Bill that affects Spokane's garbage-burning plant stalls in Olympia
The Washington legislature has decided not to act on a bill that would exempt Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy plant from having to buy carbon credits, beginning in 2027, to offset its emissions.
Senate leaders chose to hold the legislation past yesterday's deadline that would have allowed the bill to stay alive this session.
Sen. Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) said the purpose of the bill is to buy Spokane County time as it works to reduce the plant’s carbon emissions.
“There’s kind of a common ground we’re looking at with this bill," he said.
"I think what we need to do is get all the constituent groups together in the same room and hammer something out, which is usually the way," Holy told SPR News. "If you have something like this that comes in, it’s a first touch. You introduce the topic. People don’t like it at first glance when you get everyone in the same room. Sometimes, more often than not, you can hammer something out that’s workable."
Spokane area officials argue that requiring the plant to buy carbon credits will lead to higher electric rates for people and companies who buy the power generated at the plant. They say the plant is already cleaner in its carbon emissions than many landfills that are required to capture methane.
Mayor Lisa Brown said she’s disappointed about the bill’s fate but that she will work with the region’s leaders to see if the bill can be resurrected next year.
Anti-marijuana constitutional amendment goes to voters
Idahoans will vote next year whether to prohibit themselves from legalizing marijuana or other drugs through a ballot initiative.
State senators passed the proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday along party lines. Under the measure, only the state legislature could legalize and regulate marijuana, narcotics, or other psychoactive substances.
“We are the elected representatives of the people,” said Sen. Scott Grow (R-Eagle), who sponsored the measure. “This is a democratic republic. It is not a pure democracy. We are here for them.”
“Never before in Idaho in 25 years of interviewing people have I had someone attend an interview stoned or high on drugs,” said Sen. Codi Galloway (R-Boise).
She recently bought a new business a year and a half ago in Nevada, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2016.
“The amount of time my employees are in the hospital with drug-related issues is a totally different ballgame than Idaho. I had no idea how good we had it here,” Galloway said.
The debate lasted about 40 minutes, with many Republicans saying other states are suffering massive societal and criminal problems after legalizing marijuana.
Assistant Senate Democratic Leader James Ruchti (D-Pocatello) asked supporters why they don’t instead outright ban the drug in the state constitution, like it does with gambling.
“If you feel that way, I don’t know why you’re taking such a weak approach to prohibiting marijuana use,” Ruchti said.
For years, conservative lawmakers have worried voters would legalize marijuana through a ballot initiative. It’s one of many reasons they’ve cited in attempting to add further restrictions to the process since 2019.
No campaign to legalize medical or recreational marijuana has gotten on the ballot. Fundraising for such efforts have been minimal or nonexistent.
Organizers this year are circulating a petition to decriminalize marijuana.
Those 21 or older who possess less than an ounce of pot could not face criminal charges, nor would those who grow 12 or fewer marijuana plants for personal use.
The proposed constitutional amendment approved by state senators Tuesday will appear on the 2026 ballot where it needs a simple majority to be enacted.
Senate didn't address police funding bill in Olympia, but bill is still considered active
A bill to create a state fund to hire new police officers and stock it with $100 million missed an important deadline in Olympia yesterday. But the bill’s main sponsor says it likely still has a future.
Spokane Republican Senator Jeff Holy’s bill would create a grant program within the Criminal Justice Training Commission. Local police departments could apply for money to hire patrol and corrections officers, counselors and behavioral health workers.
The bill has cleared two committees, but Senate leaders chose not to bring it to a vote before Wednesday’s deadline to move bills out of the chamber of origin.
Holy says he’s confident the bill will continue because it has co-sponsors from both parties and one important ally.
“During Governor Ferguson’s inaugural address, when I actually got called out and he said, ‘Look, let me be clear. If I don’t see the $100 million money applied for law enforcement, I’m not going to sign the budget.’ I think my stock went up considerably in passing this bill at that point, he said.
The state would pay the majority of the salaries for new personnel for up to three years.
WA unemployment fell, but recent job cuts haven't appeared yet in data
Growth in Washington’s economy has slowed over the past few months while unemployment has fallen in the past year, according to the state’s chief labor economist.
According to a report released Wednesday by the Washington Employment Security Department, the state unemployment numbers for January fell to 4.3% — a decrease from last May’s high of 4.6%.
“We are aware of several announced layoffs in the works — both in the public and private sectors,” Chief Labor Economist Annaliese Vance-Sherman said in a statement. “It’s worth noting that Boeing layoffs (2,595 layoffs, most beginning Jan. 17, 2025) are unlikely to show up in traditional employment numbers until the February numbers are published in a couple weeks and federal layoff numbers will not show up until the March report.”
Vance Sherman said that while Washington’s labor market is still strong, the effects of federal layoffs will likely show up in the data in another couple of months.
New employment data in the report shows nonfarm employment fell by 1,100 and government employment decreased by 700 jobs in January.
The construction sector saw the largest one-month gain with an increase of 4,000 jobs, followed by leisure and hospitality with 2,900.
Idaho House rejects call for constitutional convention
The Idaho House slapped down a proposed constitutional convention to impose congressional term limits and a federal balanced budget amendment.
Under the proposal, the federal government could not spend more money than the revenue it collects. It did not outline how many terms members of the House of Representatives or Senate could serve.
Article V of the U.S. Constitution allows state legislatures to propose amendments to the country’s founding document. That’s if two-thirds of the states agree to create a convention.
Any amendment debated at such a convention would need 75% of states attending to approve it.
High-profile opposing political groups, like the Idaho Republican Party or the progressive Common Cause fight against convening states under Article V.
That’s because the U.S. Constitution doesn’t lay out any rules for the process, leading to concerns that the convention couldn’t be limited to specific topics.
Current state Sen. Christy Zito (R-Mountain Home), who served as a lobbyist for the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance last year, opposed a similar effort.
At the time, Zito said a constitutional convention could threaten gun rights. “What is to stop the convention from getting out of control?” she asked.
House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) agrees with them.
She said there are problems with the country, including an exponentially expanding federal debt totaling $36.5 trillion as of Wednesday afternoon.
But Rubel said those issues don’t necessitate a complete constitutional overhaul.
“We are not a flaming trainwreck where we have to just go back to the starting board and start all over,” she said.
“I only wish I had a ‘hell no’ button” to vote with," Rubel said.
Only about one-third of the House supported the idea, including Rep. John Vander Woude (R-Nampa).
He said organizing a constitutional convention would be worth the risk to reign in what he calls a “runaway government.”
Vander Woude criticized many of his fellow conservatives who routinely oppose budget bills each year because they include programs funded with federal money.
“The same people in this body and [in the Senate] that will vote against any federal dollars coming here don’t want to tell the federal government, ‘You need to cut your budget and get it back in line,’” he said.
In the end, the proposal failed 26-44.
Spokane astronaut's launch delayed
Spokane native Anne McClain will have to wait a little longer for her next space adventure.
NASA scrubbed Wednesday's launch of a SpaceX flight to the International Space Station about 45 minutes before the scheduled departure.
Mission leaders cited a hydraulic issue with one of the arms that holds the rocket upright on the launch pad.
McClain is the commander of the four-person crew that will go to the space station and relieve a crew that includes two astronauts who have served much longer than expected.
“Crew-10 will be her second space flight after launching aboard the Soyuz MS-11 in 2018 and serving as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 58 and 59," Will Robinson-Smith said during pre-flight commentary on NASA's YouTube channel. "In total, she’s spent 204 days in space and completed two space walks, totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes.”
NASA says there may be other opportunities this week to get the mission underway.
Lunar eclipse visible in Inland Northwest late tonight
A total eclipse of the moon will be visible, beginning shortly after 10 this evening. Initially, all that will be visible on the face of the full moon will be a slight darkening of one corner of the moon as the shadow of the Earth begins to touch our nearest neighbor in space.
At 11:26 p.m., the moon enters the total phase, and the entire moon will appear a dark red. The maximum phase of the eclipse is just before midnight, with totality ending at 12:31 a.m.
How dark the moon will actually get depends a great deal on how much dust and cloud cover is in the Earth's atmosphere. That will affect the earth's shadow on the moon. One noted scientist is predicting a brighter eclipse this time because of less volcanic dust currently in the atmosphere.
Following the total eclipse phase, the Earth’s shadow will continue to cover a portion of the moon’s surface until 1:47 a.m.
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Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson, Owen Henderson and Steve Jackson.