By Bill Lucia | Editor
The state Supreme Court yesterday rejected an attempt to keep a 21-word statement from appearing on the November ballot that describes how a measure to repeal the new income tax on high-earners could affect Washington’s budget. Court Commissioner Michael Johnston denied citizen activist Arthur West’s request for a preliminary injunction to block a state law requiring inclusion of the “public investment impact disclosure” for Initiative 645.
Also in today’s edition…
More troubling statistics on last year’s child welfare deaths and injuries.
Idaho’s attorney general plans to fight a court ruling allowing for exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban in cases where it would protect the mother’s health.
And, cities around the U.S. turn to AI with hopes of speeding up housing permitting.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
The Temple of Justice, where the state Supreme Court convenes. (Washington State Standard)
By Jerry Cornfield
In his seven-page ruling, Johnston said he wasn’t persuaded that West’s arguments about the fiscal disclosure statements being unconstitutional outweighed the public interest in seeing the statement on fall ballots. The attorney general’s office drafts the statements. The one for the tax initiative reads: “This measure would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education (including universities and community colleges), and human services (primarily healthcare).”
A 2022 law requires such statements to accompany ballot measures that could affect the budget. West argues the law allows the legislative and executive branches to intrude on the public’s power under the initiative process. Even though he failed to block the statement on I-645, he plans to continue with the underlying case.
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Thirty-five children died, and 49 more nearly died, last year after involvement with the state’s child welfare system.
That’s according to a report the state’s Office of the Family and Children’s Ombuds presented to an oversight board Thursday. The numbers are higher than those the Department of Children, Youth and Families previously reported: 23 fatalities and 34 near fatalities. The ombuds office examines different cases, accounting for the discrepancy.
Accidental drug ingestion by children fueled a surge last year in deaths and injuries. Most incidents took place when children were in their parents’ care, and the majority of children who died were reportedly under one year old. Through the first half of this year, critical injuries have dropped significantly, as drug overdoses have declined statewide.
State Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, who sits on the Department of Children, Youth and Families oversight board, said it’s time for action. “How do we put this data to use and make it happen?” he said. “We need to move forward and start finding some things. Take a risk. Let’s do something because I struggle with these deaths.”
By Laura Guido
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador will appeal a recent federal court ruling allowing abortions to protect the mother’s health or prevent her death from self-harm. Labrador is asking a federal appeals court to block the decision, allowing Idaho’s near-total abortion ban to be enforced as written. The legal battle stems from a lawsuit from Dr. Stacy Seyb, a Boise maternal-fetal medicine specialist, who argued that Idaho’s abortion laws were unconstitutional because they didn’t allow abortions to protect a mother’s health, her future fertility or if her mental health put her at risk of self-harm.
By Robbie Sequeira
Cities around the U.S., including some in Washington, are looking at artificial intelligence to address a persistent source of housing permitting delays: incomplete applications. Two new streams of federal money aim to help them. “A lot of people end up applying for the wrong permit and go down this rabbit hole when they upload their plans. There is no validation. There is no guidance. There is literally nothing. It is a minefield of ‘gotchas’ in front of a builder,” said Saf Rabah, CEO and founder of Govstream.ai, an AI tool that has contracted with Bellevue, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky.
ICYMI
State government veteran steps in to lead troubled WA agency | by Jerry Cornfield
Thanks for reading The Daily Standard. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.