Tax the rich? UW economist calls WA a ‘tax haven like the Cayman Islands’
Vigdor is a professor at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance with a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He said if he were designing a tax system from scratch, he might not choose a 5% payroll tax on pay packages above $176,000, as legislative Democrats are proposing. (The tax is paid by the company and would apply only to larger firms, with payrolls topping $7 million per year.) Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Ken Lambert)
Washington sues over RFK Jr.’s canceled health funding
Washington was among 23 states that sued the Trump administration Tuesday over the cancellation of $12 billion in federal funding to address infectious diseases, substance abuse and mental illness, including about $160 million for Washington. The lawsuit comes on the heels of the abrupt termination last week of grants related to disease tracking, vaccination efforts and other work that officials said could cost thousands of jobs in public health departments nationwide. This pot of money makes up $11 billion of the $12 billion cut last week. Continue reading at Washington State Standard. (George Frey)
Eid moves one step closer to becoming a Washington state holiday
Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two holidays celebrated by nearly 100,000 Muslims in Washington state, is one step closer to state recognition. On Monday, the state House of Representatives passed a bill that adds Eid to a list of holidays that are unpaid but have cultural or historical significance. The Senate passed a similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma) in February. Continue reading at KUOW. (LSS)
Associated Press
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Washington Post
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WA State Standard
Washington sues over RFK Jr.’s canceled health funding
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Broadcast
KING 5 TV (NBC)
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KIRO 7 TV (CBS)
Debate over taxes to balance budget
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KOMO 4 TV (ABC)
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KNKX Public Radio
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KUOW Public Radio
Federal health office in Seattle closing, WA lawmakers say
Eid moves one step closer to becoming a Washington state holiday (Salahuddin)
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KXLY (ABC)
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NW Public Radio
Whitman County reports first flu-related death of the season
Web
Cascadia Daily News
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Cascade PBS
Gov. Ferguson rejects Democrats’ budget proposals with new taxes (Robinson)
MyNorthwest
Citing high taxes, Governor Bob Ferguson rejects Democratic budgets from Senate and House
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The Urbanist
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West Seattle Blog
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