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Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump-backed clergy nets win over Washington state child abuse law — for now
Members of the Roman Catholic clergy in Washington, backed by the Trump administration, won a victory in court last Friday as they seek to dismantle a controversial aspect of a state law meant to curb child sex abuse. U.S. District Judge David Estudillo granted the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction on Friday, placing a hold on Senate Bill 5375, a law that requires faith leaders to report instances of child abuse relayed to them, including Catholic priests who hear such admissions during confessions. The law was set to go into effect on July 27. The Trump administration last month joined the legal fight to overturn the law, which it describes as "anti-Catholic," suing Washington state and Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson. The governor, who is Catholic, has defended the law and said he's "disappointed" in the Church for seeking to block it. A hearing in the Trump administration's request for a separate preliminary injunction is set for this week, the Washington State Standard reported. Proponents of the law say it doesn't single out Catholics, given that the mandatory reporting requirement includes ministers, priests, rabbis, imams, elders or a 'spiritual leader of any church, religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community or sect,' as well as school employees and health care workers. But Estudillo, a Biden appointee, said the law's requirement regarding confessionals infringes upon priests' First Amendment rights. He noted that roughly 25 other states have carved out exceptions for the confessional in their mandatory reporting laws and called Washington's exemptions for other professions 'likely fatal to SB 5375.' To me, there's scant evidence that the law — which was created in response to abuse allegations among Jehovah's Witnesses — is anti-Catholic, and ample evidence that the law is simply anti-sex abuse. And the Trump administration's attempt to undercut it fit a disturbing pattern of undermining efforts to combat sex abuse. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
States face hard choices as budgets expected to tighten
Washington Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, center, met with several statewide elected officials in June to discuss how federal funding cuts under discussion in Congress and by the Trump administration could impact the state. (Photo courtesy of Washington governor's office) Slow revenue growth continues to pinch state budgets across the country, leading governors to propose spending cuts, hiring freezes and some tax increases. In its spring survey of states, the National Association of State Budget Officers found that general fund spending will hold steady in fiscal 2026 as states expect limited revenue growth but increased costs. Though most states are meeting or exceeding 2025 revenue projections, a growing number are downgrading their revenue expectations for the next fiscal year, Shelby Kerns, executive director of the national association, said in a news release. 'In a number of states, we're seeing expenditure projections outpacing revenue growth, forcing policymakers to make hard choices in order to balance their budgets,' Kerns said. Cutting services or raising taxes: State lawmakers weigh how to fill big budget gaps States typically wrap up budget work by the end of June, with the next fiscal year beginning July 1. Kerns said the organization anticipates states may need to make mid-year budget adjustments depending on upcoming federal changes in tax policy and spending. In recent years, many states have been flush with an influx of federal pandemic aid and strong tax revenues from a booming national economy. But with the end of pandemic aid, an uncertain economic future and deep cuts to state taxes, many lawmakers this year confronted major budget challenges in statehouses. Just weeks after signing a budget that required deep spending cuts and increased taxes, Washington Democratic state Gov. Bob Ferguson told state agencies to prepare for even more belt tightening. 'We will very likely continue to face a challenging state budget environment in the coming year and anticipate increasing caseloads and ongoing uncertainty in the economy and federal funding,' said a June 4 memo from the governor's budget director to agency leaders, according to the Washington State Standard. Still, many states continue to tout major levels of reserve funds. The National Association of State Budget Officers found at least 30 states expect to maintain a rainy-day fund balance exceeding 10% of their general fund expenditures. This year, 29 states grew their reserve funds, with the majority of states expected to continue to grow their savings next fiscal year. In Tennessee, general fund revenue growth is slowing, but state leaders were able to rely on $1.5 billion in unspent state funds and $700 million in interest earnings from federal pandemic funds, the Tennessee Lookout reported. 'Despite tighter fiscal conditions, states overall remain in a solid fiscal position with rainy day funds at near all-time highs, low debt levels, and strong credit ratings,' David Thurman, Tennessee's budget director and current association president, said in the group's news release. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-Washington state worker claims she was fired over school board vote on trans athletes
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction faces a lawsuit from a former employee alleging wrongful termination. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard) A former director at Washington state's schools agency alleges the state superintendent fired her after she voted as a local school board member in support of barring trans girls from competing in girls' sports. Darby Kaikkonen filed suit last week against the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Superintendent Chris Reykdal in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. She says Reykdal retaliated against her. 'OSPI fired a high-performing employee, a military spouse, for exercising the rights and responsibilities of an elected official in standing up for women and girls, a viewpoint which the state superintendent disagrees with,' Kaikkonen said in a statement. A spokesperson for Reykdal's office confirmed Kaikkonen stopped working there in March, but declined to comment further, citing personnel matters and the litigation. The state hasn't responded to the allegations in court, as of Wednesday. Kaikkonen was the agency's director of student information before her termination in mid-March, according to the lawsuit. She had been there since December 2021. Before that, she worked for a decade at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, including half-a-dozen years as the policy research director, according to her LinkedIn. She also serves as president of the Tumwater school board, where she has been a member since 2019. Tumwater, south of Olympia, has found itself near the center of the growing tensions between local, state and federal officials over how to handle transgender athletes in school sports. It's one of several districts bucking Reykdal's mandate to support trans students competing in the division that fits their gender identity. In March, the Trump administration's Department of Education launched an investigation into Tumwater School District over allowing a transgender athlete from an opposing team to compete in a girls' high school basketball game. The investigation appears to still be ongoing, a district spokesperson said Tuesday. President Donald Trump has sought to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports through executive order by, in part, withholding federal funding for districts that 'deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.' Some local school officials say they're in a bind: Either comply with state law and jeopardize federal funding, or follow Trump and risk punishment from the state. This week, California sued the Trump administration over threats to withhold funding tied to trans athlete participation. Reykdal's office faces a federal probe of its own into its clash with a Clark County school district over the district's gender inclusion policy. Kaikkonen's work focused on reporting data for compliance with federal education policy, according to her lawsuit. The week before the Trump administration opened its inquiry into Tumwater, the school board took up the matter of trans athletes. At the time, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association was considering two proposals related to trans athletes. The association sets policy for school sports in the state. One of the proposals would have barred trans girls from participating in girls' sports. Another would have created a separate division where trans athletes can compete. On Feb. 27, the Tumwater board, including Kaikkonen, voted in support of those rule changes. The audience watching the meeting in person responded with boos. In April, the interscholastic association voted down the proposed changes. In a later meeting, Kaikkonen explained her vote. A former competitive swimmer, she said the issue 'pits one historically marginalized group against another,' transgender people and women. She said she 'fully supports' the transgender community. 'I see myself in this issue, and most importantly, I see girls who are currently living it and the complexity of what they're trying to work through,' Kaikkonen said. 'This is an impossible situation. These girls are faced with the same challenges that we all are, and that they can't possibly stand up for themselves and share their voice and what they think is right without being accused of bigotry.' 'You want to know why the voice for girls is quiet, and why so few people speak publicly about it?' Kaikkonen continued. 'It's fear.' At the time, a spokesperson for Reykdal said his office was 'closely monitoring' the Tumwater school board's actions, and floated a 'possible formal investigation.' A petition to recall Kaikkonen and other board members received over 1,500 signatures. A week after the vote, she was placed on administrative leave from her job at the state, with no reason given, according to the lawsuit. Less than two weeks later, in a March 19 call with the office's chief of staff, Tennille Jeffries-Simmons, she was fired, the complaint alleges. Officials didn't explain why, according to the lawsuit, which says she never faced disciplinary action at the agency. Kaikkonen was reportedly expecting to go on leave due to an upcoming deployment to the Middle East for her Army reservist spouse. 'The termination came at a time when OSPI knew the financial and emotional hardship this punitive action would cause,' the lawsuit reads. 'As a result of her termination, Plaintiff has lost an annual salary of approximately $137,000, including valuable health and retirement benefits. She has experienced reputational damage, anxiety, humiliation, and disruption to her family life.' The lawsuit alleges retaliation and wrongful termination. Kaikkonen seeks monetary damages to be determined at trial. Kaikkonen's term on the Tumwater school board ends this year. She didn't file to run for re-election. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington governor wants agencies to look for deeper cuts
The Washington state Capitol on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard) Just weeks after signing a budget that relied on spending cuts and new taxes to balance, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson is telling state agencies to tighten their fiscal belts even more. The warning from the Democratic governor comes amid an increasingly gloomy budget outlook and underscores that the state's financial difficulties are not over. 'We will very likely continue to face a challenging state budget environment in the coming year and anticipate increasing caseloads and ongoing uncertainty in the economy and federal funding,' reads a June 4 memo from Ferguson's budget director to agency leaders and presidents of higher education institutions. The letter penned by K.D. Chapman-See, director of the Office of Financial Management, precedes departments and colleges submitting funding requests that they hope Ferguson will support heading into next year. Those submissions are due by Sept. 15. Ferguson will release his proposed spending plans in December and the Legislature will consider them in the 2026 session. The letter says requests should only be for 'critical and emergent costs' that cannot be covered within their existing budgets. It urges them to look for 'additional options for efficiencies, reform, administrative savings, or reductions in non-essential services and programs.' The tone of Chapman-See's memo echoes a directive issued a year ago by her predecessor in which agency directors were told to focus on maintaining current programs, while not seeking money for new ones or expansions. Five months later came the November memo that, for the first time, identified a projected budget shortfall between $10 billion and $12 billion over the next four years. Once Ferguson settled into office, he started saying the chasm had widened to $16 billion. Democrats used their majorities in the House and Senate to pass a two-year $78 billion budget that was balanced with spending cuts and billions of dollars in new and higher taxes. The tax package Democrats assembled totals around $9.4 billion over four years to fully cover the gap. Ferguson, whose vetoes left the state with a little less savings, warned the fiscal situation could worsen when the next forecast of state tax collections is released on June 24. On Tuesday, Washington chief economist David Reich offered a sense of what to expect when he delivered his quarterly review of the economy to the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, a bipartisan panel of state lawmakers and agency executives, including Chapman-See. It didn't sound good. Tax collections are coming in lower than predicted in March. Uncertainty surrounding tariffs, trade and federal policies are having a chilling effect on exports, consumer spending, and general activity across many sectors. While there was an uptick in sales of new vehicles, Reich said, it might have been folks rushing to beat new or higher tariffs. Sales of expensive properties generated a few more dollars than anticipated, he said. But new housing starts are behind March projections. Prior to his presentation, the council adopted a new four-year outlook showing Washington will have less money on hand at the end of the next budget cycle than previously estimated. The state will have an ending balance of $80 million in its main operating account at the end of the 2025-27 biennium, down from the $225 million penciled in before lawmakers approved the budget in April. Projections show the operating account will be in the red to the tune of $56 million in the 2028 fiscal year before rebounding to a positive sum by July 1, 2029. Washington isn't in any immediate budget danger and has more than $2 billion in emergency reserves. Still, Chapman-See said the financial situation is why agencies are being pressed to further reduce spending. And, she said, it is anticipated that travel, hiring and contracting freezes imposed this fall will remain in place. Democratic budget writers from the House and Senate who serve on the council said there's nothing for lawmakers to do, yet. 'I'm not sure what we can do before January,' said Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, the lead budget writer in the Senate. 'There are a lot of pieces of information that will be collected and considered, including what the federal government might do between now and then.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seattle's democracy vouchers are working. Here's the proof
A voter puts a ballot in the drop box at the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library in King County in August 2024. This voting location is one of the most popular in the county. (Laurel Demkovich/Washington State Standard) In American politics, money talks — and usually wins. Candidates fundraise to hire staff, print literature, and reach voters. More often than not, the candidate who raises the most money comes out on top. While money speaks volumes in elections, most campaign cash comes from a tiny sliver of Americans. In 2024, just 1% of Americans contributed at least $200 to federal candidates. Those donations accounted for a staggering 80% of all money in federal races. These donors are not representative of the American electorate. They're overwhelmingly white, wealthy, and predominantly male. Money is a problem in local elections, too. When we started researching local elections in Seattle, we found that a tiny sliver of the electorate was funding political campaigns. In fact, in 2013, only 1.49% of Seattle residents donated to a local campaign. Those donors were concentrated in the city's wealthiest neighborhoods. Seattle's Democracy Voucher Program changed that. By giving every voter publicly funded democracy vouchers to support candidates of their choice, the program has brought tens of thousands more people into the political process. Today, the donors in local elections look much more like the voters of Seattle. As the program has expanded, participation has surged. The share of registered voters contributing to campaigns nearly doubled — from about 5% in 2017, when voters first began using their vouchers to support city council candidates, to nearly 10% in 2021, when voters could also, for the first time, use their vouchers to support mayoral candidates. Seattle now boasts one of the highest local contributor rates in the country. These new donors also reflect the city's diversity. Democracy voucher users are far more representative — by race, income, and age — than traditional cash donors. To take just one example: in 2013, less than 1% of people of color in Seattle donated to city campaigns. By 2021, with voucher users in the mix, that figure had jumped to 8%. As democracy vouchers draw more people into the system of campaign finance, the program is narrowing the racial and economic disparities that have long distorted our elections and their outcomes. Seattle's success hasn't gone unnoticed. In 2022, Oakland voters passed a 'Democracy Dollars' measure modeled on Seattle's. And reformers in cities like Los Angeles and San Diego are watching closely as they explore public financing programs of their own. As Seattle heads into its fifth election cycle with democracy vouchers, and voters consider renewing the program's tax levy, the evidence is clear. The program has moved Seattle toward a fairer, more inclusive democracy. We hope Seattle chooses to keep leading the way.
