By Bill Lucia | Editor
Dozens of new state laws take effect today — 90 days after this year’s legislative session ended. A tax hike on health insurers, guidelines for making change as pennies are phased out, and a ban on employers requiring their workers to get microchip implants are among the statutes the state is adding to the books.
Also in today’s edition…
The clash over a major clean energy project approved in 2024 isn’t over.
Inflation hits a three-year high.
And, a class action lawsuit over water pollution in eastern Oregon.
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The Washington state Capitol on Feb. 6, 2026. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Among the more than 200 laws taking effect today is Senate Bill 6182, which will impose a new tax on health insurers to fund grants for abortion service providers. There’s also House Bill 2165, making it a gross misdemeanor to impersonate a police officer. House Bill 1795 establishes new restrictions on restraint and isolation practices in schools. And, Senate Bill 6137 will permit gamblers to place bets at tribal casinos on sports games played by in-state universities. For more highlights, see today’s full article.
By Jerry Cornfield
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee approved the Horse Heaven wind power project back in October 2024. The fight over the planned 72,500-acre installation in south-central Washington will continue today at the state Supreme Court. Opponents, including Benton County and the Yakama Nation, argue that Inslee and the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council failed to properly follow permitting requirements in greenlighting the project, which also includes solar and battery storage. They’ll get a chance to make their case before the high court, with arguments scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.
By Tim Henderson
Consumer price inflation reached 4.2% in May, the highest in three years, boosted largely by energy prices that have spiked because of the Iran war, according to federal numbers released on Wednesday. The higher year-over-year inflation rate was expected. But at more than double the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%, the numbers dimmed hopes of an interest rate cut.
“The bigger tax refunds Americans have received this year no longer cover the higher costs of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel caused by the war,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, wrote in a social media post. “This is a big economic blow, but deficit-financed tax cuts have cushioned it — until now,” Zandi wrote.
The Port of Morrow is surrounded by four industrial parks with data processing centers, an ethanol plant and food processors. It produces nitrogen-rich water that it sends out to area farms to use on crops. (Photo by Kathy Aney/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
By Alex Baumhardt
Eastern Oregon residents who have lived for years with contaminated water can move forward with a class action lawsuit against the Port of Morrow and large food processors in the area, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon late last week issued an order denying a motion from the Port of Morrow and five businesses to dismiss the case, Pearson v. Port of Morrow.
Several residents who cannot drink their nitrate-contaminated water initially filed the lawsuit in 2024. It claims the defendants polluted a groundwater aquifer for years with fertilizer-tainted wastewater collected from industrial food processors and data centers at the port. That water was applied to area farm fields, billed as a beneficial wastewater reuse program. But the plaintiffs argue it became a toxic dumping scheme.
ICYMI
Lawmaker fights ethics charges in rare public hearing | by Jerry Cornfield
Controversial new drug pricing law upheld amid legal challenge | by Jake Goldstein-Street
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