government

Whatcom County will have its first Native American Superior Court judge in 2015.

When Raquel Montoya-Lewis begins her term in January, she also will be the only Superior Court judge of tribal descent in the state.

Washington’s public four-year colleges and universities would agree to freeze tuition for another two years if the state Legislature increases college funding by 16 percent, the presidents of those institutions said Thursday.

That 16 percent, which would total $198 million, would also…

Gov. Jay Inslee’s budget office on Friday certified that more than $583 million in labor contract agreements for 2015-17 are financially “feasible.”

That determination frees Inslee to include the contracts in his proposed two-year budget, which is due for public release during the week of…

WASHINGTON’S Office of Financial Management recently warned the state’s public universities to expect severe budget cuts in the next fiscal year — possibly up to 15 percent. Much of the impetus for this threat comes from the state Supreme Court’s requirement that the Legislature live up to the…

When the great recession hit in 2008, most state legislators, including those in Washington, made up for a shortfall in revenue by cutting funding to higher education. That’s why college tuition skyrocketed over the past few years, often by double-digit amounts, at public colleges and…

Washington state lawmakers are facing a projected budget gap of more than $2 billion for the next two-year budget ending in mid-2017, in large part due to a new voter-approved initiative to shrink class sizes, according to a state budget outlook released Wednesday.

By now you’ve heard how much Americans despise the gridlocked Congress. Its job-approval rating stood at 13 percent in recent polls by CNN and Fox News. A survey last year found cockroaches and used-car salesmen held in higher esteem.

So how do Washington voters…

This year’s crop of campaign ads in Washington state races might seem nastier than in past years — or they might not. It depends on where you live.

The reason is simple: Few seats in the Legislature have a shot at switching parties this fall, so huge amounts of advertising are landing in…