Cuts to federal humanities funding to impact Washington organizations
One of the state’s major granting agencies, Humanities Washington, stands to lose about $6 million, or half of its overall funding. Executive Director Julie Ziegler said the acting head of the National Endowment for the Humanities recently sent word that he is cancelling three active grants it had awarded the Washington organization.
“These are grants that we use to do public programs all around the state, including many in Spokane and eastern Washington, where there are just fewer resources for this kind of programming, so we prioritize these areas," she said.
Ziegler said Humanities Washington may have to drop or dramatically scale back three of its major programs, including its speakers bureau. It sends authors, artists and others to speak in local libraries and cultural centers all around the state. The agency also operates a family reading program aimed at helping struggling young readers.
Ziegler said other Washington cultural organizations are also at risk of losing several million dollars in government money. She said they are working with Washington’s U.S. senators and Rep. Michael Baumgartner’s office to make their case for continued funding.
Republicans claim victory after Idaho's 2025 legislative session ends
Idaho House Republican leadership says they accomplished every goal they had for the 2025 Legislative Session after it ended Friday.
House Speaker Mike Moyle said his caucus made great strides in bettering Idaho this year in all of its goals.
"We touched on every one of those, from school choice, Medicaid reform, issues with illegal immigration and election reform and security," he told reporters.
About the only thing left on the table for Moyle was tweaking the Idaho Parental Rights Act that requires parental permission for all health care treatment except in life threatening emergencies.
Providers have said they’re reluctant to provide things like rape kits or set broken bones without permission. Moyle said a bill to fix these issues came too late in the session.
"There’s so many people wanting more amendments to the bill, and there’s not a consensus with the parties," he said. "I had hoped we’d be able to fix that this year."
Their wish list also included significant tax cuts. The GOP chopped $450 million from the state’s revenue stream in personal and corporate income tax rates, boosting the tax credit on groceries and property taxes.
House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel said some of that money should’ve been left to expand capacity at community colleges for in-demand careers and infrastructure repair.
"These are debts that are going to be left for our children and grandchildren to pay with a shrunken pot of revenue to cover it," she said. "This is the textbook opposite of fiscal conservatism, folks."
She also listed plenty of priorities that faced the chopping block this year.
"These were completely thrown under the bus: all funding for affordable housing, funding for rural physician incentives, funding for education, you name it," she said.
Legislators will return to Boise next January barring any potential special sessions.
Cantwell pushes for congressional oversight on tariff policy
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said her bill to reaffirm Congress’s role in setting and approving trade policy, including tariffs, is gaining traction.
In a letter Monday, the National Retail Federation, which is the largest retail trade association in the world, endorsed the legislation.
"Requiring an explanation as well as an assessment of the tariff actions from the administration is critical," NRF Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French wrote. "We have seen that the recently announced ‘reciprocal’ tariffs will have a significant negative impact on businesses, especially small retailers."
A dozen other sponsors, an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats, have joined the legislation since its introduction on Thursday.
Cantwell’s bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), would require that a president explain his reasoning behind new or increased tariffs within two days after they take effect.
If Congress doesn’t approve the changes, the tariffs would expire in 60 days.
This morning, April 8, Cantwell and the Senate Finance Committee will question U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over the White House’s trade policies and sweeping tariffs.
Affordable housing bill proposed by Spokane legislator clears Washington Senate
Legislation aimed at helping people with low incomes buy homes is headed to Washington Governor Bob Ferguson’s desk.
The lead sponsor, Rep. Representative Mike Volz (R-Cheney), said a Spokane non-profit asked him for help with its new project. It had recently secured land on which it planned to eventually site a dozen manufactured homes.
“They put these very modest two-bedroom mobile homes. I think they’re 800 or 900 square foot, so it’s nothing spectacular, but it’s a pathway to ownership," he said. "So what they’re doing is they’re selling these outright to people and they’re doing it for less than 100 grand, all in."
Volz said the legislation allows non-profit and community groups to buy and sell up to a dozen manufactured homes a year without having to register as licensed dealers. The current limit is four homes per year.
The bill cleared the Senate by a 49-0 vote and now goes to the governor for his signature.
Avista asks to hike rates in Washington
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is considering whether to let Avista Utilities raise its rates for Washington customers.
Avista Communications Manager Lena Fuston said the 2.1% rate hike is needed to cover past costs:
"In this case, the funds would be used to essentially refund the company for past power supply costs that we’ve already spent but not yet recovered," she told SPR News.
If the commission grants the request, it would raise the average Washington electrical customer’s bill by $2.50.
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Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson, Owen Henderson and Tom Lee.