QUEEN ANNE LITTLE LEAGUE'S OPENING DAY
On Saturday, Queen Anne Avenue was alive with the sound of Brazilian drums and about 200 young softball and baseball players to celebrate the Opening Day of the 2025 Little League Season. The clear skies and Seattle’s Mortimer “Mariner” Moose were an added surprise. Queen Anne Little League’s Tommy Kim welcomed fans and players. Speakers included Ellen Monrad, the Chair of Queen Anne Community Council, and the longtime QALL coach, Ed Artis. QALL’s Heart of the Hill campaign is in full swing, and they are looking for as many donations and volunteers as possible to partner with Seattle Parks and Recreation to transform the field at Big Howe and make Queen Anne the destination for children’s baseball and softball. More information at heartofthehill@qall.org
Seattle Public Schools superintendent announces departure from district
By Spencer Pauley
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Brent Jones is stepping down after holding his role for three years.
Jones’ last day with the district will be Sept. 3. Seattle Public Schools will have
five months to find a new superintendent.
In a video posted on the Seattle Public Schools website, Jones said he is stepping down to spend more time with his family.
“It’s been an honor to
serve as the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools and to give back to the community that shaped me,” Jones said in his announcement. “I take pride in the progress we made together, and I remain
committed to supporting our students, educators and families during this transition."
Jones touted some of his accomplishments during his three-year tenure as Seattle Public Schools superintendent. This includes accelerated academic
recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing equity within the district, expanding student support services and strengthening partnerships with the community.
Jones and the Seattle Public School Board also faced a budget gap of approximately $100 million that led to a plan to close 17 to 21 schools in order to save about $30 million. However, pushback from teachers and families led to Jones scrapping any school closure plans and relying on levy renewals to secure long-term financial stability for the district. Both of the Seattle Public Schools' levies received overwhelming support from voters in the February special election, giving the district continued funding for school operations and renovations. Until his final day as superintendent, Jones said he will assist in the search for his replacement, as well as focus on establishing the 2025-2026 school budget, working with the state legislature to secure funding for the district and laying the foundation for the next strategic plan.
PHOTOS BY LAURA MARIE RIVERA
The Center Square
Brent Jones
Queen Anne & Magnolia Worship Services
Sunday Worship at 10am
Twelfth Church of Christ, Scientist
In Person and Online Church Services
All are welcome & warmly invited to join these healing services
For best audio results, please join by clicking on the link from your computer or smartphone and choose “Call Over Internet”
All Zoom Services Meeting ID: 418 806 2637 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4188062637
Sunday Services 11:00am – 12noon Pacific
Wednesday Testimonies 7:30pm – 8:30pm Pacific
Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons
Our weekly Bible Lesson Sermon may be found here: https://quarterly.christianscience.com/
Additional Healing Resources: ChristianScience.com CSWashington.com SeattleMetroReadingRoom.org
For additional assistance, please contact us at seattle12cs@gmail.com or 206.283.2300 ChristianScienceTwelfthSeattle.com
Neighborhood Marketplace
Queen Anne Dental Group
Dr. Frank J. Calvo & Family Cosmetic, Implant, & General Dentistry
Boston St. 206-284-7812 www.QADG.net
Skatepark fundraiser April 2
The Magnolia Skatepark project is having a fundraiser on Wednesday, April 2 hosted by Mulleady’s Irish Pub, 3055 21st Ave W, Seattle.
The event will run from 4-8 p.m. For more information, https://www.facebook.com/ magnoliaskatepark/
Seattle Center & Pacific Science Center announce partnership
Seattle Center and Pacific Science Center (PacSci) announced a bold new partnership to advance PacSci’s mission and financial stability, preserve and expand public space, and establish new programming, including a Maker & Innovation Lab for STEM education and creative exploration.
“For decades, Seattle Center and the Pacific Science Center have been pillars of our city’s cultural fabric and innovative spirit. On these campuses curiosity is sparked, community is built, and history is honored by residents and visitors alike,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “This new partnership will strengthen both institutions, and ensure that together, Seattle Center and the Pacific Science Center can serve, inspire, and educate all Seattleites for generations to come. In Seattle, our progress is driven through collaboration, and I am excited to see how this enhanced partnership enriches our city and the region.”
Through this partnership, Seattle Center and PacSci will explore ways to:
■ Preserve and enhance PacSci’s historic courtyards and arches.
■ Make the courtyard accessible to the public from Seattle Center by removing the north kiosks and gates and creating new public connections to Seattle Center from Belltown.
■ Strengthen PacSci’s mission impact and financial sustainability by exploring additional programming and development on PacSci’s campus while preserving key historic elements.
■ Develop a new Maker & Innovation Lab at PacSci that will serve as a community hub for STEM education and creative exploration.
“Pacific Science Center has been an iconic destination since the 1962 World’s Fair. This partnership represents an exciting opportunity for our two organizations to formally partner for the first time – with the goal of strengthening PacSci, preserving the historic courtyard and arches, and integrating our two campuses as one public place, open to all,” said Marshall Foster, Director of Seattle Center. “By opening up public access, strengthening PacSci’s long-term sustainability, and adding new experiences like the
Makerspace, we’re creating even more opportunities for visitors to engage, learn, and explore.”
“Pacific Science Center is delighted to be a neighbor of Seattle Center. This partnership represents a much deeper level of collaboration,” said Will Daugherty, President & CEO of PacSci. “By working together with Seattle Center and the City, we are creating new opportunities to expand our reach, welcome more of the public into our space, and ensure a sustainable future for PacSci and the communities we serve.”
Seattle Center is a department of the City of Seattle, responsible for managing the 74-acre Seattle Center campus. While PacSci is located adjacent to Seattle Center’s campus, PacSci owns its land and buildings outright, with full responsibility for its operations. This new partnership represents a more integrated approach to ensuring PacSci’s
long-term success.
“This exciting partnership is a momentous step forward for the Pacific Science Center,” said Jembaa Mai, incoming Chair of the Board of PacSci.
“Joining forces with Seattle Center will support our growth and our bold vision to explore new ways to ignite curiosity.”
Center and PacSci have signed a Letter of Intent which outlines key actions both parties will take over the coming months as part of this new partnership. Both are committed to working closely with stakeholders, city leaders, and the community to shape the future of this project. Additional details will be shared as work progresses.
For more information, contact Jayme Stocker, Seattle Center at jayme. stocker@seattle.gov or 206.507.5353 and/or Brian Knollenberg, Pacific Science Center at bknollenberg@pacsci.org or 206.360.8866.
Savvy Senior: Are you at risk for kidney disease?
Dear Savvy Senior,
What are the risk factors for kidney disease?
My mother died from kidney failure a few years ago at age 75 but didn’t even know she had a problem until it was too late.
Inquiring Daughter
Dear Inquiring, Anyone who has diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems or has a family history of the disease is at increased risk for chronic kidney disease, a condition in which the kidneys can no longer effectively filter your blood.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 37 million U.S adults have chronic kidney disease, and millions more are at risk of developing it, yet most people don’t realize it.
That’s because kidney disease develops very slowly over many years before any symptoms arise. But left untreated, the disease can eventually require people to spend hours hooked up to a dialysis machine or get a kidney transplant. Even mild kidney problems can double a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as cause anemia and bone disease.
The reason kidney disease has
You can't put the skin back on the
They say death comes in threes. A crazy superstition, one of those fallacies that has no grounding in truth but you secretly believe it anyway.
Because I have been waiting for the third shoe to drop, waiting since I lost my nephew last year, and my dad a few months later. And when I say “drop,” I mean it fell from the sky with all the weight and intensity of a meteor landing.
This next paragraph comes from the saddest part of me, so I will choose my words carefully; make it short: My sister tripped, fell, hit her head on a glass coffee table, and that was it. The realization sinks in slowly.
It’s the beginning of spring, the most beautiful time of the year, so that’s all I’m going to say about my sister’s tumble. (That word just rushed in, I can’t help it. The reality of how quickly everything can tumble down roosts on every bone of my ribcage.)
I wish I had more faith that everything happens for a reason. I’ve felt the pull of it at times, like when lying on my back at Manitou Beach. It’s an all-over everything-is-rightwith-the-world feeling, the exact opposite of tension. It faded as soon as a man arrived with a dog that chased—that he let chase—a heron. My faith (if that dog had been leashed) would be this beach at low tide when the mudflats exhale that strong, briny smell. It helps me to cope.
chicken
mean, how many chickens does it take to fill the human heart?), you can’t unrealize it. You can’t put the skin back on the chicken.
When I admit to my friend Murphey that I’ve also spent a bundle on new clothes since hearing the news, she says, “It happens.” Those two words ingrained not just my love of Murphey but my need for her at a time like this. And because I receive so much comfort from friends (not from chicken, not from new clothes) and even more from nature, I’m grateful that comfort is everywhere you look on this island. All you have to do is let it in. Like air.
We did have our squabbles, though, my sister and I. I remember one exchange went something like, “You aren’t making enough money,” she said. She was an accountant. She related everything to money.
“I make enough,” I say.
“You are fooling yourself,” she says.
become so widespread today is because of the rise of obesity, type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure which all strain the kidneys. Another factor is the increasing number of people who take multiple medications, which can overtax the organs. People over age 60 are especially vulnerable both because they tend to take more drugs, and because kidney function normally declines somewhat with age.
GET SCREENED
Because kidney disease is often symptomless, it’s usually
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So here I am, coping. I take another walk, speak when spoken to, feign interest in the news. I tell the owner of an Elon Musk truck how ugly I think his vehicle is, not to mention how ugly a man is who fathers fourteen kids by different women, not one of them his wife. And this is suddenly okay because he is so rich? I said. And that’s all I remember about that wine tasting, at which I got drunk. And that is why I buy a rotisserie chicken. And all that crispy skin, I stuff it into my mouth. I can hardly remember a version of myself that was allowed to eat the skin but I am nothing but a real pig these days. My phone rings, but I am too busy to answer it. Too busy remembering how my sister and I used to fight over the wishbone. She liked to dry them out, display them. I liked to pull them apart and make a wish right then and there. Pronto!
I'm very pronto about many things. So said my sister. So say my friends. And difinitely my husband.
Actually, I’m surprised that I can stomach chicken at all. I’d been led to believe that grief reduces the appetite. Not so. And once you realize the connection between food and trying to fill something other than hunger (I
“Am I?” This didn’t temp her to answer my question. She wasn’t born to discuss value in terms of passion. She charged by 15-minute increment. Plus, and I don’t want to say this unkindly, she was the oldest of three sisters and liked to boss us around. Boss our parents around. She liked to be the boss, had to be the boss, which made her even bossier.
“You are so immature,” she said.
“F*** off,” I said, and hung up.
That was one of our last conversations.
I live with this.
Oh god, I can’t end here . . . so I won't.
Recently, a reader of this column called me a polymath. I had to look it up. It sounded like a mix of things I don’t like: polyester and math? You can forget about math. Turns out, she thinks I am aware.
And that’s the word I think of now.
I am more aware since losing my sister. Aware that sometimes you tumble and fall and you do not bump your head, you do not die, and you have to be grateful for this.
You have to express gratefulness for this.
Mary Lou Sanelli's latest title is In So Many Words, nominated for a 2025 Washington State Book Award. She works as a writer, speaker, and master dance teacher. For more information visit www. marylousanelli.com.
Mary Lou Sanelli Falling Awake
King County Metro to add safety enhancements to current, future buses
By Spencer Pauley
Center Square
King County Metro is making enhancements to its buses to ensure bus operator and rider safety.
Following the murder of King County Metro bus driver Shawn Yim last December, the department has fast-tracked efforts to install operator safety partitions.
In a committee meeting on Tuesday, King County Metro General Manager Michelle Allison briefed county council members on the work the department has done to improve safety on its transit services.
This year, Metro began partnering with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 to discuss these partitions. The department is now revising the county’s order of 89 battery-electric buses scheduled to begin arriving in 2026.
“We will now be pivoting to retrofit plans for the rest of our fleet,” Allison said during the King County Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee meeting on Tuesday. “The order of 89 [buses] will be the first to feature larger, stronger, and unlockable operator safety partitions.”
The prototype bus includes laminated
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undiagnosed. The only way to catch it before it advances is to have a routine blood and urine test by your doctor. So, anyone that has diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, or is age 60 or older needs to be tested annually. If your lab tests show a decline
tempered glass and a heavy metal door that locks in place from the driver-side. Allison added that the prototype also provides far greater coverage toward the ceiling and the front of the bus, which operators noted as important during conversations with the department.
The Center Square previously reported on bus drivers voicing frustration with Metro, saying that the department prioritizes service over operator safety. During a King County Council meeting, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 President Greg Woodfill suggested the county move funding dedicated to making Metro’s bus fleet 100% electric to transit safety measures instead in order to address rider and operator concerns.
The details of the partnership between the union and Metro on operator safety partitions were not revealed. However, Allison’s briefing to the committee reveals that the discussions between the two parties has led to safety upgrades on planned and current buses.
According to Allison, King County Metro has established a broad goal of retrofitting 1,200 coaches from its fleet. The rollout of these retrofitted buses will come in phases.
in kidney function for more than three months in a row, you might be diagnosed with kidney disease and referred to a nephrologist. You also need to know that while kidney damage cannot be reversed, there are a number of effective lifestyle steps and treatments that can help contain the damage, including: Control your blood pressure: If you have high blood pressure, get it under
A unique take on French toast
By MetroCreative
Few breakfasts are as beloved as French toast, a dish so hearty and fulfilling that many people enjoy it for dinner. Though traditional French toast is very popular, the traditional recipe can be altered to make the dish even more delightful. Such is the case with the following recipe for "Panettone French Toast With Caramelized Apples" from Norman Kolpas' "Buongiorno!" (Contemporary Books).
PANETTONE FRENCH TOAST WITH CARAMELIZED APPLES
Serves 4
■ ¼ cup slivered almonds
■ Caramelized Apples
■ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
■ 2 Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges
■ ¼ cup apple juice
■ 3 tablespoons honey
■ Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
■ Panettone French Toast
■ 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
■ ½ cup low-fat milk
■ 1 tablespoon sugar
■ ½ teaspoon almond extract
■ 8 3/4-inch thick slices panettone or egg bread
■ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Put the almonds in a baking dish and toast in the oven
130/80. If you need medication to do it, ACE inhibitors and ARBs are good choices because of their proven ability to protect the kidneys. Control your diabetes: If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar as close to normal as possible. Diabetes medications called SGLT-2 inhibitors have also shown to be effective in helping slow the progression of kidney disease, even
until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce the oven temperate to 200 F. For the caramelized apples, melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the apple juice, honey and nutmeg and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender and a thick, caramel-like sauce has formed. Cover and keep warm.
To make the French toast, stir together the eggs, milk, sugar, and almond extract in a wide, shallow bowl or baking dish. Add the bread
in non-diabetic patients.
Adjust your diet: This usually means reducing the amount of protein and phosphorus you eat and cutting back on sodium, sugar and possibly potassium. Your doctor can help you determine an appropriate eating plan, or you may want to talk to a dietitian.
Watch your meds: Dozens of commonly used drugs can damage
slices to the mixture, turning to coat them evenly on both sides and then leaving them to soak. Meanwhile, melt half of the butter in another nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half of the bread slices and cook them until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer them to a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and put in the oven to keep warm. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet and cook the remaining French toast. Serve topped with the caramelized apples and garnished with the toasted almonds.
the kidneys, especially when taken in high doses over long periods –most notably NSAIDs like ibuprofen and naproxen. Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medications taken for heartburn and GERDS, and herbal supplements can also be problematic. Talk to your doctor about all the prescription, over the counter and herbal products you take to identify potential problems and find alternatives.
Exercise and lose weight: If you’re overweight and inactive, start an aerobic fitness routine (walk, swim, cycle, etc.) that gets your heart pumping. This will help lower blood pressure, control diabetes and help you lose excess weight all of which will help your kidneys.
Stay hydrated: Dehydration can affect kidney function, so try to drink at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
Quit smoking: If you smoke, quit. Smoking damages the kidneys and doubles the rate of progression to end-stage renal failure.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
Panettone French toast with caramelized apples.
COURTESY METROCREATIVE
The
Attitudes mixed about proposed fixes to WA’s Clean Fuel Standard
By TJ Martinell The Center Square
Recently, the Washington State Legislature enacted a Clean Fuel Standard program, which directs fuel providers to reduce the carbon intensity in their products such as gasoline and diesel. Now, the original bill sponsor for that program wants to modify it in a way that supporters believe will improve implementation.
However, some opposed to Second Substitute House Bill 1409 say it’s a sign the program itself is fundamentally flawed and should be scrapped.
“It's only in the second year of implementation, and yet, even supporters admit that it has already deeply flawed,” Washington Policy Center Vice President of Research Todd Myers said during a Wednesday morning Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee public hearing. “The Clean Fuel Standard should not be fixed, it should be eliminated.”
The Clean Fuel Standard law requires fuel suppliers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels so that they are 20% below 2017 levels by 2034. Several pathways towards complying with the law are providing or blending biofuels into their own fuel, or
purchasing credits generated by fuel providers whose product is below the thresholds, which can include entities that own and operate electric vehicle charging stations.
The program is the result of repeated legislative efforts to get a low carbon fuel standard imposed, with backers finally achieving success in 2021.
SSHB 1409’s sponsor Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Seattle, told the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee that “this program would benefit from a more tailored enforcement structure rather than relying on the existing Clean Air Act enforcement structure, which includes criminal penalties. I don't think we ever want to have criminal penalties be applied for the enforcement of this program.”
Aside from removing criminal penalties, the bill requires that carbon intensity in transportation fuels be reduced by 45% below 2017 levels by Jan. 1, 2038. It also requires the state Department of Ecology to publish an analysis and forecast of the program’s credit market.
Speaking in favor of the bill was Logan Bahr with Tacoma Public Utilities. He told the committee that “Washington is on a bold path to decarbonize its transportation sector and a well-functioning clean
fuels program is essential to ensuring the reliable investments needed to realize this transformation.”
He added that the bill “accomplishes this by stabilizing credit prices and giving utilities like ours the certainty to move forward with critical projects.”
While concerns were raised about the impact of the bill on gas prices, Leah Missik with Climate Solutions said, “I actually think this will help put some downward pressure on prices overall. it spurs these reinvestments in opening access to cleaner fuels that actually cost people less over the long run in a way that doesn't draw on the state budget. And it helps with compliance.”
However, Jeff pack Washington with Citizens Against Unfair Taxes spoke against the bill, saying that as a farmer and contractor "I used to pay $2 a gallon for farm diesel. Now I pay $4.29. We voted this stuff down and yet you folks did it anyways.”
He added that he’s having “injectors regularly … replaced because of the lower quality of the fuel.”
SSHB 1409 originally passed in the House on March 10 54-41 vote. It is not currently scheduled for any further committee action.
King County homeless agency activated severe weather response 40 times this winter
By Spencer Pauley
Center Square
Between November 2024 and February 2025, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority activated its Tier 2 and Tier 3 cold weather response plans 40 times.
That translates into the opening of short-term emergency shelters and the implementation of expanded emergency operations, including coordinating with cities for additional shelter sites and supporting food distribution and transportation.
Tier 2 is activated when daily high temperatures are predicted at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below over a three-day span or snow and rain accumulate over two inches within a 24-hour period.
Tier 3 is activated when daily high temperatures are predicted at 35 degrees Fahrenheit or below for a single day or snow and rain accumulate over four inches within a 24-hour period.
In just the first two months of 2025, 23 days were spent in the Tier 3 stage.
This winter saw more severe weather days than during a span of 63 days last summer when KCRHA activated its severe weather response for 27 days – 43% of the time.
Throughout the 40 days of severe weather response, there were 15,400 bed nights provided in emergency shelters and 497 individuals serviced each night of activation, according to a presentation to the KCRHA Governing Committee on Thursday.
More than 8,390 meals were provided during those 40 days.
When the severe weather activation takes effect, King County’s homeless population goes to existing emergency shelters. KCRHA also expands capacity at other existing emergency shelters, stands up severe weather shelters, and utilizes King County library locations to provide warming
and cooling centers.
This year, the Salvation Army in Seattle, Reclaim, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, and Mary’s Place are contracted operators of activated shelters.
For Tier 3 activation in the last four months, KCRHA added capacity to shelters across the region. This includes the Salvation Army operating four different emergency shelter locations, with a total capacity of 355 beds.
KCRHA Emergency Operations Manager Tony Machacha noted that last year the Salvation Army’s operation at Exhibition Hall in Seattle had about 320 people in one night, when maximum capacity was 140.
“We learned our lesson so we have been trying to do a lot more better capacity management,” Machacha said during the Governing Committee meeting.
Since last summer, KCRHA has worked to improve its severe weather response. The main change was centralizing its response through one center. The agency used to be run by Machacha and subregional planners, which Machacha said worked well but lacked enough efficiency.
King County Councilmember Jorge Barón successfully secured $350,000 in county funding to expand severe weather shelter beds. KCRHA is also expecting annual funding from the City of Seattle for severe weather response, which is typically around $500,000.
The North King County Interlocal agreement also includes severe weather funding.
KCRHA has also established closer collaboration with south King County cities. This includes sending $40,000 to the city of Burien for 40 more severe weather response beds.
The agency is also in development with east King County cities to establish an interlocal agreement that includes funding for severe weather as well.
WA's latest budget outlook shows $845M decline in projected revenue through 2029
By Brett Davis The Center Square
The good news: Washington state is expecting a $54 million increase in anticipated revenue for the remainder of the current 2023-2025 budget cycle.
The bad news: Revenue for the 20252027 and 2027-2029 budget cycles are down $479 million and $420 million, respectively, from the previous forecast in November.
That translates into a total projected revenue drop of $845 million, or 0.6%, over the state’s four-year budget outlook.
“We expect that we’ll probably be running lower balances going forward now, given the tough budget situation that we’re in, so it’s really a story about the balances; we expect the balance of funds to be lower,” Dave Reich, executive director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, told the group at its Tuesday meeting.
Lawmakers will use Tuesday’s forecast to help craft an operating budget for the upcoming 2025-2027 biennium, a potentially daunting task given a projected four-year budget shortfall.
Majority party Democrats have largely settled on a $12 billion figure during the current session. Republicans say numbers from nonpartisan staff indicate the shortfall is expected to be $6.7 billion over the next four years.
Lawmakers responded to the ERFC report shortly after the meeting.
“Today’s revenue forecast shows a modest decline in projected revenue, which is what we expected,” Senate Ways & Means Chair June Robinson, D-Everett, said in
a news release. “While it doesn’t change the broader fiscal challenges we face, it reinforces the need for a balanced and sustainable approach as we finalize the 2025-27 operating budget.
“Throughout this process, we have been focused on making thoughtful, strategic decisions that protect essential services and put the state on a stronger financial footing. The proposal we release next week will reflect that commitment, ensuring stability now and in the years ahead.”
According to a budget leader for Senate Republicans, the state needs to limit spending and avoid new taxes.
“Even with today’s forecast, the state expects to have $4.5 billion more over the next two years, so the sky is not falling,” said Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, in a news release. “Still, our chief economist repeatedly cautioned us to expect slow revenue growth. Legislative budget writers should take heed and show restraint going forward, especially with the uncertainty about actions at the federal level that could affect our situation.”
He went on to say, “The smart approach is to avoid new and higher taxes, limit new spending to core priorities like K-12 and public safety, preserve social services, and protect the rainy-day fund. Our $ave Washington budget does all of that.”
Earlier this month, Senate Republicans unveiled a budget proposal they say closes the budget shortfall without raising taxes or dipping into the state’s rainy-day fund.
The $75.6 billion plan includes a 5% spending hike for things like increased K-12 funding, 1,800 new higher-education positions and public safety enhancements.
The