Today's headlines:
- Idaho joins Washington and 37 other states in a dispute against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about who gets to control sports betting.
- An Idaho Senate committee votes to punish transgender individuals who use bathrooms designed for people of the opposite sex.
- Cash transactions in Washington won't need pennies anymore.
- Spokane County needs at least $20 million to bring its public safety campus into compliance with the state's Clean Buildings Act by 2028. It's now telling the city to foot about half the bill.
Plus, as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown, the impact is reaching far beyond the border. Northwest News Network reporter Johanna Bejarano explains how these policy shifts are creating a state of limbo for people who are following a legal process in the Pacific Northwest.
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The deadline for Washington’s Clean Buildings Act is coming soon. The law that passed 10 years ago put energy efficiency mandates on commercial buildings. That’s putting major pressure on Spokane.
Spokane County estimates it will need to spend at least $20 million to bring its antiquated public safety campus into compliance with the clean energy law by 2028.
Deputy City Administrator Maggie Yates says the county is now asking the city to foot about half the bill.
YATES: “We space or have shared costs for space at the county campus and the public safety building and the core annex. The county has indicated that they will pass through clean energy upgrades to the city at around $10.8 million.”
The city is asking the county if it can pay in installments, because it doesn’t have enough money to pay upfront.
In addition to being inefficient, the public safety campus is also too small for the city and the county’s needs.
It doesn’t have enough courtrooms or offices, which slows processing times and puts judges, attorneys, and clients at risk.
The maximum penalty for not complying with the Clean Buildings Act in time is $840,000 per building.
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As pennies leave circulation, cash transactions in Washington will look a little different.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
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Say goodbye to super specific totals—anyone paying cash in Washington will be rounded up or down to the nearest zero or five cents.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a bill Monday eliminating the need for pennies in the state.
Transactions ending in one, two, six or seven cents will be rounded down. Those ending in three, four, eight or nine will be rounded up.
That’s only for cash payments, though. Electronic payments like credit or debit cards won’t be affected.
According to the Federal Reserve, people still pay with cash about 14% of the time.
It’s possible a so-called “rounding tax” could cost Americans millions of dollars each year, with a larger impact on lower income consumers.
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Idaho is joining a 39-state coalition against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
During a current lawsuit between Crypto.com and the state of Nevada, the federal commission claims it can override state sports betting laws.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador says “states like Idaho that choose to ban sports betting would be prevented from enforcing those bans under the CFTC's theory.”
The commission is arguing that what most people call “bets” on crypto.com or Kalshi are legally considered “swaps.” Congress gave the federal agency final authority over “swaps” to regulate Wall Street after the 2008 financial crisis.
Labrador and the coalition say Congress never “clearly authorized the federal agency to regulate sports betting when it granted authority over Wall Street swaps.”
Washington state is also part of the coalition. The lawsuit is currently being argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
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Idaho Republican lawmakers hoping to criminalize the use of sex-segregated bathrooms by transgender people are close to accomplishing their goal.
Yesterday, a state Senate committee approved the bill along party lines. If their proposal becomes law, a person could serve up to one year in jail or five years in prison depending on the circumstance.
Robert Gillis, an Eagle City Council member, says separating bathrooms by sex is an age-old concept that needs to be maintained.
Boise resident Carolyn Blackhurst says her transgender godson recently moved out of Idaho because of the hostile political climate. She rejects the argument that the bill is in the best interest of women.
Blackhurst: “I am a woman, a Sunday school teacher, a godmother and a grandma and I am not afraid to share a bathroom with transgender women. I don’t need protections for bathroom use.”
If passed by the full Senate, the bill would go to Gov. Brad Little’s desk for consideration.
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As the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown, the impact is reaching far beyond the border. Northwest News Network freelance reporter Johanna Bejarano explains how these policy shifts are creating a state of limbo for people who are following a legal process in the Pacific Northwest, including those who are nearly U.S. citizens.
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In the Yakima Valley, Sofia Acosta — legal services manager with La Casa Hogar — gives a tour of their legal clinic. The non-profit helps people apply for U.S. citizenship here.
If you don’t know how to apply for citizenship, you have questions about applying, we can help you here she says
People interested in applying for citizenship walk through the door to learn more.
Becoming a citizen in the U.S. is a years-long process. First, you have to have your green card. Then you have to do a background check, take an exam, and pass an interview.
But this year, she says, would-be citizens are dealing with even more challenges. Canceled naturalization ceremonies.
ACOSTA: “ We did have a good amount that were canceled, which is alarming for us.”
She says 18 ceremonies that were scheduled for January and February were cancelled.
She says U.S. Customs and Immigration Services told her it was an ‘internal issue.’
Four have since been rescheduled. She says it’s not something she’s seen happen before.
ACOSTA: “Not this amount ever, maybe here like one or two, either because of the weather cause a cancellation…or maybe some other factor, but never this many. This is definitely unprecedented.”
For 74-year-old Avelino Gonzalez, December 12 was supposed to be the day he finally became an American citizen.
Gonzalez is from Cuba, but has called the U.S. home since 1996. His naturalization ceremony was scheduled in Yakima, Washington. But the day before the event, his lawyer gave him the news: the ceremony was canceled.
GONZALEZ: “Como si me hubieran tirado un jarro de agua fría.” [“It was as if I had been splashed with a bucket of cold water.”]
His lawyer, Eilish Villa Malone with Central Washington Legal Aid, says there was no formal letter or explanation from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Two months later, it has still not been rescheduled
VILLA MALONE: “Really all you can do is wait. There's no kind of appeal process right now because the ceremony's just been canceled…So, it's kind of like in limbo.”
Gonzalez says he feels canceling his ceremony is unfair.
GONZALEZ: “ Bastante injusto… no me cabe en la cabeza; pero bueno, tenemos que adaptarnos al sistema y cumplir las órdenes que nos bajan. ” [“It’s quite unfair... I can't wrap my head around it; but we have to adapt to the system and follow the orders we're given”]
Villa Malone says being from Cuba might have played a part. It’s on a list of dozens of countries the Trump Administration deemed “high risk”. It paused immigration procedures and increased scrutiny for people from those countries.
VILLA MALONE: “So not just for citizenship, but also for work permits or green cards or for asylum process.”
But Sofia Acosta at La Casa Hogar says the ceremonies she’s seen canceled involve individuals of Mexican nationality. Mexico is not on that list.
Immigration attorneys report that ceremonies have also been cancelled in other cities and towns across the Pacific Northwest, including in Portland and Seattle.
USCIS data shows naturalization rates, but not canceled or postponed ceremonies.
In a written statement, USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the previous administration was "rubberstamping" applications. He says the agency is now doing a more rigorous vetting process.
Gonzalez says he’ll keep waiting for his new ceremony date.
I’m Johanna Bejarano reporting.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Eliza Billingham, James Dawson and Johanna Bejarano.
Today's show is hosted and produced by Doug Nadvornick.
Thanks for listening. This is SPR News.
