State agency leaders received a dire warning from Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office on June 5 that they’re headed toward “what will likely be the most challenging budget any of us has yet faced.” 

Let’s Go Washington, the initiative sponsor, has until July 2 to turn in at least 308,911 valid signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot. State election officials suggest submitting at least 390,000 to account for invalid ones. 

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent decision to downgrade the drug classification for medical cannabis will help medical marijuana businesses. But the broader divide between federal and state marijuana policy remains largely intact, leaving states to navigate a fragmented and still-evolving cannabis landscape with few clear answers about what comes next.

The Richland School District has launched a community facilities task force to develop a long-range facilities plan following a failed bond measure in 2024 to build a third high school in West Richland.

The Pasco location of the Tri-Cities’ first state-licensed cannabis retailer is moving to a more visible spot.

Even though the U.S. now imports far less oil from the Persian Gulf than it once did, disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz still drive up gasoline prices because oil is traded on a global market. When supply tightens anywhere, prices rise everywhere – including at American gas pumps.

The conservative political committee Let’s Go Washington plans to soon begin gathering signatures as part of its push to overturn the state’s new income tax on high earners. 

Washington’s Supreme Court on May 4 denied a conservative political committee’s request to pursue an attempt to repeal the state’s new income tax law with a referendum this fall.

State business advocates say more employers are looking to exit the state, largely because of increasing tax burdens. 

If you’re thinking about buying a boat to spend the coming summer on the Columbia River, you have until July 1 to avoid a new state sales tax.