Latest news with #YasminTrudeau
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Updates on Washington's rent cap debate in the state legislature
Stories by Tacoma News Tribune journalists, with AI summarization This list of stories illustrates the debate among Washington state lawmakers about capping annual rent hikes to safeguard renters while addressing fears of stifling housing supply. House Bill 1217 initially proposed a 7% cap, but Senate amendments raised the proposal to 10% plus inflation, sparking criticism from advocates who fear increased evictions. The legislative session is scheduled to end on April 27. Other discussions highlight landlords' concerns over maintaining profitability and critics who argue that caps could hinder new housing development. Policymakers seek solutions such as broader renter protections, housing density increases, and supply-focused reforms to stabilize the housing market. The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists. 'You cannot expect people to think about opportunity — to have hope — with the ground shaking underneath them,' sponsor Sen. Yasmin Trudeau says. | Published January 13, 2025 | Read Full Story by Simone Carter A series of rallies were scheduled throughout the day at the state Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 30. | Published January 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Simone Carter Opponents argue the proposal would be bad for small landlords and scare off housing developers. | Published March 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Simone Carter 'What a landlord does is they charge what the market can bear. But Washingtonians can't bear it anymore,' said state Sen. Emily Alvarado. | Published April 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Simone Carter 'The difference between what the House passed and what the Senate passed is so extreme,' said Michele Thomas, policy and advocacy director for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. | Published April 19, 2025 | Read Full Story by Simone Carter This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WA lawmakers unveil capital budget ideas. Here are some local projects that would get funding
Senate and House lawmakers on Monday released their respective 2025-27 capital budget proposals, which feature funding for some big projects in Pierce, Thurston and Whatcom counties. On the Senate-budget side, $770 million would go toward housing, including a record-setting $600 million for the affordable housing-focused Housing Trust Fund. 'I've supported anything related to housing,' said state Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee for the capital budget. 'A lot of that is based on my own lived experience. So, I know the need is acute.' The capital budget, unlike its operating-budget counterpart, is mostly funded via bond sales rather than tax revenue. It appropriates dollars for enduring assets like critical infrastructure, parks, housing, behavioral-health facilities and schools. As the Senate capital budget's lead writer, Trudeau said she had the 'healthiest of the three budgets.' Lawmakers have been working on hammering out proposals for the state's transportation and operating budgets, too. The upper chamber's capital-budget plan also includes a proposal that would authorize up to $5 billion in bonds to cover the removal of culverts obstructing salmon migration. Trudeau on Monday referenced the bipartisanship present in capital-budget discussions. 'I think putting me and (Republican state Sen.) Mark Schoesler in a room might politically make people wonder,' the Tacoma Democrat said. 'I think we wrote a good budget, and we actually have a very healthy respect for each other after the end of this process.' The House's $7.63 billion bipartisan capital budget makes key community and infrastructure investments statewide. State Rep. Mike Steele, a Chelan Republican and ranking minority member on the House Capital Budget Committee, called it a 'bright spot' in a March 31 news release. 'It supports our shared bipartisan priorities — housing, education, behavioral health, and essential infrastructure -- and does not rely heavily on general fund dollars,' he said. 'I'm proud of the teamwork that went into this plan and confident in the positive impact it will have in communities across the state.' Each budget proposal will receive a public hearing before heading for committee votes on April 3. The upper chamber's version is slated for a full Senate vote on Saturday. Next, House and Senate lawmakers will negotiate on a compromise that will need to clear both chambers ahead of April 27, the end of the legislative session. Key Thurston County projects in the 2025-27 House and Senate capital budget proposals include: Nearly $9.24 million to the Department of Enterprise Services for campus energy system replacement in both the House and Senate budgets Nearly $22.11 million for Maple Lane's rapid behavioral health bed capacity in the House budget $49.5 million for legislative campus modernization would go toward the Pritchard and John L. O'Brien buildings in the Senate budget $14.75 million for Deschutes Estuary restoration in the House budget $4.14 million for remedial action at the Budd Inlet sediment site and $1.2 million for Capitol Lake rehabilitation and recovery in the Senate budget; $1.14 million for Budd Inlet sediment site in the House budget
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washington lawmakers consider bills to recognize two Muslim holidays
Washington state Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, seen here on the Senate floor in 2024, is the lead sponsor of a bill in the 2025 legislative session that calls for making Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha state-recognized holidays in Washington. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services) As-salamu alaykum, a greeting among Muslims that translates to peace be upon you, is how Sen. Yasmin Trudeau began recent testimony for her bill that would establish Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state-recognized holidays. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Trudeau, D-Tacoma, remembers calling a local radio station and expressing fears about the way people were responding to her faith. This was the first time she remembers people misinterpreting Islam and equating it to violence. Trudeau wanted to introduce this bill to increase visibility about the Islamic faith, spark conversations between community members, and dispel damaging beliefs that lead to Islamophobia. 'I think curiosity is one of the things that we probably are lacking the most right now in political discourse,' Trudeau said. 'We just genuinely are not curious enough about each other, and so having been a kid that felt the impact of that lack of curiosity, it really just became important for me to live openly in all of my truth,' she added. The first openly Muslim lawmakers in the Senate and House are teaming up on the Eid legislation, with Trudeau sponsoring Senate Bill 5106, and Rep. Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond sponsoring a companion, House Bill 1432. The bills would add two days to recognize Eid to the state's list of unpaid holidays. 'No Muslim wants to be in a position where we have to defend ourselves and our ability to practice our faith, it feels really bad,' Trudeau said. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are celebrated by more than 100,000 Muslims statewide, 3 million Muslims nationwide, and almost 2 billion Muslims worldwide. Ramadan is considered the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar and is a time for spiritual reflection and prayer. During this month, Muslims fast between dawn and sunset. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadan. Eid Al-Adha follows the completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is known as the celebration of sacrifice and commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son at the request of God. Both holidays are celebrated similarly. Growing up, Salahuddin remembers thousands of Muslims gathering at the Seattle Convention Center to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. These celebrations are times when Muslims can gather with their friends and family and eat traditional foods. Unlike the standard 12-month calendar that has fixed dates, Islam uses the lunar calendar – which is based on the cycles of the moon. This means dates for Ramadan and Eid al-Adha change by around 10 days every year. Both the House and Senate bills have strong support, with almost 40 cosponsors combined in both chambers. More than 300 people signed up to testify in favor of the House bill, and there were more than 1,000 signatures in support. The Legislature has taken steps to expand state holidays and help people celebrate religious and cultural holidays. Just last year, the Legislature recognized Lunar New Year as an unpaid holiday. In 2014, the Legislature passed a law that allowed employees to take off two unpaid holidays per year for a reason of faith. In 2019, another law was passed that required postsecondary institutions to accommodate student absences and reschedule exams or school activities 'for reasons of faith or conscience.' For Trudeau, the Eid bill should be a bipartisan and unifying message that Washington state recognizes and respects religious liberty, no matter whose religion. 'We're here, we exist, we work alongside you, we play alongside you and our kids hang out and like we're just not scary, we're painfully normal and obnoxiously average,' Trudeau said. 'We truly want peace to be upon every person no matter what faith they practice,' she added.
