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-Welcome to "City Inside Out."

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I'm your host, Brian Callanan.

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From passing a new income tax
on high earners

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to establishing new guardrails
for artificial intelligence,

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state legislators were
busy this session in Olympia.

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-The legislature stand
adjourned.

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[ Cheers and applause ]

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-A short 60-day
legislative session featured one

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of Washington state's
longest ever debates,

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24 hours plus
over a new income tax.

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-After a dramatic investment
of time by the House,

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we passed the millionaires tax.

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-But that tax on high earners

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wouldn't generate revenue
for another three years,

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and it faces legal
and possibly voter

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initiative challenges ahead.

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-The folks of Washington

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have been very clear
they don't want this.

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-Lawmakers also passed bills
to prevent Ice agents

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from wearing masks,

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regulate artificial intelligence

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and spend historic amounts
on housing, roads and bridges.

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-I asked for a
truly historic investment

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in our infrastructure.

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-But why does the state still
have a projected budget deficit?

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-There was a headlong rush
to spend the income tax

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before it even passed.

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-And who were the winners
and losers this session?

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Our panel of journalists
weighs in.

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-Some very serious cuts to
early education and child care.

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That is absolutely
going to affect folks

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with young children.

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-It seems that they
still don't really have

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a plan set out for funding
public defense services.

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-Some insights from
an eventful session in Olympia.

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Next, on "City Inside Out."

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♪♪

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♪♪

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And thanks once again
for joining us here

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on "City Inside Out"
on the Seattle Channel.

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Brian Callanan,
glad to be with you

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and very glad
to introduce three journalists

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to discuss what just happened in
the state legislative session,

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including Shauna Sowersby.

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She reports on state politics
for The Seattle Times.

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Shauna, good to have you here.

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-Thank you for having me.

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-We also have with us
Paul Queary.

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He is editor
of The Washington Observer.

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Paul, nice to see you again.
-Glad to be with you.

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-All right.

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And here we go with
Sarah Mizes-Tan,

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state government reporter
for KUOW and KNKX.

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Sara, thank you for being here.
-Of course. It's a pleasure.

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-Let's jump into this here.

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Paul, let me start with you.

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I want to talk about
the new state income tax.

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Our legislature approved

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the so-called
"millionaire's tax."

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This is a 9.9% tax
on households with incomes

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of more than $1 million a year,

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affecting
about 20,000 Washingtonians.

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The tax would raise
just about $3 billion a year

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and would provide funding
for education and child care,

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the Working Families Tax Credit,
small business relief as well.

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It would create some
sales tax reductions, too.

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Paul, you wrote about this
and said the tax

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would have been
unthinkable a few years ago.

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But here we are,
now it's happened.

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Help us with what this means.

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Take us big picture on this.

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-Well, I think that
this really tees up a kind of,

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um, you know,

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a fundamental argument about
tax policy in Washington state.

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I mean,

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this has been considered
functionally unconstitutional

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for nearly 100 years

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because of a Supreme Court
ruling from the 1930s

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that found
that your money is your property

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and therefore subject to
the property tax limit.

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-Right. Which has to be
even on everybody.

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-Right. It has to be even
on everybody.

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And so this tees up two things.

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One, there's going to be
a fight in the courts

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about whether it's
constitutional or not.

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So eventually, it winds up
in front of the Supremes.

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And almost certainly there's
going to be a repeal initiative.

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So it's going to wind up
in front of the voters,

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maybe as early as this fall.

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And it's been before the voters
many times in the past.

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And the voters have
always said no.

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So, now...
-Not in its exact form.

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This is more the
high earners, but still.

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-This is more the high earners.

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There was a high earners
income tax on the ballot

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about ten years ago.

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-Okay. Right, right.
-But the threshold

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was much lower than $1 million.

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Um, and they were trying
to impose that by initiative.

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So you would have
had to vote "yes."

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And this will be a repeal.

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So in order to get rid of it,
you'll have to vote yes, um --

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-Vote yes to vote no,
kind of. Yeah, yeah.

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-Easier to get voters
to vote "no."

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So, you know, we'll see how
it, you know, how it plays out.

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-A lot going on here.

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Thank you for that breakdown
here.

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Shauna,
you were writing about this,

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too, in this delicate balance of
putting this income tax together

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involved a partial rollback
of last year's increase

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in estate tax rates
for the wealthy.

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So Democrats, I think, we're
paying attention to this idea,

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to this argument
that a measure like this

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might push the wealthy
out of Washington.

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What struck you about
how this bill was crafted?

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And I'm trying
get to that point of

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are the high income people
going to move out of the state?

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Because I know that was
a key issue here.

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-Well,
we certainly keep hearing that.

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That's for sure.

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Um, you know, I don't know

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if that's enough
to push people out of the state.

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Um, you know,
I think some of the --

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probably one of the
most interesting things to me

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about this,
and I wrote about this

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pretty heavily, was
the public defense aspect

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of this bill.

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Initially, it included
a pretty big bump

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for public defense services,
so...

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-Which are in big trouble
around the state.

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-Correct. Yes,
crisis all over the country.

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-They don't have funding, right?
-Correct.

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Especially in smaller counties.

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And so, this bill
initially had a 5% carve-out.

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Then it went to a 7% carve-out,

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specifically dedicated to
those services.

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And then by the final bill,
or the amendment

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that was added by
Rep. April Berg from Mill Creek

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that had no
public defense services in that,

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or earmarked for that.

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And I thought that that was
particularly interesting,

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because it seems

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that they still
don't really have a plan set out

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for funding
public defense services

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in any sort of meaningful way.
-Yeah.

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They replaced that with
some kind of all-purpose money

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for local governments.

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But it's not, you know,
it's not earmarked

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for that specific purpose.

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-Right.

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And with so many governments
in budget trouble, right.

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-And many local governments,
you know,

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kind of neglected this part
of the government.

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And so, you know, it's
going to be interesting to see

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how that plays out
in the future.

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-Sarah, let me go to you here.

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And I wanted to follow up
on what Paul was saying,

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because Democrats structured
this

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so it can't be challenged
with a referendum,

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but we're certainly going to see
some legal challenges.

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I would say some sort of repeal
campaign with an initiative.

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This was
a very hard-fought bill,

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and I know 8 Democrats
joined Republicans

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to actually vote against it.

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Can you talk to us
about what happens now?

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What do you think?

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-Oh, yeah.

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I mean, I think absolutely
we're going to be expecting

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court challenges.

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I know folks mentioned,
pretty much as soon

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as the governor signs this,

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we'll probably start
seeing some court challenges.

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And, of course, the ballot item.

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I think you mentioned
an interesting thing,

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which is that there was
an amendment in there

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to keep it from being, uh,

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what is the word? Repealed?

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-Yes. Yeah.

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The referendum --
It's blocked from a referendum.

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-Exactly. Yeah.

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And I think that's kind of,
you know,

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a lot of --
I heard a lot of folks

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kind of mentioning it on
the House floor during debate.

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They were saying,

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"Why don't we take this out

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so that it's easier
to go to the voters?"

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"Is this undemocratic" --
Were a lot of questions

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that we were getting.

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You know, the interesting thing
that I heard from folks

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who were proponents of this

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is that actually, it's
a pretty regular item

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to have in a lot of different,

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um, bills that are related
to generating revenue.

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-I see, I see.

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-It's just not necessarily
something that people,

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you know, people aren't always
scrutinizing every

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single revenue-generator bill.
But, yeah, you know,

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I definitely think it's one
of those things in there

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that feels a little bit
like it might not.

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It is, by the rules, of course,

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but it does tip
the scales a little bit in favor

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of this bill being implemented.

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-And any other thoughts on this?

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I know we've got a new Supreme
Court coming on next year.

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I mean, any other thoughts
about what's next here?

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I'll open it up for another.

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-I mean, I think it puts a lot

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it puts this issue
on the ballot,

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you know,
pretty much for everybody.

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Every member of the House, where
the 25-hour debate happened...

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-Right, right.
-...is on the ballot this fall.

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-Oh, all those members
of the House, right?

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They're up for election.

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So, you know,
the whole question about

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whether the income tax remains

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the third rail
of Washington politics,

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which was certainly true,
you know,

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10, 15, or 20 years ago
will be tested.

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We'll find out about that.

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Um, I think it's worth noting
that those 8,

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um, you know,
Democrats voted against it.

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You know, some of those folks
were, I think,

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clearly voting on principle,

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but some of them
were pretty clearly voting out

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of self-preservation.

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And, you know, so I think --
-Always a fine line there.

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Yeah.

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-This fall's election
is going to be interesting.

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It's going to be a test
of that question.

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-Yeah.
-Um, you know,

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and things look pretty good
for the Democrats in general,

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because having Donald Trump
at the top of the ticket

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has been great for Democrats
in Washington since 2018.

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-Yeah. Yeah.
-So we'll see.

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We'll see how it plays out.

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-Okay. Any other thoughts?
Yeah.

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-Yeah.

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I think it's kind of interesting
just the idea

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of an income tax
for Washington State.

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I know a lot of folks also
mentioned, during the debate,

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that they were worried this was
going to be a slippery slope.

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Once you open the door
for one income tax,

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it's very easy, in some people's

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opinion, to add on more.

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And then I also heard
just this kind of idea

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that, you know,
what is the most progressive way

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to tax Washingtonians?

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Some tax experts honestly
would say it is an income tax

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in a lot of ways.

250
00:08:58,372 --> 00:08:59,373
So I think it will be
interesting to see.

251
00:08:59,373 --> 00:09:00,974
I mean,

252
00:09:00,974 --> 00:09:02,409
I don't necessarily think
there's going to be

253
00:09:02,409 --> 00:09:03,677
an income tax tomorrow or --

254
00:09:03,677 --> 00:09:04,945
-Right, for everybody.

255
00:09:04,945 --> 00:09:06,813
Yeah.
-Yes. No, absolutely not.

256
00:09:06,813 --> 00:09:08,749
But I do think it's
maybe an interesting concept

257
00:09:08,749 --> 00:09:10,751
to kind of think about.

258
00:09:10,751 --> 00:09:12,920
You know, there is a push for a
more progressive tax structure.

259
00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,389
And really, what is that?
What does that look like?

260
00:09:15,389 --> 00:09:17,090
-Yeah. Got it.
Let me move on here.

261
00:09:17,090 --> 00:09:18,725
I'd like to think about

262
00:09:18,725 --> 00:09:20,561
how the legislature
was responding

263
00:09:20,561 --> 00:09:22,162
to federal immigration
enforcement

264
00:09:22,162 --> 00:09:24,031
during the session,

265
00:09:24,031 --> 00:09:25,799
There was a measure prohibiting
law enforcement officers

266
00:09:25,799 --> 00:09:27,768
from wearing masks, one,

267
00:09:27,768 --> 00:09:31,205
limiting ICE agents to data --
from data access to data,

268
00:09:31,205 --> 00:09:33,407
I should say, from
automated license plate readers,

269
00:09:33,407 --> 00:09:35,108
and the Immigrant
Worker Protection Act,

270
00:09:35,108 --> 00:09:36,310
just to name a few here,

271
00:09:36,310 --> 00:09:38,078
which would make
sure workers get notice

272
00:09:38,078 --> 00:09:40,147
when federal authorities come
into a workplace

273
00:09:40,147 --> 00:09:41,748
for eligibility inspections.

274
00:09:41,748 --> 00:09:43,750
Shauna, let's talk about this.

275
00:09:43,750 --> 00:09:45,919
How will these measures impact
our immigrant communities?

276
00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:48,222
What were state Democrats trying
to do here?

277
00:09:48,222 --> 00:09:50,591
-Well, they certainly said
at the outset of session

278
00:09:50,591 --> 00:09:54,161
that that was one of their
main priorities this year, was

279
00:09:54,161 --> 00:09:57,564
you know, positioning themselves
against the federal government.

280
00:09:57,564 --> 00:09:59,366
And it seems
like that's what they tried

281
00:09:59,366 --> 00:10:02,536
to accomplish with a lot
of this legislation.

282
00:10:02,536 --> 00:10:03,971
You know,

283
00:10:03,971 --> 00:10:05,906
whether or
not federal authorities

284
00:10:05,906 --> 00:10:08,775
who have already been
breaking laws in other states

285
00:10:08,775 --> 00:10:12,312
are actually going to abide
by some of these laws

286
00:10:12,312 --> 00:10:14,781
that are being implemented
on a state level here.

287
00:10:14,781 --> 00:10:17,184
That remains to be seen.
-Yeah,

288
00:10:17,184 --> 00:10:19,186
I was going to say are

289
00:10:19,186 --> 00:10:21,154
state patrol officers going
to arrest, you know what I mean?

290
00:10:21,154 --> 00:10:22,856
Are they going to arrest
federal officers?

291
00:10:22,856 --> 00:10:24,491
Will it turn into something
like that?

292
00:10:24,491 --> 00:10:27,060
-I -- That would be
a question that

293
00:10:27,060 --> 00:10:30,063
would have to be answered
when it happened, I think.

294
00:10:30,063 --> 00:10:32,566
But yeah, I mean, you know,
for the mask ban,

295
00:10:32,566 --> 00:10:36,336
even, you know,
we've seen

296
00:10:36,336 --> 00:10:39,806
judicious murders in Minnesota
happening on that sort of level.

297
00:10:39,806 --> 00:10:41,775
And, you know,

298
00:10:41,775 --> 00:10:43,644
so what's to say somebody
who does something like that

299
00:10:43,644 --> 00:10:47,581
is actually going to
not wear a mask when they,

300
00:10:47,581 --> 00:10:48,715
you know, pull somebody over.

301
00:10:48,715 --> 00:10:49,983
-Right, right.

302
00:10:49,983 --> 00:10:51,385
Sarah, let me go to you
on this one.

303
00:10:51,385 --> 00:10:53,287
And I'm thinking about
just to follow up on this point,

304
00:10:53,287 --> 00:10:56,356
there's been some pushback from
police in our state about this.

305
00:10:56,356 --> 00:10:58,559
We've actually heard this
certainly in Seattle here,

306
00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:00,594
this idea
of a local officer reporting on

307
00:11:00,594 --> 00:11:03,096
or possibly arresting
an ICE agent, etc.

308
00:11:03,096 --> 00:11:04,598
They're saying it's
preposterous.

309
00:11:04,598 --> 00:11:06,533
Is this a measure that
could face a court challenge?

310
00:11:06,533 --> 00:11:08,535
I'm just trying to figure out
how this all plays out.

311
00:11:08,535 --> 00:11:10,170
-Yeah.

312
00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:12,072
You know, I think, again,
remains to be seen.

313
00:11:12,072 --> 00:11:15,609
There was a very similar bill
passed in California

314
00:11:15,609 --> 00:11:17,344
late last year

315
00:11:17,344 --> 00:11:19,079
that was slightly different
from the one

316
00:11:19,079 --> 00:11:21,582
that happened just this session.

317
00:11:21,582 --> 00:11:24,284
But the one in California
did encounter a court challenge.

318
00:11:24,284 --> 00:11:26,753
The court challenge essentially
said that California's law,

319
00:11:26,753 --> 00:11:30,190
which only applied
for many different reasons,

320
00:11:30,190 --> 00:11:32,326
it only applied
to federal agents

321
00:11:32,326 --> 00:11:36,196
and masking laws
as it related to federal agents.

322
00:11:36,196 --> 00:11:38,232
And the court basically said
it's unfair

323
00:11:38,232 --> 00:11:40,567
to regulate federal agents
but not state agents.

324
00:11:40,567 --> 00:11:42,970
So Washington's law
does include both state agents

325
00:11:42,970 --> 00:11:44,671
and federal agents,

326
00:11:44,671 --> 00:11:46,273
but I think there is
still some thought

327
00:11:46,273 --> 00:11:48,275
that it could encounter
some court challenges,

328
00:11:48,275 --> 00:11:50,911
although it'll be different
from what we saw in California.

329
00:11:50,911 --> 00:11:52,513
-Paul, let me get
your take here in terms

330
00:11:52,513 --> 00:11:54,414
of how the legislature responded

331
00:11:54,414 --> 00:11:56,917
to federal immigration
enforcement in this session.

332
00:11:56,917 --> 00:11:58,952
The bottom line
I keep trying to get to

333
00:11:58,952 --> 00:12:02,256
is should immigrant communities
in our state feel safer here?

334
00:12:02,256 --> 00:12:04,291
Is our state ready

335
00:12:04,291 --> 00:12:05,526
if the Trump administration
comes in with a big crackdown?

336
00:12:05,526 --> 00:12:07,127
What do you think?

337
00:12:07,127 --> 00:12:08,862
-You know, I mean,
I see a lot of these changes

338
00:12:08,862 --> 00:12:11,598
as sort of fundamentally
symbolic, you know,

339
00:12:11,598 --> 00:12:14,868
in the sense that it's not clear

340
00:12:14,868 --> 00:12:17,504
that the state gets
to tell federal agents

341
00:12:17,504 --> 00:12:21,575
how to behave when they're
operating within Washington.

342
00:12:21,575 --> 00:12:25,712
And certainly,
as we saw in Minneapolis,

343
00:12:25,712 --> 00:12:28,115
ICE in particular,
is quite defiant, you know,

344
00:12:28,115 --> 00:12:29,750
toward the notion

345
00:12:29,750 --> 00:12:31,051
that they're subject
to any kind of local control

346
00:12:31,051 --> 00:12:32,619
or local interference.

347
00:12:32,619 --> 00:12:34,655
-Yeah.

348
00:12:34,655 --> 00:12:36,657
-You know, I think immigrant
communities should probably,

349
00:12:36,657 --> 00:12:38,825
you know, feel better
that, you know,

350
00:12:38,825 --> 00:12:41,361
the state government is
generally supportive of them

351
00:12:41,361 --> 00:12:43,597
-as opposed to hostile.
-Right.

352
00:12:43,597 --> 00:12:45,732
-You know, as the federal
government frequently is.

353
00:12:45,732 --> 00:12:47,201
-Yeah.
-So...

354
00:12:47,201 --> 00:12:49,336
-Yeah, it's a lot,
a lot to sort through there,

355
00:12:49,336 --> 00:12:51,371
but I appreciate
that discussion.

356
00:12:51,371 --> 00:12:53,006
Paul, let me stick with you and
I'll switch gears a bit here.

357
00:12:53,006 --> 00:12:54,408
Talking about the
high tech world

358
00:12:54,408 --> 00:12:56,176
and artificial intelligence,

359
00:12:56,176 --> 00:12:58,445
which was a big focus
for lawmakers in Olympia

360
00:12:58,445 --> 00:13:00,414
in this session, too.

361
00:13:00,414 --> 00:13:02,850
There was one bill passed
regarding putting in safeguards

362
00:13:02,850 --> 00:13:05,919
for chatbot safety, especially
ones that interact with kids.

363
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:09,089
Another requires AI operators
to inform users

364
00:13:09,089 --> 00:13:12,059
when content has been developed
or modified by AI.

365
00:13:12,059 --> 00:13:13,961
What did you make of
that focus on AI

366
00:13:13,961 --> 00:13:15,395
this year at the state level?

367
00:13:15,395 --> 00:13:17,130
-Well,
I think it's obviously a thing

368
00:13:17,130 --> 00:13:20,200
that a lot of people
are concerned about

369
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,836
with a sort of high level
of gridlock

370
00:13:22,836 --> 00:13:26,974
at the congressional level on a
variety of issues, including AI.

371
00:13:26,974 --> 00:13:29,443
You know, there's a lot
of pressure on state governments

372
00:13:29,443 --> 00:13:32,246
to act
and on state legislators to act.

373
00:13:32,246 --> 00:13:36,483
So, you know, I think most --
there's a lot of pushback

374
00:13:36,483 --> 00:13:41,121
from AI companies and from
tech companies who, you know,

375
00:13:41,121 --> 00:13:43,457
at least say that they want,

376
00:13:43,457 --> 00:13:45,993
you know, sane regulation
at the national level

377
00:13:45,993 --> 00:13:48,762
as opposed to a patchwork of
regulation at the state level.

378
00:13:48,762 --> 00:13:50,497
-Right. Right.

379
00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:52,065
-You know, they seem
happy enough to operate

380
00:13:52,065 --> 00:13:53,534
without regulation
for the moment.

381
00:13:53,534 --> 00:13:55,402
-That's true, too.

382
00:13:55,402 --> 00:13:56,970
I'm going to take it
a little larger here just to

383
00:13:56,970 --> 00:13:58,972
kind of big tech.

384
00:13:58,972 --> 00:14:00,374
And, Sarah, maybe I can start
with you. Kind of a mixed bag

385
00:14:00,374 --> 00:14:02,176
for tech companies,

386
00:14:02,176 --> 00:14:04,111
I would say this session.
Definitely a win in terms

387
00:14:04,111 --> 00:14:06,880
of defeating a measure
to regulate electricity rates

388
00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,716
and environmental
impacts of data centers,

389
00:14:09,716 --> 00:14:11,718
Senate Bill 2515.

390
00:14:11,718 --> 00:14:14,388
But they lost a big tax break
for those facilities, too.

391
00:14:14,388 --> 00:14:16,256
Let's get into this.

392
00:14:16,256 --> 00:14:18,091
How did legislators approach
big tech this year?

393
00:14:18,091 --> 00:14:19,393
This was a
really interesting debate.

394
00:14:19,393 --> 00:14:22,196
-Yeah. Are you talking
about the data center bill?

395
00:14:22,196 --> 00:14:23,397
-Yeah. Yeah.
-Yeah.

396
00:14:23,397 --> 00:14:24,998
That was one
that kind of stretched on

397
00:14:24,998 --> 00:14:27,100
until the very final hours
of session.

398
00:14:27,100 --> 00:14:32,506
You know, I think at it's --
Just for a high level explainer,

399
00:14:32,506 --> 00:14:35,475
data centers are
currently not taxed

400
00:14:35,475 --> 00:14:37,377
or sales tax is not applied

401
00:14:37,377 --> 00:14:40,547
when data centers are looking
to replace computers

402
00:14:40,547 --> 00:14:42,616
or different items
within data centers.

403
00:14:42,616 --> 00:14:45,219
And so I think there's a thought
that because there are so many

404
00:14:45,219 --> 00:14:47,855
and it's an emerging market
for Washington,

405
00:14:47,855 --> 00:14:49,690
it could be
a huge revenue generator.

406
00:14:49,690 --> 00:14:53,527
So there was a proposal
to tax data centers.

407
00:14:53,527 --> 00:14:55,462
And I know the governor
was mentioning

408
00:14:55,462 --> 00:14:58,832
that it was critical
for implementing the budget,

409
00:14:58,832 --> 00:15:00,734
and that did go all the way up

410
00:15:00,734 --> 00:15:03,737
until the very last hours
of session.

411
00:15:03,737 --> 00:15:06,773
-Did it turn out the way
you thought it would in terms of

412
00:15:06,773 --> 00:15:08,442
how all those different
measures shook out there?

413
00:15:08,442 --> 00:15:10,310
What was your take
on what happened?

414
00:15:10,310 --> 00:15:14,214
-Yeah, no, I do think that data
centers should, I mean,

415
00:15:14,214 --> 00:15:16,850
you know, I do think
that it shook out the way

416
00:15:16,850 --> 00:15:18,585
that it should have.

417
00:15:18,585 --> 00:15:20,287
We absolutely
have a budget crisis

418
00:15:20,287 --> 00:15:21,855
that needs to be addressed.

419
00:15:21,855 --> 00:15:23,190
-Right. That's one piece of it.

420
00:15:23,190 --> 00:15:25,192
And maybe I can bring you
in here, Shauna.

421
00:15:25,192 --> 00:15:28,161
I'm just looking at this measure
specifically regulating the way

422
00:15:28,161 --> 00:15:29,930
data centers use electricity.

423
00:15:29,930 --> 00:15:31,732
And I just wonder
if it might come back

424
00:15:31,732 --> 00:15:33,500
to the state legislature
again next year,

425
00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:34,801
because I know there's
still going to be a lot

426
00:15:34,801 --> 00:15:36,670
of demand for data

427
00:15:36,670 --> 00:15:38,672
and there's still
a huge demand for electricity.

428
00:15:38,672 --> 00:15:41,341
So many different cities and
counties are talking about this.

429
00:15:41,341 --> 00:15:43,343
Talk to me about what
happened this session and what

430
00:15:43,343 --> 00:15:45,812
might be happening in sessions
in the future, if you can.

431
00:15:45,812 --> 00:15:48,315
-Yeah.
My colleague Conrad Swanson

432
00:15:48,315 --> 00:15:50,551
actually wrote quite
a bit about this, but --

433
00:15:50,551 --> 00:15:51,685
-You worked with him on that.

434
00:15:51,685 --> 00:15:53,420
-Correct. Yes.

435
00:15:53,420 --> 00:15:55,389
And so there was a lot
of lobbying activity

436
00:15:55,389 --> 00:15:59,693
from Microsoft and Amazon
going on behind the scenes.

437
00:15:59,693 --> 00:16:01,195
It looked like
it was going to make it there

438
00:16:01,195 --> 00:16:03,197
for a little while.

439
00:16:03,197 --> 00:16:05,632
And then, you know, something
happened behind the scenes

440
00:16:05,632 --> 00:16:09,403
and it fell apart
before it was able to make it

441
00:16:09,403 --> 00:16:11,505
to the end of session
and get passed.

442
00:16:11,505 --> 00:16:13,273
-Do you think it comes back?

443
00:16:13,273 --> 00:16:14,608
Like I say,
I just think this is an issue.

444
00:16:14,608 --> 00:16:16,176
-They say it will.
-Okay.

445
00:16:16,176 --> 00:16:18,312
-Yeah, it sounds like,
you know,

446
00:16:18,312 --> 00:16:20,180
maybe there's some appetite
for it in coming years,

447
00:16:20,180 --> 00:16:23,083
but with, you know,
some more guardrails on it.

448
00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:24,852
Um, you know,

449
00:16:24,852 --> 00:16:26,787
maybe some adjustments
to kind of make some

450
00:16:26,787 --> 00:16:29,690
of the big tech groups
a little bit more happy with,

451
00:16:29,690 --> 00:16:31,325
with the way
the bill shakes out,

452
00:16:31,325 --> 00:16:33,126
but it sounds
like it's something

453
00:16:33,126 --> 00:16:34,428
that they're going to continue
to bring back

454
00:16:34,428 --> 00:16:36,163
until they get passed.

455
00:16:36,163 --> 00:16:37,898
-Paul, any thought
on the data centers here?

456
00:16:37,898 --> 00:16:39,867
-You know, the
data center issue is fascinating

457
00:16:39,867 --> 00:16:42,936
because of the involvement
of blue collar labor.

458
00:16:42,936 --> 00:16:45,606
Um, that bill, that broad bill
to regulate data centers,

459
00:16:45,606 --> 00:16:47,274
died in part

460
00:16:47,274 --> 00:16:49,042
because there was
a real opposition

461
00:16:49,042 --> 00:16:51,512
from electricians and plumbers
and pipe fitters.

462
00:16:51,512 --> 00:16:54,081
I mean, those facilities are,
you know,

463
00:16:54,081 --> 00:16:57,251
sort of bottomless wells
of work for those folks.

464
00:16:57,251 --> 00:17:00,988
Um, and so they were
able to kill that broader thing.

465
00:17:00,988 --> 00:17:05,225
The tax break bill
actually hung in the balance

466
00:17:05,225 --> 00:17:06,760
right until the end of session,

467
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,263
in part because of a, you know,

468
00:17:09,263 --> 00:17:12,566
a fight over
whether to take the revenue or,

469
00:17:12,566 --> 00:17:16,403
you know, whether to preserve
the tax break because of the,

470
00:17:16,403 --> 00:17:18,906
you know, the,
the job aspect of that.

471
00:17:18,906 --> 00:17:20,807
And ultimately
the revenue carried the day.

472
00:17:20,807 --> 00:17:22,242
But it was a very close vote.

473
00:17:22,242 --> 00:17:24,211
-Yeah, it was indeed. Yeah.

474
00:17:24,211 --> 00:17:27,548
And I, maybe I can touch on,
uh, budget issues just as,

475
00:17:27,548 --> 00:17:29,783
as we start getting closer
to the finish here.

476
00:17:29,783 --> 00:17:32,252
I mean,
we're talking about in terms of

477
00:17:32,252 --> 00:17:34,054
where the dollars
need to come in.

478
00:17:34,054 --> 00:17:36,390
Uh, sure,
they've got a balanced budget,

479
00:17:36,390 --> 00:17:39,726
but I just was looking at, uh,
at some of the deficits

480
00:17:39,726 --> 00:17:41,662
that are happening over
the next several years here.

481
00:17:41,662 --> 00:17:43,830
And I wanted to touch on that
because when they say,

482
00:17:43,830 --> 00:17:45,866
yep, we've balanced it,

483
00:17:45,866 --> 00:17:47,835
but we're foreseeing another
budget deficit coming up here.

484
00:17:47,835 --> 00:17:49,903
Can we go down the line here?

485
00:17:49,903 --> 00:17:51,538
Sarah, what are your thoughts
on that overall budget package

486
00:17:51,538 --> 00:17:53,607
that Democrats agreed with here?

487
00:17:53,607 --> 00:17:56,109
-Yeah. You know, I think
you cannot talk about the budget

488
00:17:56,109 --> 00:17:58,045
without mentioning
the millionaire's tax as we had.

489
00:17:58,045 --> 00:18:01,415
I personally, I felt like the
two were very much intertwined.

490
00:18:01,415 --> 00:18:04,451
You know, I think Democratic
leadership had mentioned

491
00:18:04,451 --> 00:18:07,221
that they are grappling
with a budget crisis

492
00:18:07,221 --> 00:18:10,457
just due to inflation
and the federal government

493
00:18:10,457 --> 00:18:14,461
and their rising lawsuit costs.
And, you know,

494
00:18:14,461 --> 00:18:17,297
they found one time fixes to be
able to balance it this time.

495
00:18:17,297 --> 00:18:20,133
But the budget actually
doesn't balance in 2028.

496
00:18:20,133 --> 00:18:22,836
And they're going to be looking
to income generated --

497
00:18:22,836 --> 00:18:25,405
or revenue generated
from the income tax.

498
00:18:25,405 --> 00:18:27,074
-They're kind of banking
on it, yeah.

499
00:18:27,074 --> 00:18:29,209
-Yeah. Essentially they're
banking on it happening.

500
00:18:29,209 --> 00:18:30,911
Um, and so we,

501
00:18:30,911 --> 00:18:32,846
we absolutely heard
from Republicans this session

502
00:18:32,846 --> 00:18:36,316
who said it feels like
a house of cards a little bit.

503
00:18:36,316 --> 00:18:38,819
A very delicate balance
that's in play.

504
00:18:38,819 --> 00:18:41,622
-Yeah. A deficit
of more than $800 million,

505
00:18:41,622 --> 00:18:43,590
I think projected for 2028.

506
00:18:43,590 --> 00:18:45,492
Any thoughts on that overall
budget piece there, Paul?

507
00:18:45,492 --> 00:18:47,594
-You know, I think
that there was a headlong rush

508
00:18:47,594 --> 00:18:51,431
to spend the income tax
before it even passed.

509
00:18:51,431 --> 00:18:55,035
And so the whole, you know,
the whole question of

510
00:18:55,035 --> 00:18:57,104
whether the legislation
will be back

511
00:18:57,104 --> 00:18:59,706
to sort of lower the threshold
from $1 million

512
00:18:59,706 --> 00:19:02,442
down to something else, I think
is very much in the balance,

513
00:19:02,442 --> 00:19:05,412
because right now, the way
that they write the budget,

514
00:19:05,412 --> 00:19:07,281
they, you know,

515
00:19:07,281 --> 00:19:09,516
they essentially use
kind of rosy revenue projections

516
00:19:09,516 --> 00:19:13,120
and, you know, very conservative
growth projections, you know.

517
00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,190
And those two things, you know,
those two lines diverge.

518
00:19:16,190 --> 00:19:19,359
And so, you know, year after
year, we're back here with,

519
00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:21,228
you know, with budget deficits.

520
00:19:21,228 --> 00:19:23,664
And, you know, there's
no particular end in sight

521
00:19:23,664 --> 00:19:25,632
at this point,
even with the millionaire's tax.

522
00:19:25,632 --> 00:19:27,467
I mean,
the current rate of growth

523
00:19:27,467 --> 00:19:29,136
will eat up the revenue
from the millionaire's tax

524
00:19:29,136 --> 00:19:30,137
almost immediately.

525
00:19:30,137 --> 00:19:31,605
-Wow.

526
00:19:31,605 --> 00:19:32,739
And any thoughts
on that overall budget?

527
00:19:32,739 --> 00:19:34,708
-Well, I mean,

528
00:19:34,708 --> 00:19:37,411
they pulled a lot of slick
budget maneuvers this year, too.

529
00:19:37,411 --> 00:19:39,580
And that remains to be seen
whether or not,

530
00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:41,648
like Sarah was saying,

531
00:19:41,648 --> 00:19:45,752
a lot of that depends on this
income tax going into effect.

532
00:19:45,752 --> 00:19:48,655
So there was money coming
out of the LEOFF 1 pension,

533
00:19:48,655 --> 00:19:50,958
which is going to backfill
rainy day dollars

534
00:19:50,958 --> 00:19:52,659
that they're taking out.

535
00:19:52,659 --> 00:19:55,295
So the LEOFF 1 is
the 3 billion out of

536
00:19:55,295 --> 00:19:58,165
the law enforcement
and firefighters pension fund.

537
00:19:58,165 --> 00:20:01,301
It is over-funded.
The money needs to go somewhere.

538
00:20:01,301 --> 00:20:02,769
But you know,

539
00:20:02,769 --> 00:20:04,738
whether this was
the right choice

540
00:20:04,738 --> 00:20:08,075
to kind of fill some of the gaps
in for this deficit

541
00:20:08,075 --> 00:20:10,210
that we have
for the next few years is that,

542
00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:11,879
you know,
is that the right move?

543
00:20:11,879 --> 00:20:13,580
-It's a question mark,
and I was really interested.

544
00:20:13,580 --> 00:20:15,716
Just one last touch
on the income tax,

545
00:20:15,716 --> 00:20:17,284
the millionaires tax here.

546
00:20:17,284 --> 00:20:19,353
Did Governor Ferguson
get enough?

547
00:20:19,353 --> 00:20:20,821
I'm looking at this

548
00:20:20,821 --> 00:20:22,222
and thinking about initially
I was like, nope, nope.

549
00:20:22,222 --> 00:20:23,757
That's not going to work for me.

550
00:20:23,757 --> 00:20:25,692
And that's like, yep,
that's going to work out fine.

551
00:20:25,692 --> 00:20:28,328
Did enough come out of that
in terms of working families,

552
00:20:28,328 --> 00:20:29,963
tax credit,
things of that nature?

553
00:20:29,963 --> 00:20:31,164
Would you mind
if I start it here?

554
00:20:31,164 --> 00:20:33,500
-We'll go down the line.
-Sure.

555
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:35,068
I mean, he appeared
pretty happy with it.

556
00:20:35,068 --> 00:20:37,437
I also,
like probably many others,

557
00:20:37,437 --> 00:20:39,773
thought that it
wasn't going to make it through,

558
00:20:39,773 --> 00:20:42,176
whenever he came out with
the announcement that said...

559
00:20:42,176 --> 00:20:44,745
-This isn't going to work.
-This isn't going to work.

560
00:20:44,745 --> 00:20:46,513
And maybe we come back
to the table next year.

561
00:20:46,513 --> 00:20:49,349
And so I was a little surprised
to see such a huge,

562
00:20:49,349 --> 00:20:51,652
striking amendment
from Rep. Berg come in

563
00:20:51,652 --> 00:20:53,787
that seemed to check
off all the boxes

564
00:20:53,787 --> 00:20:56,890
-that the governor wanted.
-Yeah. Any thoughts on that?

565
00:20:56,890 --> 00:20:58,725
Did the governor get
enough here?

566
00:20:58,725 --> 00:21:00,661
-I mean, he got --
There was a larger expansion

567
00:21:00,661 --> 00:21:02,429
of the Working Families Tax
credit,

568
00:21:02,429 --> 00:21:05,766
which is real tax relief
for low income people.

569
00:21:05,766 --> 00:21:07,734
And then there was a thing

570
00:21:07,734 --> 00:21:10,304
that the governor got that kind
of came out of left field

571
00:21:10,304 --> 00:21:12,206
sort of late in the process,

572
00:21:12,206 --> 00:21:14,842
which is free school
breakfast and lunch

573
00:21:14,842 --> 00:21:16,577
for all Washington school kids,

574
00:21:16,577 --> 00:21:18,679
which is a thing
that the governor campaigned on

575
00:21:18,679 --> 00:21:20,747
and something that he tried
to get the legislature

576
00:21:20,747 --> 00:21:24,318
to do last year and
wasn't able to get them to do.

577
00:21:24,318 --> 00:21:26,019
-And little Easter egg they had.
-Right.

578
00:21:26,019 --> 00:21:28,388
And that's sort of a, you know,
that's kind of an interesting,

579
00:21:28,388 --> 00:21:30,290
you know, dynamic

580
00:21:30,290 --> 00:21:33,927
because 70% of kids are
already eligible for free

581
00:21:33,927 --> 00:21:35,562
and reduced lunch.

582
00:21:35,562 --> 00:21:38,131
So do the remaining 30%
even need it?

583
00:21:38,131 --> 00:21:43,070
And also, that doesn't really
categorize as tax relief per se.

584
00:21:43,070 --> 00:21:44,805
-Yeah.
-You know, because

585
00:21:44,805 --> 00:21:47,107
it doesn't really apply to you
unless you have kids in school.

586
00:21:47,107 --> 00:21:48,108
-Interesting.

587
00:21:48,108 --> 00:21:49,209
-So, you know,

588
00:21:49,209 --> 00:21:50,944
whether the governor -- I mean,

589
00:21:50,944 --> 00:21:52,246
the governor seemed
satisfied with what he got

590
00:21:52,246 --> 00:21:54,114
and he seems on board.

591
00:21:54,114 --> 00:21:57,017
But if you look
at the whole package broadly,

592
00:21:57,017 --> 00:21:59,219
there's not much
in the way of tax relief

593
00:21:59,219 --> 00:22:01,154
for sort of middle income folks.

594
00:22:01,154 --> 00:22:03,790
-Got it. Some final thoughts
on what the governor got out of

595
00:22:03,790 --> 00:22:05,092
this big negotiation, Sarah?

596
00:22:05,092 --> 00:22:06,527
-Yeah, yeah,

597
00:22:06,527 --> 00:22:08,562
I agree that I think
it really is dependent

598
00:22:08,562 --> 00:22:11,832
on who you ask in terms of if
there's enough of that revenue.

599
00:22:11,832 --> 00:22:13,834
Going back
to regular Washingtonians,

600
00:22:13,834 --> 00:22:16,703
I think the estimates we've
gotten were about like 30% of it

601
00:22:16,703 --> 00:22:18,405
goes back
to regular Washingtonians,

602
00:22:18,405 --> 00:22:20,340
but that does count things
like free lunch

603
00:22:20,340 --> 00:22:23,210
and the cost of providing
free lunch and breakfast.

604
00:22:23,210 --> 00:22:26,580
I agree that I think
it is debatable, you know,

605
00:22:26,580 --> 00:22:29,650
how much a regular Washingtonian
is going to feel these things.

606
00:22:29,650 --> 00:22:31,552
Um, you know, sales tax breaks

607
00:22:31,552 --> 00:22:35,389
on over-the-counter medication
or diapers or hygiene products,

608
00:22:35,389 --> 00:22:37,157
obviously helpful.

609
00:22:37,157 --> 00:22:39,193
Um, I do think
that it was nice to see a cutout

610
00:22:39,193 --> 00:22:41,562
or a carve out for childcare
and early education.

611
00:22:41,562 --> 00:22:44,464
Those are things that you could
kind of see direct reciprocity

612
00:22:44,464 --> 00:22:46,166
with the budget cuts
that are happening right now.

613
00:22:46,166 --> 00:22:47,901
I guess the thought is that,

614
00:22:47,901 --> 00:22:49,837
you know, those are
kind of the two buckets

615
00:22:49,837 --> 00:22:51,371
that typically get cut
when we're in a budget crunch.

616
00:22:51,371 --> 00:22:53,273
So this is a way

617
00:22:53,273 --> 00:22:55,008
to maybe shore up that money
so that in the future

618
00:22:55,008 --> 00:22:56,677
we're not making
those cuts again and again.

619
00:22:56,677 --> 00:22:58,545
So I could see that
being something

620
00:22:58,545 --> 00:23:01,248
that maybe would put
some people at ease after 2029.

621
00:23:01,248 --> 00:23:03,050
-Right. Right.
-Yeah.

622
00:23:03,050 --> 00:23:05,385
Um, obviously for
the regular Washingtonian,

623
00:23:05,385 --> 00:23:07,554
especially if you don't have
children.

624
00:23:07,554 --> 00:23:09,590
-Yeah.
-I don't, you know,

625
00:23:09,590 --> 00:23:12,025
I guess you'll get a slightly
cheaper bottle of shampoo.

626
00:23:12,025 --> 00:23:15,195
-Okay. For those hygiene
products, right, right.

627
00:23:15,195 --> 00:23:17,331
-And we saw during
that 24 hour debate.

628
00:23:17,331 --> 00:23:19,066
-Yes. Over the income tax.

629
00:23:19,066 --> 00:23:23,003
-About that, about, you know,
devoting 49% of,

630
00:23:23,003 --> 00:23:24,838
of the revenue to,

631
00:23:24,838 --> 00:23:28,208
to tax relief or cutting
the sales tax by a penny.

632
00:23:28,208 --> 00:23:29,676
-Yeah. Yeah, right.
-We saw that stuff

633
00:23:29,676 --> 00:23:31,245
and ultimately
that stuff didn't happen.

634
00:23:31,245 --> 00:23:32,446
-Yeah, that's so interesting.

635
00:23:32,446 --> 00:23:34,214
A lot of moving parts
there still.

636
00:23:34,214 --> 00:23:36,450
We do need to wrap up,
and I'd like if I could,

637
00:23:36,450 --> 00:23:39,219
can we talk about one issue,
maybe one we haven't covered yet

638
00:23:39,219 --> 00:23:41,488
that you have your eye on
in the aftermath

639
00:23:41,488 --> 00:23:43,090
of this legislative session?

640
00:23:43,090 --> 00:23:44,291
Sarah, can I start with you,
please?

641
00:23:44,291 --> 00:23:46,293
-Yeah, sure.

642
00:23:46,293 --> 00:23:48,328
I think we're going to be
looking at just affordability.

643
00:23:48,328 --> 00:23:50,531
You know, I think
we asked a number of times

644
00:23:50,531 --> 00:23:53,500
how the legislature was looking
at tackling affordability.

645
00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:56,003
And I think it's kind of like
a really mutable term

646
00:23:56,003 --> 00:23:58,872
that people can -- legislators
can say a lot of things

647
00:23:58,872 --> 00:24:00,908
fall under the umbrella
of affordability.

648
00:24:00,908 --> 00:24:03,510
But I do think that we really
want to dig in a little bit

649
00:24:03,510 --> 00:24:05,512
and say, okay, what did really,

650
00:24:05,512 --> 00:24:08,182
truly happen in the realm
of affordability this session

651
00:24:08,182 --> 00:24:10,083
and what still needs to
be addressed?

652
00:24:10,083 --> 00:24:12,586
I do think that regular
Washingtonians will be looking

653
00:24:12,586 --> 00:24:14,621
down the tunnel

654
00:24:14,621 --> 00:24:17,024
at some very serious cuts to
early education and child care

655
00:24:17,024 --> 00:24:18,458
that is absolutely
going to affect folks

656
00:24:18,458 --> 00:24:20,160
with young children.

657
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,462
And, you know, there are some,

658
00:24:22,462 --> 00:24:24,364
uh, there are some small gives,

659
00:24:24,364 --> 00:24:27,301
some bills that went through
on discounting

660
00:24:27,301 --> 00:24:30,404
medications and energy bills

661
00:24:30,404 --> 00:24:32,639
and creating
more affordable housing.

662
00:24:32,639 --> 00:24:35,843
But these are all things down --
Some of them are down the line.

663
00:24:35,843 --> 00:24:37,411
And so we are curious.

664
00:24:37,411 --> 00:24:39,313
There were some bills
that fell off

665
00:24:39,313 --> 00:24:41,582
that would have more directly
addressed affordability.

666
00:24:41,582 --> 00:24:45,152
Curious to see, um, you know,
if those will come back.

667
00:24:45,152 --> 00:24:46,620
-I am, too.
Thanks for sharing that.

668
00:24:46,620 --> 00:24:48,021
Paul, what do you have
your eye on?

669
00:24:48,021 --> 00:24:49,990
-So I'm interested in the,

670
00:24:49,990 --> 00:24:52,559
the legislature tapping
the Climate Commitment Act

671
00:24:52,559 --> 00:24:55,562
money to pay for
the working families tax credit.

672
00:24:55,562 --> 00:24:58,532
I mean, that's a legally
allowable use of that money.

673
00:24:58,532 --> 00:25:00,601
But, you know,
that's Governor Jay Inslee's,

674
00:25:00,601 --> 00:25:04,204
former governor Jay Inslee's
sort of legacy legislation.

675
00:25:04,204 --> 00:25:08,442
And the idea was that the money
would go toward climate change,

676
00:25:08,442 --> 00:25:09,977
you know,

677
00:25:09,977 --> 00:25:12,446
emission reduction and other
kind of environmental things.

678
00:25:12,446 --> 00:25:16,016
And he apparently
objected strongly.

679
00:25:16,016 --> 00:25:17,951
-In this session.
-Yeah.

680
00:25:17,951 --> 00:25:19,253
In this session to having
the money used in that way

681
00:25:19,253 --> 00:25:20,587
and was not heard.

682
00:25:20,587 --> 00:25:22,222
So, you know.
-Yeah.

683
00:25:22,222 --> 00:25:24,057
Where do you think that goes?

684
00:25:24,057 --> 00:25:25,225
So a portion of it
is now going towards other --

685
00:25:25,225 --> 00:25:26,894
-Right. And, you know,

686
00:25:26,894 --> 00:25:29,463
the Climate Commitment
Act is viewed in many,

687
00:25:29,463 --> 00:25:31,632
you know, circles
as sort of a backdoor gas tax.

688
00:25:31,632 --> 00:25:33,700
And it's
not particularly popular.

689
00:25:33,700 --> 00:25:37,037
And, you know, Inslee was very
much the driving factor there.

690
00:25:37,037 --> 00:25:40,040
And I think one of the things
we learned from this is that,

691
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,710
um, Governor Ferguson is perhaps
not as engaged in those issues

692
00:25:43,710 --> 00:25:45,679
as Governor Inslee was.

693
00:25:45,679 --> 00:25:47,581
-That would be an astute
observation there, for sure.

694
00:25:47,581 --> 00:25:49,316
Shauna, help us wrap up here.

695
00:25:49,316 --> 00:25:51,385
Final issue
that maybe you have your eye on

696
00:25:51,385 --> 00:25:53,287
that we haven't talked about?
What's on your mind?

697
00:25:53,287 --> 00:25:54,555
-Yeah. There's actually a bill

698
00:25:54,555 --> 00:25:56,757
that's being signed
by Governor Ferguson today.

699
00:25:56,757 --> 00:25:59,159
It's a very watered down
version of a bill

700
00:25:59,159 --> 00:26:01,495
that I've been following
for the last couple of years,

701
00:26:01,495 --> 00:26:03,730
but it would end the practice
of taking money

702
00:26:03,730 --> 00:26:07,701
from foster students --
or foster children and youth

703
00:26:07,701 --> 00:26:10,504
and using that
to pay for their services.

704
00:26:10,504 --> 00:26:13,540
So any time they get
SSI benefits or disability

705
00:26:13,540 --> 00:26:17,544
or anything, that goes to DCYF
for their care.

706
00:26:17,544 --> 00:26:20,080
And so the bill this year
ends the practice

707
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,917
for 18- to 21-year-olds
in an extended youth care.

708
00:26:23,917 --> 00:26:27,087
But it doesn't end it
for all the other foster youth

709
00:26:27,087 --> 00:26:29,156
that are below that age.

710
00:26:29,156 --> 00:26:32,359
And so I'm hoping that
maybe in future legislatures,

711
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,095
we can actually take
this issue seriously

712
00:26:35,095 --> 00:26:36,797
and end the practice once
and for all but --

713
00:26:36,797 --> 00:26:39,099
-Yeah, what's the impact been?

714
00:26:39,099 --> 00:26:46,540
-Well, we take quite a bit
of money from foster children

715
00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:49,409
to prop up services in DCYF.

716
00:26:49,409 --> 00:26:52,079
And I think we can
all agree that's not right.

717
00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:54,715
Um, I think we can all agree
that that's something

718
00:26:54,715 --> 00:26:58,318
that they should probably
have done away with yesterday,

719
00:26:58,318 --> 00:27:00,220
but we'll,
we'll see in the future.

720
00:27:00,220 --> 00:27:01,588
-All right.
Thank you for that.

721
00:27:01,588 --> 00:27:03,524
And we will be right back.

722
00:27:03,524 --> 00:27:05,459
What are people saying
on social media

723
00:27:05,459 --> 00:27:08,362
about what came out of
the state legislative session?

724
00:27:08,362 --> 00:27:10,330
One business owner writes...

725
00:27:25,112 --> 00:27:26,980
Another person comments...

726
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,662
We'd like to know
what you think.

727
00:27:41,662 --> 00:27:45,032
Send us an email at
contact@seattlechannel.org

728
00:27:45,032 --> 00:27:47,968
or find us on social media.

729
00:27:47,968 --> 00:27:48,969
Great to get that input.

730
00:27:48,969 --> 00:27:51,271
And a big thanks
to Sarah Mizes-Tan,

731
00:27:51,271 --> 00:27:53,040
Paul Queary,
and Shauna Sowersby.

732
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,274
Really appreciate
you being here.

733
00:27:54,274 --> 00:27:55,642
-Thank you.
-Oh, you're welcome.

734
00:27:55,642 --> 00:27:58,412
-And we will see you next time
on "City Inside Out."

735
00:27:58,412 --> 00:28:05,886
♪♪

736
00:28:05,886 --> 00:28:13,360
♪♪