Politics and Government

Following a productive legislative session on the issue of housing, with around a dozen bills signed into law, Washington state lawmakers are already looking ahead to the next set of challenges to tackle.

Cities in Washington will have the legal authority to create shared streets, which feature much lower speed limits and put pedestrians first, under Senate Bill 5595. Governor Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law Saturday. It will go into effect on July 27.

One bill to make it out of the Washington State Legislature this session was House Bill 1837, which sets targets to boost Amtrak Cascades frequencies, reliability, and speed. Meanwhile, Amtrak’s soon-to-be upgraded SoDo rail yard will host new and improved Amtrak Airo trains to one day accommodate that vision.

Senate Bill 5148, signed into law Tuesday, sets up a brand new framework of accountability around state housing law. The bill includes a so-called "builder's remedy" that is intended to force local governments to stay in compliance or see their zoning laws overridden.

The two bills represent two major pillars among a variety of housing measures approved during the 2025 legislative session, with a focus on both housing supply and stability for existing tenants.

This fall voters will decide whether to give Bruce Harrell another term as Seattle Mayor. In the third article in a series, Ron Davis argues that Harrell's current term has been a failure on the issue of homelessness.

The final state budget approved by the legislature left many lawmakers disappointed, and eager to start to work on ways to restore painful cuts and reform the state's broken tax code.

A proposal set to drop this week at the Seattle City Council would loosen ethics standards for councilmembers with potential conflicts-of-interest. Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson breaks down why that's a terrible idea.