Union leaders were not all smiles afterward. The bill was amended on the floor to impose a four-week limit on receiving benefits, eight weeks less than the version approved in the Senate.

Washington’s wealthiest individuals, largest corporations and biggest banks are prime targets. Homeowners, vapers and self-storage unit renters are among those who could share in the burden. Possible tweaks to expand the state’s capital gains tax could also be in play.

Gov. Bob Ferguson said at a news conference he would not sign any spending plan dependent on substantial revenues from a new and untested tax that faced the “real possibility of being overturned.”

King County Superior Court Judge Sandra Widlan ruled that Initiative 2066 is unconstitutional because it runs afoul of a provision limiting citizen initiatives to no more than one subject and requiring them to contain the full text of the portion of state laws they would alter.

State officials were to have their plans for instituting the cuts in by Feb. 6. The state’s public universities are facing a 3% cut to their state funding.

Legislators will get a 16% wage hike and the governor and attorney general will receive a 14% raise under the new salaries approved at a meeting in Tumwater by the Washington Citizens Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.

Seven years ago, in the landmark case known as McCleary, justices ruled the state had complied with the court’s order to ensure ample funding for basic education. But the state’s been backsliding since, Reykdal said, and no longer provides enough money to local school districts to keep pace with rising costs.

Republicans liked a lot of what they heard. They delivered more standing ovations than Democrats. Many Democrats didn’t hide their pique with Ferguson’s reform-minded message, which comes as the party has controlled the governor’s office and the Legislature for more than seven years. 

Governor-elect Bob Ferguson recently announced the appointment to lead the agency, which manages a budget of $7.9 billion and administers more than 100 programs in the areas of housing, energy, community and economic development, local government and business services.

A state-run housing program that has failed to deliver on its promise of providing longtime tenants a chance to buy their homes recently came under fire from Washington lawmakers.