‘We still have far to go’: Courts address inequities in post-pandemic world, Chief Justice González says
In the first in-person state of the judiciary address in two years, Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven González on Wednesday discussed court inequities, funding and courthouse security. González highlighted how the courts have used the pandemic as an opportunity to address inequities within the justice system. “We need to continue that work, and to do that, we need the Legislature’s continued partnership,” González said. The pandemic made the use of new technologies necessary, which made the courts more accessible for many, including people with disabilities and those unable to travel or miss work for court dates. Despite returning to an in-person session, the courts are in the process of making some of these pandemic adjustments permanent, González said. Continue reading at Spokesman Review. (TVW)

How WA’s legislature is addressing the housing crisis in 2023
By nearly any measure, Washington has serious housing problems. The cost of buying and renting homes has leapt skyward. More than 25,000 people are living on the street or in emergency and transitional housing across the state, an 11% increase from 2020. And according to the Washington Department of Commerce, the state will need to build one million new homes by 2044 to meet demand, and more than half of them will need to be subsidized housing affordable to low-income residents. Recognizing that there’s no silver bullet for Washington’s housing crisis, legislators and advocates are pushing a slew of bills meant to increase market-rate construction, subsidized affordable housing and renter protections. Continue reading at Crosscut. (Genna Martin)

Editorial: Adopt assault weapons ban, license requirement
It took the outrage over the school shooting of 19 young students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, last year to shake Congress out of lack of action — a stupor that had lasted 29 years — on passage of firearm safety legislation. Washington, among other states, has gone further in recent years. Now jointly requested by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Gov. Jay Inslee, at least two bills — Senate Bill 5265 and House Bill 1240 — are back before state lawmakers that seek to prohibit the sale, manufacture and import of assault weapons. Opponents bristle at the phrase, but the proposed legislation and other related bills, are every bit “common-sense gun laws.” Continue reading at Everett Herald. (Genna Martin)