Fraudsters inflate unemployment insurance claim data Kriss Sjoblom May 20, 2021
This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) reported that initial claims for the regular state unemployment program were up 18.2 percent over the previous week. This increase is due, at least in part, to an increase in the number of fraudulent claims:
We have … seen a recent increase in fraudulent claim applications, which is contributing to the increase in initial claims. Our controls to identify these fraudulent claims are working. These claims will show up in the weekly claims numbers even though they are not paid.”
ESD reported a total of 25,246 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending May 15. Of this total, 19,619 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 2,290 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent
Michael Goldberg May 17, 2021
The pushback from Republicans and some key Democrats was fierce after Governor Jay Inslee issued partial vetoes Monday to portions of climate legislation linked to the passage of a transportation package, undoing what some called the “Grand Bargain.”
The Governor issued partial vetoes to subsections of the cap-and-trade and low carbon fuel standard, two major climate bills passed by the Legislature during the 2021 session. Speaker Laurie Jinkins said the move was a clear instance of executive overreach.
Washington Courts have consistently held that as a co-equal branch of government, the legislature is responsible for drafting laws and the executive branch is responsible for implementing them. The Constitution provides the governor only limited powers to veto legislation. The governor’s partial veto today of E3SHB 1091, the clean fuel standard bill, reaches beyond his constitutional powers and we will ask t
Strong budgeting practices will help governments manage coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds Emily Makings May 14, 2021
Washington’s state and local governments will receive $7.120 billion from the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds (part of the American Rescue Plan Act). (Posts on Treasury’s guidance for use of the funds are here, here, and here.) The state has already appropriated (assuming no gubernatorial vetoes) $3.162 billion of its $4.428 billion share. Counties and cities in Washington have decisions to make as well about how best to use this substantial influx of funds.
The Morning Wire: Keeping you informed on politics, policies, and personalities of Washington State.
Time for Congress to take action on hate crimes bill Murray Lee May 10, 2021
A bipartisan group of elected officials in Congress introduced legislation on April 8 designed to help fight back against hate crimes across the country. It’s not hard to understand why. Hate crimes are up – in Washington state and around the country. Just last month, the King County Prosecutors Office filed its tenth hate crime case this year targeting local Asian Americans. In February, a synagogue in Spokane was spray painted with swastikas, and last week, a neo-Nazi pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle to threatening local Jewish activists and journalists. This problem is real, it’s current, and it has gotten worse since the start of the pandemic.
Q&A: Why Sen. Joe Nguyen is running on a politics rooted in community engagement Michael Goldberg May 4, 2021
Sen. Joe Nguyen announced last week that he is challenging 12 year incumbent Dow Constantine for King County Executive. Constantine hasn’t faced a serious challenge since he was first elected to the office, but Nguyen says he intends to change that by running on a platform centered around community engagement, rather than “transactional politics.”
In a recent interview, Nguyen told me why he believes his form of community-based politics would be a departure from the status quo. The issues that politicians prioritize, Nguyen says, reflect the experiences they’ve had, the people they speak to, and the people they don’t speak to. Fundamental to his campaign is the idea that if leaders are deeply ingrained in the communities they serve, they will hear clearly what the people most impacted by public policy have to say.