WA lawmakers consider minimum wage requirement for incarcerated workers
There are 2,200 incarcerated people across Washington who have jobs. They’re employed in prison facilities. They might be welders, food service workers, carpenters, or janitors. You may have bought something created by an incarcerated person, like your license plate. Altogether, Washington’s Department of Corrections generated $68.8 million in revenue last year. But only a small portion of that money makes it into the incarcerated workers’ wages. At most, inmates can make $2.70 an hour. A new proposal by State Rep. Tarra Simmons (D-Bremerton) would raise that minimum wage to match Washington’s at $15.74 an hour. Simmons’ proposal is built on the argument that current wages are an exploitative but legal loophole which needs closing. Continue reading at KUOW. (Matthew Ansley)

A smart way for legislators to help save local news
Many things are needed to sustain local news outlets in Washington state. That includes extending and expanding a business and occupation tax break the Legislature created to save jobs in the essential local news industry. This is straightforward, relatively low cost and has strong public support, as evidenced by public comments last week in Olympia and earlier hearings. Legislators should get this done, by approving a timely proposal by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, state Sen. Mark Mullet and state Rep. Gerry Pollet. In Senate Bill 5199 and House Bill 1206, they propose exempting publishers from the tax until 2035 and expanding this break to digital-only news sites. “Newspapers are vital to a healthy democracy and we have seen too many close and lay off employees,” Pollet said in the joint announcement. “We can and should do everything we can to help preserve newsrooms across the state. Exempting them from the state B&O tax is an important step to support a robust free press.” Continue reading at Seattle Times. (Daniel Kim)

This is how Washington legislators seek to limit rent gouging statewide
A pair of bills being introduced in Olympia this legislative session are aimed at limiting the steep rent hikes that tenants have been seeing recently in communities across Washington state. Such rent stabilization is part of several measures in the state House and Senate that aim to ease housing costs and reduce homelessness, said state Rep. Alex Ramel, a Bellingham Democrat and House majority whip. Ramel is sponsoring House Bill 1389 to cap rent increases at 3% to 7% annually, based on inflation, and he discussed it during an online briefing Tuesday, Jan. 17, that addressed the housing crisis. He was joined at the briefing by state Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, whose companion measure outlines how Ramel’s bill would be enforced. Since mid-2021, when a statewide eviction ban ended, Macri said Washington residents have been reporting what she called “predatory” monthly rent increases that amount to hundreds of dollars and sometimes more. “Folks are being driven into homelessness and even more are being driven out of our communities,” said Macri, whose 43rd District covers downtown Seattle and some of its northern neighborhoods. Continue reading at Bellingham Herald.