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 Gov. Jay Inslee helps break ground at an affordable housing development in Renton, funded in part by the state Department of Commerce?s Housing Trust Fund.
The state Department of Commerce announced the largest-ever set of annual housing investments on Thursday. In 2023, the Legislature ?went big? on housing, budgeting over $1 billion to build affordable housing and promote new homeownership over the 2023-25 biennium. Now, those funds are being put to use.
The department awarded a total of $313 million to 73 affordable housing projects. Those investments will yield 3,913 new housing units for low-income Washingtonians, including 470 for first-time homeowners, 155 accessible units for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and 354 supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness or behavioral health conditions.
?Rising rents have put pressure on working people. So the pressure is on us as lawmakers to take action, and we did last year in a big way,? said Gov. Jay Inslee. ?Now that money is going to work and starting to build new homes. And we?re still working on what more we can do this session to help.?
Of the 73 supported projects, five were supported by funding from a new public-private partnership with the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. Amazon and the state partnered to invest $28.8 million specifically to build 1,133 affordable housing units near public transit hubs.
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A state trail camera captures a gray wolf roaming in Washington state. (Image courtesy of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife)
By state estimates, there are only about 216 state-endangered gray wolves left in Washington. Wolves hunt to survive, and they occasionally hunt and kill livestock. In cases where ranchers report wolves chronically harming livestock despite preventions, state officials have lethally removed 53 wolves since 2012.
Fortunately, the need for removal has fallen year after year thanks to protocol introduced by the state Wolf Advisory Group. Wolf-livestock conflicts have fallen, lethal removals have fallen, livestock losses have fallen, and wolf populations have improved.
But the determination to destroy a wolf is still a matter of protocol rather than a matter of rule, so last Friday Gov. Jay Inslee directed the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to begin a rulemaking process to?create a more formal and consistent review process before a decision is made to destroy a wolf, and to maintain continuity of that process.
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Two massive electric cranes helped the Port of Everett weather the pandemic and attract new business.
The Port of Everett installed two massive electric cranes in 2019, and that investment proved smart right away. When the global supply chain jammed up in 2021, only those cranes could handle the larger, non-standard containers that got popular when standard containers were suddenly scarce. Business boomed, helping the port overcome a slowdown in aerospace and naval cargo. Those electric cranes saved the day.
The port bought them in 2018 knowing that modern, clean infrastructure would yield a competitive advantage. Now, there?s a new state funding source to help other Washington industries gain a similar edge. The Climate Commitment Act is funding projects that help reduce air pollution and create new jobs.
Back at the Port of Everett, $5 million in CCA funds will help them begin to electrify a pier to accommodate modern electric tugs and barges. The port will be ready for the vessels of the future, further improving their competitive position.
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In a media availability Thursday, Inslee called for action in response to a state report forecasting another year of record traffic death. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission counted over 800 traffic fatalities in 2023, the most since 1990. Lawmakers are considering proposals to allow municipalities to deploy speed cameras and reduce the allowable blood-alcohol concentration from .08 to .05 grams per mL of blood. About a third of fatal crashes in Washington involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
Several measures to prevent gun violence are also being considered. A bill to prohibit deadly weapons in public buildings and other sensitive areas was heard this week, as was another bill sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry to require basic safety training and a simple permit to buy a gun. First Spouse Trudi Inslee testified in support of the latter bill Tuesday morning.
Other progressive bills would lower the cost of insulin, increase the state?s recycling rate, simplify qualification for state college and career training assistance, and bolster supportive resources for victims of sexual assault. Each has already been heard, and the latter two have been referred to Ways & Means. Another bill requested by the governor would require fentanyl education in schools, and perhaps spare children of the extreme danger of illicit opioids killing more and more Washingtonians each year.
Tune in for hearings and floor action at?TVW.org. Bill information, committee schedules and legislator contact information is available at?leg.wa.gov.
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Biden measures helping build out charging grid for EVs
EV sales have quadrupled since 2016, and those drivers need an accessible charging network to plug into. The Biden Administration has committed unprecedented resources towards building up a national charging network. The number of publicly-accessible charging ports has increased by 70%, and the administration is on track to realize its goal of deploying half a million chargers by 2026. New tax credits through the inflation reduction act slash the purchase price of many EVs, a new $325 million investment by the federal departments of Energy and Transportation will improve the reliability of publicly-available chargers. These federal measures complement state efforts to install public chargers at regular intervals along state highways and interstates.
State reaps near-record apple harvest
Washington state?s 2023 apple harvest was its second-largest ever. Farmers plucked enough apples to fill nearly 140 million 40-pound boxes of apples, a 34% increase from the prior year. Weather was fairer last year than in 2022. Sales were split fairly evenly among leading apples, including the Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, and new Cosmic Crisp varieties.
Supreme Court will not rule on state capital gains tax
Washington state passed a capital gains tax in 2021, a measure affirmed as constitutional by the state Supreme Court last year. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a legal challenge to the measure. In the program?s first year, nearly $900 million was collected from a thin, ultra-rich sliver of the populace: just 3,765 returns were subject to the tax on extraordinary profits in excess of $250,000 from stock and bond sales. Those hundreds of millions of dollars will fund school construction, childcare programs, and K-12 education statewide.
Blood banks call urgently for donations
Blood banks are warning of dwindling supplies and are urging Washingtonians to donate. Donating takes about an hour and can be scheduled at convenient hours. To locate a nearby donation center, enter your ZIP code into the Red Cross website.
FEMA overhauls disaster assistance program
Climate change-fueled emergency events are becoming more and more frequent, and more and more destructive. This week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency expanded access to immediate relief funds for communities affected by extreme weather and natural disasters. Gov. Jay Inslee applauded the measure, and called upon federal officials to do more for rural communities such those in Spokane County where families are still in the process of recovering from destructive wildfires last year.
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