OLYMPIA – The debate over raising the statewide minimum wage has largely revolved around dependable partisan arguments: up-by-the-bootstraps Republicans saying it isn’t necessary or that it would kill businesses and Democrats bent on fixing income inequality. Enter Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way, a former Democrat, with what he calls a “grand compromise.” Miloscia dropped a bill Tuesday, More

Take some time Sunday and catch up on all your political happenings. Oh, wait …. 1. Inslee climate bill gets hearing 2. GOP bill to kill Bertha and the tunnel project gets … killed 3. Push in Olympia to broaden ban on using smartphones while driving 4. After fiery “kids-these-days” speech, Minimum wage bill passes out…

While you were obsessing over the State of the Union or Deflategate, Washington state politics moved forward. Here’s what you may have missed: 1. Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata and Tom Rasmussen to retire 2. Truth Needle: GOP leader is right, Inslee polluter list tags UW, WSU 3. On Muslim Lobby Day, Muslim residents march through…

Longtime Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, an ardent progressive who led the council’s ultra-liberal wing for many years, is bowing out. In office since 1998, Licata won’t seek re-election this year, he announced Wednesday at City Hall, saying he wants to continue to work against inequality not only in Seattle but in other cities. “I’ve been lucky to have…

It’s been a head-spinning week keeping up with the tangled-web problems and solutions that lawmakers began fiddling with in Olympia during the 2015 state Legislature’s first week. Here’s what happened: 1. Senate Republicans add big hurdle for new taxes 2. State at critical crossroads, Inslee tells split lawmakers 3. Republican Rep. Manweller on why he dissed Supreme Court at Inslee’s speech 4. Bill…

Calls for increasing the minimum wage spread Thursday beyond Seattle and SeaTac, as demonstrators rallied across the Puget Sound region and sat in on a legislative hearing at the Capitol. Demonstrators gathered at restaurants in Aberdeen, Bellevue and Kent, and were later scheduled to rally at two events in Olympia. Sage Wilson, spokesman for Working Washington, which…

The group Working Washington, which has been advocating for a higher minimum wage, is planning to bring its message to the state Capitol. But unlike the demonstrators who gathered for recent state Supreme Court hearings on education funding and sex-trafficking, the rally will come after a lower-key event: a State House Labor & Workforce Development committee More

West Seattle (1st District) The race for West Seattle’s Seattle City Council seat is becoming more congested than the West Seattle Bridge during rush hour. Including George Capestany, a business consultant (and goat owner) who announced a bid Tuesday, there are now five people seeking the 1st District position as seven of the council’s nine seats move to geographic representation for the 2015 elections. West Seattle…

Months after passing a historic minimum-wage law, the Seattle City Council is  again considering action on the issue. It may add nearly $2 million to Mayor Ed Murray’s proposed 2015 and 2016 budget to boost the pay of all city employees to at least $15 an hour immediately, rather than on the same timeline as private-sector workers. Councilmember Kshama…

The International Franchise Association, which represents franchise owners like those who own most McDonald’s restaurants, is taking to the airwaves to criticize an aspect of Seattle’s new $15 minimum wage law and unions that backed the measure. But proponents of the law say the gambit won’t sway public opinion. The IFA has already sued the city in federal court, arguing…