” modeled on Seattle’s JumpStart payroll tax that would raise more than $2 billion a year across the state.

Scott said this week his “Well Washington Fund” proposal is needed to counteract the latest budget cuts and federal tax package “passed by Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump.”

Under Scott’s proposal, Washington companies with more than 50 employees, payroll above $7 million, and gross receipts of more than $5 million would be taxed 5% on workers who earn more than $125,000 a year.

Seattle employers who already pay the city’s payroll tax would be exempt. Continue reading →

Tax the rich? 43rd District’s Rep. Scott at the center of debate over a Washington wealth tax

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Saturday’s town hall (Image: CHS)

By Kali Herbst Minino, UW News Lab

“Tax the rich” might seem like something you see scrawled in Cal Anderson graffiti or on a Pike/Pine hipster’s ironic t-shirt. Against a backdrop of now fully uncertain federal support, the slogan a part of core 2025-era political debate in Washington and its largest city. This past weekend, it was the center of the discussion on First Hill.

People gathered at 43rd District Rep. Shaun Scott’s town hall Saturday at Seattle First Baptist Church to hear panelists from Working Washington and Seattle Democratic Socialists of America talk about turning the “tax the rich” slogan into real world legislation.

Advocacy group Balance Our Tax Code took videos of personal testimonies about the benefits of progressive policies and someone handed out “Tax the Rich” buttons. Continue reading →

43rd Rep. Scott holding ‘Tax the Rich’ town hall on First Hill

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Rep. Shaun Scott is holding a town hall on First Hill this weekend as his office prepares for the legislative session ahead.

The 43rd District representative says the “Tax The Rich”-themed town hall will be “a great opportunity for community members to gather, get loud, and voice their support for progressive revenue before the January 2026 legislative session.”

The town hall comes amid calls for more belt-tightening after Gov. Bob Ferguson’s previous budget depended on spending cuts and new taxes to reach a balance. The storms of financial uncertainty and Trump administration threats have further clouded forecasts. Continue reading →

Amid Seattle’s 4th of July fireworks, officials ‘prepare for the harm done by the authoritarianism of the federal government’

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As thousands celebrated the 4th and fireworks over Lake Union, nobody dumped tea — or coffee — in Elliott Bay but dozens of political leaders signed on this Independence Day weekend to a declaration opposing the Trump administration’s tax and spending cut bill.

“Washington leaders are now calling for measures to meet this moment. State lawmakers must urgently act to prepare for the harm done by the authoritarianism of the federal government. Local government leaders must enact progressive revenue, like the Seattle Shield Initiative, which can reduce harm to essential programs in major metropolitan areas from budget cuts,” the letter reads.

“The undersigned elected officials represent all levels of government including state, local, and special district governments. We commit to working together in the immediate term to develop meaningful solutions to protect residents. The time is urgently prudent for local leaders across Washington state to live up to the progressive values which have long made us a target of the Trump regime and their corporate cronies.”

The letter, sent out from the office of Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, follows the passage of the Trump-championed bill described by the Associated Press as a “sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations.” Continue reading →

Washington now has a 10% cap on rent increases — Governor signs ‘stabilization’ bill co-sponsored by 43rd District Rep. Macri

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Macri

Seattle socialist firebrand city councilmember Kshama Sawant fought for years for rent control in the city before one final defeat as she left office in 2023. Wednesday, Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law a new statewide cap on rent hikes that limits landlords to annual increases of no more than 7% plus inflation, or 10% — whichever is less.

43rd District Rep. Nicole Macri co-sponsored the milestone rent stabilization legislation,

“The challenge of affordable housing has only increased, despite years of legislative work to expand supply and subsidies provided during and after the pandemic,” Macri said in a statement upon the signing. Continue reading →

When will Capitol Hill-grown magic mushrooms be legal in Seattle?

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A wavy cap found on Capitol Hill (Image: CHS)

A home-grown culture of psilocybe cubensis (golden teachers). (Image: Colby Bariel)

By Colby Bariel/UW News Lab

A Capitol Hill expert has taught hundreds of people, from grandmothers to neuroscientists how to cultivate magic mushrooms guiding many into the world of psychedelics.

With years of teaching experience, they cover the responsible use of entheogens, contemporary psychedelic theory, and their therapeutic applications.

“Psychedelics are meaning-making chemicals,” the expert tells CHS. “Magic mushrooms are therapeutic, not medicinal.”

Their work is facilitated by a 2021 Seattle City Council decree decriminalizing the noncommercial cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and several other entheogens. This decision has allowed Seattle residents to engage in home-mycology and explore the spiritual, religious, and therapeutic experiences offered by psychedelics.

But Seattle is not yet safe for psychonauts. And the shadows of the Trump administration have darkened the situation to the point where recent progress here is being slowed and rolled back.

While personal psilocybin cultivation is decriminalized, its use remains illegal. In February, a man on First Hill was busted for what police said was a “drug lab” with thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside a First Hill apartment unit.

Organizations like REACH (Responsible Entheogen Access & Community Healing Coalition) Washington are advocating for state-level entheogen decriminalization.

Oregon is already a step ahead. Continue reading →

Toxic politics? ‘Supportive housing’ project targeted by Capitol Hill mayoral candidate in line for state cleanup

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The Capitol Hill business owner turned candidate for mayor fighting a Belmont Ave supportive housing project from the Downtown Emergency Service Center has already cast herself as a Republican.

Now we’ll see if Rachael Savage is also an environmentalist.

Washington’s Department of Ecology may be wandering into a neighborhood hornet’s nest as it begins the public process on the Stewart House Cleanup Site under its affordable housing grant program.

The DESC and the department are entering into an agreement on a state funded cleanup of the site where decades of waste from oil furnaces has accumulated. Continue reading →

‘Home, health, and hope’: Longtime 43rd District leader and housing advocate Chopp dies — UPDATE

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Chopp at the 2014 debut of 12th Ave Arts

Democratic State Rep. Frank Chopp who helped lead the 43rd District including Capitol Hill for three decades from 1995 to 2025 has died.

Chopp was 71.

“The 43rd District Democrats are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our former Representative, Frank Chopp,” the 43rd District Democrats group said in a statement. “Frank served the 43rd and the people of our State with honor for 30 years, and played a critical role in the betterment of our community.”

Remembered for his help funding the development of affordable buildings across the region, Chopp was a focused housing champion.

“The best approach is to build equity, to own it,” Chopp told CHS as he mounted one of his reelection battles in 2014. “The key is to capture any public land that is available for affordable buildings.”

Lika many of his later races, the 2014 election was an easy win for Chopp as he easily defeated an inexperienced Socialist Alternative candidate. Two years prior, he handily dispatched the protege’s mentor Kshama Sawant. Sawant would turn her political focus to Seattle. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s state senator pisses off right wing social media — by explaining Washington law

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Pedersen (Image: senatedemocrats.wa.gov )

Capitol Hill’s state Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) is finding out that simply telling some people about the rule of law in 2025 is enough to set off controversy.

The veteran Washington lawmaker, lawyer, and Capitol Hill resident has gone viral across right-wing social media this week for his answer to Fox News explaining a 40-year-old state law.

“If it’s about their mental health care, we’ve drawn a line I think at age 13 in the statute and say that kids over 13 have the complete right to make their own decisions about their mental health care,” Pedersen said, according to a report featuring a full transcript of the interview. “Parents don’t have a right to have notice, they don’t have a right to have consent about that.”

“Kids over 13 have the complete right to make their own decisions about their mental health care. Parents don’t have a right to have notice, they don’t have a right to have consent about that,” is the clip Fox aired and that spread across social media. Continue reading →

Garfield PTSA issues ‘action alert’ for education bills in face of state’s looming budget deficit

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As state lawmakers begin their session in Olympia trying to batten down the spending hatches in the face of Washington’s coming multibillion dollar budget deficits, the Garfield High School PTSA is sharing a roster of actions to take to speak up for school funding in the coming weeks, months, and years of possible cutbacks.

The recommendations comes after a briefing at the group’s recent meeting with State Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D-43rd District).

“If you are interested in fairly and adequately funded public schools, and seeing that Seattle gets the resources needed for all our students (and helping fill the giant SPS budget deficit), then the current bills up for debate starting tomorrow are worth raising your voice,” the group says. Continue reading →