Today's headlines:
- Washington's Supreme Court says the "millionaires' tax" can't be challenged by referendum—though voters may still get a chance to weigh in.
- Rep. Michael Baumgartner holds a town hall in Republic after seeing protestors in Colville.
- Gas prices in Washington hit another record high today.
- Spokane is trying to curb late night street racing.
And Washington lawmakers have mandated the state reduce its carbon emissions by 45% from 1990 levels by 2030. And by 2050, the state is supposed to be at net zero emissions.
The state Ecology and Commerce Departments recently published a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report with the latest data, which is from 2022 and shows a half percentage point drop in carbon emitted. Leah Missik from Climate Solutions joins to talk about whether that's enough to meet the state's deadlines.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Sarah Mizes-Tan, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Natalie Akane Newcomb, Eliza Billingham and Owen Henderson.
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 Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
On today’s show, the Washington State Supreme Court says one of the conservative challenges to the new income tax on high earners can’t go forward.
Plus, Spokane City Council tries to take on street racing.
And we break down what the latest greenhouse gas emission data means for Washington state’s ambitious carbon reduction goals.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
The Washington Supreme Court has ruled against one of the conservative-backed challenges to the so-called “millionaires’ tax.”
State Government Reporter Sarah Mizes-Tan has more.
SARAH MIZES-TAN: Hedge fund manager Brian Heywood sued the state over its new high-earners tax.
He took issue with an “emergency clause” in the law that said revenue from the tax is urgently needed.
HEYWOOD: “It doesn’t go into effect until 2028, no revenue is collected until 2029, there’s no possible interpretation that says ‘Oh yeah, this is what we gotta have to run the government right now.’”
SMT: But the state’s Supreme Court disagrees with him and is upholding that emergency language in the millionaires’ tax.
That language also prevents voters from bringing a referendum to pause and recall the law.
Voters could still challenge the tax using an initiative, but that process requires more votes to get on the ballot.
Heywood says he plans to file an initiative, but didn’t say whether he would this year or next.
A separate lawsuit against the constitutionality of the millionaires’ tax is currently working its way through state courts.
In Olympia, I’m Sarah Mizes-Tan.
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OH: Eastern Washington Rep. Michael Baumgartner is meeting local leaders across his district as he campaigns for reelection, but holding just a handful of official town halls.
Last night, the Republican spoke with constituents at Republic Elementary School as part of his “12 counties in 12 days” tour across the 5th Congressional District.
MICHAEL BAUMGARTNER: “We're going to be doing more of this, and get across the district. And you know, if you voted for me, I work for you. If you didn't vote for me, I work for you.”
OH: About 30 residents attended.
Conversations centered around border issues, agriculture and healthcare.
Hours before, Baumgartner was in Colville for a private fundraiser, where he was met with several protestors.
The representative plans to do a second town hall at 4:30 this afternoon in Davenport and a final one 11:30 Monday morning in Ritzville.
— — —
Washington state hit another all-time high in gas prices today at $5.71 for a gallon of regular, on average.
KUOW’s Natalie Akane Newcomb talked to folks at Costco over the weekend who were looking for a bargain.
NATALIE AKANE NEWCOMB: It’s Saturday afternoon in the middle of the weekend Costco grocery and gas rush.
Oscar Gonzales just filled his tank and was waiting in line for the car wash.
Gonzales says he drives a lot during the week, but with prices going up he tries to be mindful about how much gas he uses.
OSCAR GONZALES: “I'm pretty frugal about where I go and how I plan my schedule during the week. So it's not too bad yet, but it's obviously front of mind. It's not getting any cheaper. It's getting actually more expensive.”
NAN: Gonzales blamed the price increases on the on-going conflict between the US and Iran.
He said it’s a shame everyday people like himself end up paying the price for the war.
OH: That’s KUOW’s Natalie Akane Newcomb reporting.
Washington State has the second highest gas prices in the country, right behind California.
The average price in Spokane is $5.32 a gallon—also a record high for the region.
— — —
Spokane officials are trying to curb noisy, late night street racing.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham has more.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: Late night engine revving and unmuffled exhaust pipes have been waking up Spokanites for years.
That’s why Council member Paul Dillon introduced an anti-street racing ordinance yesterday at a public safety committee meeting.
PAUL DILLON: “We constantly hear from constituents about this issue on our city streets, typically at night. But last council meeting last Monday ended early. I was driving home and about 6:45 there was three cars that were racing right on Main.”
EB: If passed, the ordinance would actually define racing on city streets—no such definition is currently on the books.
It would also set fines to $500 for a first offense, 800 for the second, and fifteen hundred for the third.
Dillon is currently waiting for legal advice on whether the driver or the registered owner of the car would face those penalties.
The ordinance is co-sponsored by council member Michael Cathcart.
Cathcart does want to figure out ways to let people get street racing, quote, “out of their system.”
MICHAEL CATHCART: “If there was theoretically a way to you know, close down a roadway for an authorized sort of road race type thing, I think that would actually be really interesting and neat and draw a lot of interest from folks.”
EB: The ordinance will likely be voted on early this summer.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: Washington has ambitious climate goals. Legislators have mandated the state reduce its carbon emissions by 45% from 1990 levels by 2030. And by 2050, the state is supposed to be at net zero emissions.
The state Ecology and Commerce Departments recently published a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report with the latest data, which is from 2022.
It shows a half-percentage point reduction in emissions from 2021 to 2022, a decrease of half a million metric tons of carbon emissions in that time. But what does that mean for the state's lofty goals?
Leah Missik with the non-profit Climate Solutions joins me now to break down the report. What were some of your biggest takeaways from this latest batch of data?
LEAH MISSIK: Washington has done a good job growing its economy while cutting pollution. It is called decoupling, where our economy is growing and our state businesses are doing well, but we are still cutting pollution. So that's actually a really good sign.
At the same time, we have a very strong policy foundation when it comes to cutting climate pollution, but we absolutely still need to do more. And that is one of my biggest takeaways. We've made some strides, but there's a lot more work to be done.
OH: But as I mentioned, this is data from 2022. Why are we just getting this data now?
LM: The biggest reason is because the state has been using federal data to do its greenhouse gas emissions inventory. And there's a significant time lag for that data. At the same time, we have seen the federal administration making significant cuts to the EPA, where this data is housed. So that has made the situation even more difficult.
The good news is that the state has gotten the resources to create its own state-based inventory. That means from the ground up, they're building new ways to collect this data. They will have it in a more timely fashion, but they just started that process. So in the future, we'll be seeing a much more fast turnaround, which is exciting, but we're in a little bit of a transition period.
One thing to keep in mind about this inventory is that it's actually in 2023 that two of our most significant climate policies went into effect. One is the Climate Commitment Act, which creates a cap on pollution for the state's largest polluters and also generates investments that can help folks around the state not only cut climate pollution, but boost affordability. And we don't see the impacts of that in this inventory yet.
The other one is the Clean Fuel Standard, which cuts pollution from the transportation sector, which is our top polluting sector in Washington. And that also went into effect in 2023.
That said, by 2030, we need to cut our climate pollution significantly. And these policies are a really great foundation, but we have to do a lot more.
We also need to make sure that we are actually investing in significant pollution reductions and also unlocking energy savings and affordability for people at the same time.
OH: You've kind of done a little pre-butting of some critiques that have come out about this. These are people who are critical of the state's climate policy anyway, and they have pointed to this and other data as evidence that Washington has too ambitious of goals and that they might not be achievable. How would you respond to that?
LM: This is what the international scientific community says is necessary to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. That is how we have set our state targets. As Washington, we are going to do our fair share and hold up a responsibility to meet that scientific imperative.
And at the same time, we can do this in a way that benefits people across the state. And again, as I mentioned earlier, this 2022 inventory simply does not show the impacts of our most significant climate policies coming online.
OH: What else can policymakers pursue, bearing in mind that right now there is a federal administration that hasn't been very friendly to renewable energy?
For example, Washington has a no coal policy that went into effect at the end of 2025, and the Trump administration is in the courts attempting to keep that coal plant open. So how would you like to see state level policymakers push this further?
LM: We really need to double down on some things that we have been doing. One really cool example that is news is that the state launched a program called WAZIP, which is a point of sale voucher for large vehicles that are electric.
So think about vans, big trucks doing hauls, that kind of thing. This point of sale voucher will help small businesses access these vehicles that have a higher upfront cost, but have significant savings.
They don't have to go to the gas station and purchase gasoline or diesel that has extremely high prices because of geopolitics and international conflict, right? That is out of our control. Instead, they're able to rely on electricity, which is a much cheaper fuel. The equivalent to fill up a tank of, you know, electricity is like five bucks or less.
And I can say this as somebody who has to drive from Seattle to Olympia back and forth a lot. And I have a Chevy Bolt and you save a lot of money. It's just about accessing that vehicle and helping with the upfront cost.
The state can certainly do that. And then a final example I would provide is helping folks access efficient electric heating and cooling. There's an appliance called a heat pump, which provides both heating and air conditioning and is very, very energy efficient.
And especially given that summers are getting hotter, we want to make sure that people have cooling in their homes at the same time. And so these are all good examples of ways the state can help everyday people by helping them cover the upfront costs of a technology that might be a little bit more expensive right now, but then they'll save so much money in the long run because of the energy efficiency.
OH: You know, earlier you mentioned specifically wanting to make sure that money from the Climate Commitment Act, the money that's been generated by the state's carbon auction, actually went into climate policy and emissions reduction policy. It's not a very big secret that the state had some budget issues this year and that's not likely to vanish in the near future.
How would you respond to the argument, this is money that we are allowed to use and the state can't really afford to put more money into some of these other areas. Why is it important to you that the state keeps these climate dollars in emissions reduction?
LM: That was the promise of the Climate Commitment Act and people resoundingly defended it at the ballot in large part because of these investments that would benefit their communities.
These were a value add for their communities that people saw and I think elected officials need to listen to that. I also think it's really important to remember that these investments are very connected to people's everyday lives.
If done well, these investments not only cut both climate and air pollution, so that helps people's health, but it can also help them cut energy costs and the state really needs to live up to the promise of the Climate Commitment Act that the voters demanded.
OH: Leah Missik is the Washington Legislative Director for Climate Solutions. Thanks for your time this morning.
LM: Thank you, Owen, really appreciate it.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Sarah Mizes-Tan, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Natalie Akane Newcomb, Eliza Billingham and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
