Chris Cargill

Policymaking is the exclusive prerogative of the legislative branch of our government. But over the past few decades, a virus of executive overreach and lawmaking from the bench seems to have sullied the notion of separation of powers.

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown may have said it best: “In a time when we want to encourage voter participation, we need to keep voting simple. Ranked choice voting is overly complicated and confusing. I believe it deprives voters of genuinely informed choice.”

The first step must be more options for parents. There are various ways to accomplish this. Arizona has become the first state to allow for complete and universal Education Savings Accounts (ESA’s). These tools allow parents to access at least some of the dollars set aside by the state to fund their child’s education.

How much worse do schools have to get before parents and public officials take a stand?

With the new year comes new opportunities for leaders of Washington state to get public policy right.

Parents and working families might just be the newest “special interest” group.

Across Washington state and the nation, the lesson from Election 2021 was simple: elected leaders are not listening.

The passage of Propositions 1 and 2 in Spokane were not just routine ballot wins – they reflect demands that are echoing across the entire state. Lawmakers should listen.

All of this breaks the original “McCleary promise” to fund schools with state funds and provide local tax relief. Instead, the union and some school officials want to double dip: get more state money and add to the local tax burden. The result will be more harm to working families, greater inequality between rich and poor districts, and likely more legal action at the state level.

People, and businesses, can vote with their feet. That sound you hear might be citizens starting to put on their shoes.

Washington’s farm families and food processors do much more than provide a huge economic benefit to the state. They provide us with food security. Farmers and those who work in the agricultural community in our state are also the stewards of public lands and of public resources.

With a yearly economic contribution valued at $51 billion and 160,000 jobs, Washington farmers and agricultural businesses make up an essential and often overlooked segment of the state economy.

For that… Show more

Washington’s farm families and food processors do much more than provide a huge economic benefit to the state. They provide us with food security. Farmers and those who work in the agricultural community in our state are also the stewards of public lands and of public resources.

With a yearly economic contribution valued at $51 billion and 160,000 jobs, Washington farmers and agricultural businesses make up an essential and often overlooked segment of the state economy.

For that reason, state leaders should ensure that agricultural productivity is a priority and considered equally with high-tech, software, aerospace, biomedical research and other key industries when setting tax, regulatory and economic policy in Washington. Show less

Usually when voters speak, lawmakers listen — though some may claim the message from voters wasn’t clear. What could be unclear, though, about the voters saying five times that they want broader consensus before their financial burdens are raised?