By Bill Lucia | Editor
Opponents of Washington’s district map for the state Legislature have been urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their challenge against it. Now, the state is also asking the high court to accept the case. The dispute centers on a redrawn map that a federal judge approved in 2024. If the high court wades in, it opens up the possibility that the state’s legislative districts could change yet again before the next scheduled redrawing of the boundaries in 2031.
Also in today’s edition…
The feds release guidance for new Medicaid work requirements.
A high-profile speaker added to the state Democratic Party’s convention lineup.
Pushback over a Trump administration official’s threat to suspend international flight arrivals to Democratic-led cities.
And, new data show a decline in homelessness across the U.S.
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(Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By Jerry Cornfield
The controversial redrawing of Washington’s legislative map shifted more than 300,000 people across 13 districts in eastern and western Washington, revising boundaries that the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission approved in 2021. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik ruled that the previous map diluted the political power of Latino voters in the Yakima Valley.
Jose Trevino and state Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, who oppose the redrawn map Lasnik approved, petitioned the Supreme Court in January to take up the case. Since then, the Supreme Court significantly curtailed the use of race in drawing district boundaries with its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
The state now also argues that the Supreme Court should take the case, but send it back to a lower court to decide if the revised map complies with the Callais decision. “The lower courts should be given the first opportunity to apply that decision to the facts of this case,” reads a brief filed by Attorney General Nick Brown.
By Anna Claire Vollers
The federal government released new guidance this week on how states should roll out Medicaid work requirements. The interim rule from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is intended to give states more details on how they’re supposed to verify the work status for about 20 million adults enrolled in Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program for low-income Americans. States face a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to implement the work requirements. Gov. Bob Ferguson joined five other Democratic governors last week in asking the Trump administration to slow the rollout of the work requirements, calling the timeline unworkable.
DNC chair added to WA Dems convention lineup
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is now scheduled to speak at the Washington State Democratic Party convention in Spokane later this month, the party said in an advisory yesterday. Martin is navigating a turbulent moment following the release of a botched “autopsy” report on Democrats’ 2024 losses and amid other tensions within the DNC. Some Democrats have called for his resignation. The Washington convention is June 19-21. Delegates attending from around the state will help decide the Democrats’ official platform and conduct other party business. Washington Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad also serves as a DNC vice chair.
By Ariana Figueroa
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared before a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday, where he defended his threats to cripple international air travel into some cities led by Democrats.
Mullin said in interviews on Fox News and Newsmax last week that he was considering a plan to remove customs officers from airports in cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. “These sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities, either,” he told Fox’s Sean Hannity.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the move would be “insane.” She added, “It is not only dangerous but would spell economic crisis for blue and red states.”
By Robbie Sequeira
There were fewer homeless people in the United States on a single night in January 2025 than in January 2024, but homelessness increased in 28 states, according to the latest federal count. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counted 745,652 homeless people in its latest “point-in-time” estimate, down 3% from the year before. The report estimated 31,721 people were homeless in Washington, an increase of 0.5% from 2024 and up nearly 36% from 2007.
ICYMI
Ferguson rebuffs GOP lawmaker’s call to pause WA climate law | by Aspen Ford
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