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New research reveals that gas prices are significantly higher in Democrat-controlled states than in Republican states. That’s not much of a surprise, however, until the researchers dive into what …
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By Bob Pishue / Mountain States Policy Center
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7/22/26
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After sounding the alarm for decades about the need to manage outsized populations of pinnipeds, the treaty tribes are encouraged by a bipartisan bill to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act …
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By Chairman Ed Johnstone / Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
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7/22/26
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Despite claims from some that prioritizing tax relief would imperil Idaho’s budget, the Gem State has just closed the books on Fiscal Year 2026, ending in the black while rolling over approximately …
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By Jason Mercier / Mountain States Policy Center
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7/21/26
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When the House of Representatives voted this week on a proposal to cut $3.3 billion in U.S. military assistance for Israel, the amendment failed but gathered some surprising Democratic “yes” …
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By Donna Gordon Blankinship / The Washington State Standard
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7/20/26
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What if the best report card for state government wasn’t a poll or an election? What if it was a moving truck?
Every year, millions of Americans make one of the biggest decisions of their …
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By Chris Cargill / Mountain States Policy Center
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7/16/26
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Every town has its characters, the people everyone knows, even if they don't know them personally.
Growing up in Tenino, Keith Phillips was one of those people.
If you cared at all about …
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Commentary by Wayne Fournier
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7/15/26
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This week the Olympia City Council restarted its work on workers' affordability and protections — the process that paused when the Workers' Bill of Rights went to the ballot last fall. Voters …
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7/15/26
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Growing up, I thought getting a set of keys meant freedom. The keys to your first car, your first apartment and your first home all felt like another step toward adulthood. As I've gotten older, …
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By Wayne Fournier
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7/13/26
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On a warm June evening, more than 3,000 people gathered on Olympia's waterfront.
Children wearing jerseys from countries around the world kicked soccer balls across Port Plaza while families …
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7/6/26
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The encampment known as “The Jungle” is a significant and complex challenge facing our community. I want to provide an update on where we are, what has changed in recent months, and where we're headed …
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Commentary by Dontae Payne
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7/6/26
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A missing child from Arizona was recently found in an Olympia homeless encampment after investigators suspected she was being sex trafficked. That fact alone should disturb every one of us.
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By Sarah Mittelman
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7/3/26
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If you’re celebrating the United States Supreme Court Tuesday ruling that keeps in place state laws banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams, you might …
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By Ken Vance, ClarkCountyToday
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7/3/26
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Imagine being told you have to leave your home, perhaps forever. You only have a couple of hours to pack, and you can only take what fits in your car.
Calista Christiansen, a seventh-grader from …
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By Kris Johnson, Association of Washington Business
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7/3/26
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Washington state’s third-highest-in-the-nation gas tax is going up again on July 1, 2026.
It will be the first “automatic” or “inflation-based” increase since ESHB 2711, signed …
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By Bob Pishue / Mountain States Policy Center
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6/29/26
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When I was younger, I used to hear people talk about “the people who stay.”
Sometimes it was said with admiration, and sometimes it wasn't.
There was often an assumption buried inside …
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Commentary by Wayne Fournier
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6/24/26
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Amidst evidence of signature gatherers being harassed, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown is offering his support to prosecute those trying to interfere with the initiative and referendum …
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By Sam Cardwell / Mountain States Policy Center
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6/22/26
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What happened on May 26, 2026, is horrible.
Eleven people died in Longview.
That sentence should stop all of us for a moment. Eleven workers left for work and never came home after a …
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6/19/26
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The abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass is known for many things, but perhaps among the most significant is his views on education’s relationship to slavery. Douglass himself was born into …
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Commentary by Rodney D. Coates / For The Washington State Standard
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6/19/26
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On June 5, the director of Gov. Bob Ferguson's Office of Financial Management (OFM) sent every state agency a letter telling them to brace for what she called "the most challenging budget any of us …
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By Ryan Frost / Washington Policy Center
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6/15/26
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When I was little, I wanted curly hair.
My mother had curls — wild, full, unapologetic ones. I spent years chasing them. Perms that smelled like regret. Rollers I slept on. None of it worked. …
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By Amalie O'Connor
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6/11/26
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