Statehouse
Latest reporting from the Statehouse desk.
Statehouse
Latest reporting from the Statehouse desk.
Statehouse
Latest reporting from the Statehouse desk.
Statehouse
View MoreWashington budgets millions for Medicaid work-requirement systems ahead of 2027 deadline
Washington state's 2026 supplemental budget includes more than $43 million for DSHS to build eligibility systems and hire temporary staff to comply with new federal Medicaid and SNAP work requirements by January 2027, while the state has joined a 26-state lawsuit challenging the rule's narrowed "medically frail" exemption.
Statehouse
View MoreFederal food stamp penalty will cost Washington $90 million a year, pressuring DSHS budget
Washington's 6.98% SNAP error rate will trigger more than $90 million in new annual costs starting October 2027, adding budget pressure to DSHS — the state's largest agency and a major Olympia-area employer — even as it hires quality-control staff to prevent the bill from growing.
Statehouse
View MoreState human rights commissioner resigns over antisemitic remarks, leaving Olympia-based panel with vacancies
Spokane pastor Luc Jasmin resigned from the Washington State Human Rights Commission after antisemitic remarks he made in a March 2025 meeting surfaced publicly, leaving the Olympia-headquartered agency with at least two of its five seats vacant and a replacement Gov. Ferguson must appoint through 2028.
Statehouse
View MoreGovernor, lawmakers get 7% raises as state faces $427M revenue shortfall
Gov. Bob Ferguson, AG Nick Brown, and all 147 state lawmakers received 7% pay raises effective Wednesday, July 1, bringing the governor's salary to $234,275 and a lawmaker's to $72,494, even as the state faces a $427 million revenue shortfall and most rank-and-file state workers received only a 2% cost-of-living adjustment.
Statehouse
View More2 court rulings preserve Washington's mail-voting rules for November
Back-to-back federal court rulings preserve Washington's all-mail voting system for the November 2026 midterms, with Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall urging voters to use drop boxes as the Trump administration prepares an appeal.
Statehouse
View MoreCade appointed to Ferguson's statewide jobs council as Washington unemployment climbs
Gov. Bob Ferguson signed an executive order on June 25 creating a 26-member Economic Development Council, the first in two decades, as Washington's unemployment rate sits nearly a point above the national average and the Olympia-area economy sheds government jobs. Thurston County EDC Executive Director Michael Cade is among the appointees.
Statehouse
View MoreThurston County awards nearly $1.7 million in federal funds to 7 housing nonprofits
The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners voted June 23 to adopt the FY2026 HUD Annual Action Plan, directing $911,107 in CDBG funds and $782,891 in HOME funds to seven local nonprofits serving low-income residents in Tumwater and surrounding areas.
Statehouse
View MoreThurston County wins 30 national awards for local programs despite state and federal budget cuts
Thurston County received 30 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties, a 58% increase over 2025, with programs serving Olympia and Tumwater residents in public health, elections, and emergency services earning recognition even as the county faces a structural budget deficit.
Statehouse
View MoreLake Lawrence is under a toxic algae advisory for the 2nd time this season
Thurston County Public Health has issued active advisories for Lake Lawrence (toxic algae with microcystin levels more than double the state guideline) and Ward Lake (swimmer's itch), warning residents to avoid contact with affected water.
Statehouse
View MoreWashington Supreme Court weighs whether moving a transgender woman to solitary in a men's prison violated her rights
The Washington State Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday, June 23, at the Temple of Justice in Olympia in Amber Kim's challenge to her transfer from a women's prison to solitary confinement in a men's facility, a case testing whether the Department of Corrections violated her constitutional rights while a separate federal investigation into Washington's transgender prison policy remains open.
Statehouse
View MoreWashington added 10,600 jobs in May, but Olympia's government economy is shrinking
Washington state posted its best month of job growth in 2026, but the Olympia-area government workforce — one in three local jobs — fell 1.5% over the past year, and state revenue shortfalls could squeeze upcoming state worker contract talks.
Statehouse
View MorePermit hearing advances Olympia's first mountain bike park
Olympia Hearing Examiner Mark Scheibmeir held a public hearing Monday, June 22, on the development permit for Kaiser Woods Park (now Marj Yung Park), the city's planned first dedicated mountain bike park. A written decision is pending.
©2026 Capitol Record
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©2026 Capitol Record
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©2026 Capitol Record
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