Is this the year WA ends single-family zoning?
Duplexes or fourplexes would be legalized in almost every neighborhood of almost every city in Washington, regardless of local zoning rules, under legislation advancing in the state House of Representatives. The bill aims to increase housing supply in cities throughout the state, which advocates say is a crucial step in easing the housing crisis that has seen home prices and homelessness numbers climb. The push to add more housing density would not mean the end of single-family home production in Washington. The bill (HB 1110) faces a crucial deadline Friday as it must pass out of the House Appropriations committee before the end of the day. The state Department of Commerce estimates Washington needs to build an additional 1 million homes over the next two-plus decades to keep pace with population growth. Advocates argue that allowing more homes that take up less space in cities is a good way to begin. Continue reading at Seattle Times. (Amanda Synder)

Opinion: Salmon management must build on the lessons of the past 50 years
One year from now, in February 2024, we will mark the 50th anniversary of federal Judge George Boldt’s ruling in United States vs. Washington, which affirmed tribes’ treaty-reserved rights to harvest salmon outside of our reservations. The court case was brought about by the Fish Wars of the 1960s and ’70s, when state authorities arrested tribal fishermen violently — often with tear gas — for exercising the fishing rights we reserved in the Stevens treaties of the 1850s. Now, despite the co-management relationship we have developed since then to manage salmon harvest with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, some elected state leaders seem determined to set tribal fishermen up to endure that kind of racism again. Tribal governments and Fish and Wildlife have worked too hard to reach our current level of co-management to be undermined by calls to ban gillnets. Tribal and state co-managers have learned a lot of lessons. We all need to work together — not against each other. It’s what we have to do if we hope to have salmon to harvest for another 50 years. Continue reading at Bellingham Herald. (Deborah L. Preston)

Opinion: Racial disparities persist in WA prisons. Here’s a smart, proactive way to fix it
It’s now the third consecutive legislative session that the Department of Corrections has requested changes to “earned time,” which would allow our state’s incarcerated population to reduce their sentences for positive programming. Since the DOC has historically advocated for keeping convicted people behind bars as long as possible, many are wondering: What’s the catch? As it turns out, like many reforms, this one is being driven by a problem — actually, a few problems. First, the DOC has recognized that prisons suffer from significant racial disparity. Second, compounded by three years of COVID-19, prison conditions are poor and staffing is difficult. And third, the DOC is about to be hit with a massive wave of new admissions. House Bill 1798 proposes changes to earned time that are actually well-thought-out responses meant to meet these emergent needs. Continue reading at The Olympian. (Dean J. Koepfler)