It’s an old saw in Olympia: A lawmaker’s job is not so much to pass good bills, but to kill bad ones (because there are just a lot of bad ones).

Good or bad, this time of year is “Bill Killing Season” at the state capitol, having just passed two deadlines for the hundreds of policy and fiscal bills introduced this session. Bills that haven’t passed out of committee by then are generally considered deceased.

Olympia correspondent Jeanie Lindsay joins host Scott Greenstone to say an elegy for a new state flag, a bill to measure methane from cows and a resolution to the age-old geoduck vs razor clam debate.

A push for universal free school lunches failed to thrive. A measure to offer unemployment insurance for undocumented immigrants didn’t make it. And an effort to revoke preferential treatment for Tesla withered on the vine (liberal Tesla drivers, as Scott found, are not OK right now).

We run down the legislative casualties – and note a few survivors! – on this week’s episode of Sound Politics.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/politics. Sound Politics is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Gabriel Spitzer. Our producer this week is Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Scott Greenstone and Libby Denkmann.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Olympia, the Democrats' honeymoon with Gov. Bob Ferguson was short -- and it's now over, says Rep. Kristine Reeves, the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.

Ferguson has laid out his plans for closing a multi-billion dollar shortfall while still boosting spending on hiring police and largely avoiding new taxes. But plenty of his fellow Dems are not yet onboard with a plan that leads with cuts instead of new revenue.

The party is also fractured on how and whether to make those investments in law enforcement. The Legislative Black Caucus, for one, wants two new dollars spent on community services for every dollar that pays for more police.

Kristine Reeves represents south King County in the state House and is chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. She joins Libby Denkmann and Scott Greenstone to break down the budget talks, and spill a little tea on how the various Democratic factions are getting along in Olympia.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundpoliticsnotes. Sound Politics is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.Our editor is Gabriel Spitzer. Our producer this week is Hans Anderson. Our hosts are Scott Greenstone and Libby Denkmann.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From closed trailheads to power outages, the firing of federal workers could have a big effect on us here in the PNW.

KUOW investigative reporter Ashley Hiruko joins Sound Politics Scott Greenstone and Libby Denkmann to discuss the potential impact of the firings, and what it’s like inside federal government buildings right now -- from Seattle’s VA hospital to the National Labor Relations Board.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundpoliticsnotes.

Sound Politics is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Our editor is Gabriel Spitzer. Our producer this week is Sarah Leibovitz.
Our hosts are Scott Greenstone and Libby Denkmann.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.