Today's headlines:
- Washington expands free preschool for low income families.
- Idaho House passes deep cuts to online school platform.
- The Gem State is on its way back to having an official presidential primary, but lawmakers don’t agree what month it should be.
- Spokane's Waste to Energy plant gets exempted from Washington's Climate Commitment Act—much to the relief of anyone who pays utility rates in the city.
- Chewelah needs more than a million dollars to fix its aging water system. Its mayor went to D.C. to ask the federal government for help.
- The SuperSonics are closer than ever to returning to Seattle after NBA governors' vote to explore expansion.
Plus, Spokane is trying to make it easier for local businesses to operate food trucks. SPR's Eliza Billingham reports on whether the mayor's proposed changes would a meaningful difference while still protecting food safety.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Mitch Borden, James Dawson, Owen Henderson, Doug Nadvornick, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Vaughn Jones, and Eliza Billingham.
Owen Henderson hosts and produces the show. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s Thursday, March 26, 2026.
On today’s show, Washington state lawmakers cleared the way for hundreds of millions of dollars to be invested in the state’s free preschool program for low-income households.
Meanwhile, the digital learning platform for Idaho public school students could see half of its budget slashed by legislators after they learned some districts got extra state money for kids taking class online.
Plus, how do you make it easier for vendors to operate food trucks without compromising on health and safety?
As SPR’s Eliza Billingham will tell us, the city of Spokane is trying to walk that regulatory tightrope as it prepares for this summer’s World Cup celebrations.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Washington lawmakers drilled down on early education issues this legislative session—including clearing the way for the state to expand its free preschool program for low-income families.
KNKX reporter Mitch Borden has more.
MITCH BORDEN: Governor Bob Ferguson recently signed legislation that will allow the state to accept hundreds of millions of dollars from the Ballmer Group, which will go towards Washington’s free preschool program for low income students.
This philanthropic gift is aimed at expanding the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, also known as ECEAP, by up to 10,000 slots.
Katy Warren, who’s with the Washington State Association for Head Start & ECEAP, says this is huge.
KATY WARREN: “This is going to provide opportunities that parents didn't even know they needed until they—until their kiddo went to ECAP and they saw how transformative it is.”
MB: Along with early educational services, ECEAP provides medical screenings and free meals to students.
On the flip side, this legislative session, lawmakers made cuts to childcare subsidies for low income families, and efforts to help more military households access free preschool fell short.
I’m Mitch Borden reporting.
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OH: Idaho’s digital learning platform for public schools could soon get half of its budget cut under a bill passed by the House yesterday [WED].
James Dawson reports.
JAMES DAWSON: The Idaho Digital Learning Academy offers remedial, elective and advanced online classes to public school students. The proposal would cut IDLA’s budget by $13.4 million and no longer allow students below 6th grade to participate.
Lawmakers want to make the cuts after learning some districts received extra state funding for kids taking online classes.
Democratic Rep. Monica Church, who’s a public school teacher, warned fellow lawmakers the reductions will outrage parents.
MONICA CHURCH: “Cutting it by 50% is going to impact your constituents, it’s going to impact your families and you’re going to hear about it, period.”
JD: Rep. Sonia Galaviz is also a Democrat and public school teacher, but she supports the bill. She says the cuts will keep the most needed courses available.
SONIA GALAVIZ: “Folks will be able to access the courses—vital courses, essential courses, courses that are required for graduation – the same as before.”
JD: State senators will consider the issue next.
James Dawson, Boise State Public Radio News.
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OH: The Gem State is on its way back to having an official presidential primary… but lawmakers don’t agree what month it should be.
Legislators unintentionally eliminated the March presidential primary back in 2023.
State senators yesterday approved a bill to put the primary in May, when primaries for other offices are held.
Under the senate bill, political parties would have the option to opt out of the primary and hold a caucus instead.
But the House has already passed a measure to reinstate the March presidential primary, with a steeper candidate fee to pay for holding the extra election.
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Spokane officially has more time to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the county’s waste-to-energy plant.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill yesterday removing the requirement that the city buy carbon credits to offset the emissions.
The city faced the prospect of having to pay several million dollars for those credits next year.
That likely would have been passed down to residents through higher utility bills.
Now, Spokane has until the end of 2030 to devise a greenhouse gas reduction plan that allows the plant to meet state emissions standards.
BOB FERGUSON: “House Bill 2416 recognizes the facility’s important and unique contributions to the Spokane community, while maintaining progress toward meeting our state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction limits.”
OH: The city is also required to write a plan for how it will lessen the amount of garbage it produces, through waste reduction and recycling.
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A project stretching back decades could get federal funds to move forward—if a northeastern Washington mayor gets his way.
SPR’s rural affairs reporter and Murrow News Fellow Monica Carrillo-Casas has more.
MONICA CARRILLO-CASAS: Chewelah Mayor Lindsey Baxter flew to the other Washington Monday morning, to push for $1.2 million in federal funding.
The funds, he says, would be used for water main replacements to the town’s 50-year-old water system. Baxter says this is part of a $9 million system upgrade plan that has been in the works for 18 years.
BAXTER: “The necessity of this grant money is to deliver clean water.”
MCC: Public Works Director Mike Frizzell says decades of deferred maintenance have left Chewelah’s water distribution system with significant buildup of manganese in their water mains.
Frizzell joined Baxter on the trip.
FRIZZELL: “The money we're going to ask for for main replacement is right in the center of town, downtown, and then a block either north and a block south.”
MCC: According to the Washington State Department of Health, manganese is a natural mineral often found in groundwater. When it mixes with chlorine in treated water, the two bond together and settle in pipes, causing brown water.
Even though the town flushes their water lines frequently, residents experience brown water on occasion, Frizzell says.
High levels of manganese can cause learning and behavioral issues in infants, according to the state agency.
In addition to the water main replacements, the town is also adding a new well to help provide more clean and accessible water. Frizzell says they are expected to start drilling this spring.
I’m Monica Carrillo-Casas reporting.
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OH: The NBA’s Board of Governors took important steps yesterday towards expansion, which means the Seattle Supersonics are closer than ever to returning.
The board voted unanimously to open up bidding for new teams in Las Vegas and Seattle.
ESPN reports the expansion fee for each team may be in the $7-to-10-billion-dollar range.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league’s goal is to have ownership and an expansion process solidified by the end of the calendar year.
And the league aims to have the two new teams starting play in the 2028-29 season exactly two decades after the SuperSonics left for Oklahoma City.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
As Spokane looks ahead to warmer months and global soccer celebrations this summer, the city is trying to make it easier to operate a food truck.
So, SPR’s Eliza Billingham looked into whether local changes could make that happen without risking food safety.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: When it’s warm outside, you’re in a crowd, you’re catching live music or pregaming that night’s match, food from a truck just seems right.
That’s at least what council member Sarah Dixit was thinking when she started working with the mayor’s office to try to make it easier to operate a food truck in Spokane.
SARAH DIXIT: “So this project was kind of born out of wanting to, you know, look ahead to warmer months—which hopefully come sooner rather than later. And also getting ahead of a lot of the fun summer things that we have in Spokane, including like the FIFA fan zone. We'll have a lot of folks coming into town. So really wanting to make sure we can make sure folks can have fun in our city.”
EB: City policy advisor Adam McDaniel says food truck code hasn’t been updated since 2014, when food trucks were just coming on the scene. That decades-old code isn’t exactly friendly.
ADAM McDANIEL: “These are small businesses that are operating in our community. Let's make it actually possible for them to operate and thrive in the city.”
EB: Dixit and McDaniel are proposing a few changes to city code. One of the biggest ones would be eliminating the need for food trucks to get a city permit.
That’s raising flags for council members like Michael Cathcart.
MICHAEL CATHCART: “There should be an absolute requirement to have a permit. If you want to waive the fee, fine. I have no issue with waiving the fee, but require a permit so we can hold people accountable for actions that are not being addressed appropriately.”
EB: Food Safety program manager Jessica Martin says food trucks have to get permits from both the health district and Labor & Industries to make sure they’re running their businesses safely and properly.
There are over 100 successfully permitted food vendors through Spokane’s health district. But that doesn’t cover everyone you might see.
JESSICA MARTIN: “Unpermitted food vendors are increasingly more and more widespread throughout Spokane, Washington, nationally. We're hearing about them all over the country, honestly.”
EB: Martin says it can be difficult for the public to tell who’s permitted because permits are typically inside the truck. Businesses are supposed to have their paperwork nearby, though, so she says customers could ask to see it if they’re curious.
Environmental health specialist Alyson Wiley also noted that the health district can only permit carts and trucks. Pop up tents and tables are only legal if they’re associated with an event.
ALYSON WILEY: “So pretty much automatically, if you see someone in a pop-up tent in middle of the night in a parking lot, there's not even a legal way to permit that.”
EB: In addition to food regulations, health district permits also require sanitary trash and waste water disposal, which should keep litter and garbage off the streets.
But the organization doesn’t have much authority to enforce their rules.
JM: “We are able to issue closure notices to those without permits. We can issue a fine to those without permits. However, if we can't determine who they are or we can't force them to tell us who they are, we can't take possession of any of their property. We can't discard their food. And they tend to operate during hours that we aren't operating.”
The city could help enforce issues if it stays a permitting body.
MC: “You take away the permit, you take away a lot of your authority to enforce.”
EB: The thing is, the city isn’t enforcing what’s on the books right now.
AM: “We have five mobile food vendors' licenses right now…So we have a regulatory licensing program that is not working.”
EB: McDaniel wonders, if the city isn’t spending the time or resources to enforce its own rules, why have them? Maybe eliminating unnecessary code and the $60 fee for a city permit could encourage more food trucks to get in the game.
But all this paperwork discussion could be missing the point entirely. Besides licensing, food trucks need one other major thing:
JM: “Usually they operate along with a commissary kitchen so that they can do that advanced prep and storage and dishwashing at the commissary kitchen.”
EB: It is very difficult and expensive to create a food truck that meets Washington’s standards for food prep and clean up. That forces businesses to use commissary kitchens, which are expensive and scarce, especially in Eastern Washington.
Without a change to state law or more of those permanent off-street spaces, Spokane may not see a lot more legal vendors on the sidewalk.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Mitch Borden, James Dawson, Doug Nadvornick, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Vaugh Jones, Eliza Billingham and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
