WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Monday, May 12

King 5
Trump will sign an executive order calling on health department to negotiate lower drug prices
Trump’s so-called “most favored nation” approach to Medicare drug pricing has been controversial since he first tried to implement it during his first term. He signed a similar executive order in the final weeks of his presidency, which called for the U.S. to only pay a lower price that other countries pay for drugs administered in a doctor’s office. Continue reading at King 5. (King 5)


Gina Bring is a Blaine parent and special education advocate. She's sought support for her two daughters who have dyslexia, and now helps other parents navigate the special education process in school districts. She thinks removing the special ed funding cap may result in more students accessing the services they need. (Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)
Education investments in state budget bring some good news for special ed
For years, the amount of special education funding a district received was capped at a percentage of students: This year, the cap is 16%. For example, Nooksack Valley School District has about 17.8% of students receiving special education. That means the district receives additional funding for every student under that 16% cap and then must cover the rest themselves. For Nooksack Valley, that’s about $430,000. Continue reading at Cascadia Daily News. (Santiago Ochoa)


A child reacts to geoducks from Canada at a restaurant in Sanya in southern China’s Hainan province on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
How a Chinese delicacy got caught in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war — Washington’s geoduck industry dives into uncertainty
Unlike other products with long-lasting shelf life and standing inventory, the trade war has had an immediate, direct effect on the delicate geoducks, which are shipped alive the same day of harvest. “The whole market, everybody just had to stop,” said Jim Boure, general manager of Suquamish Seafoods, an enterprise of the Suquamish Tribe. “We started getting phone calls from buyers saying orders are canceled.” Continue reading at NW Asian Weekly. (AP)


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