2022 Washington State Legislature Wrap Up

A 60-day legislative session might seem like a ridiculously short time to get governing done for the eighth largest economy in the country. Sweden has a full-time legislature, and our GDP is higher than theirs. But who is counting. Washingtonians insist on making life hard for ourselves. In this episode, Managing Editor Natalie Argerious and I are joined by The Urbanist"s Executive Director Doug Trumm to discuss what went right and wrong in Olympia this year. We go through the highlights of Doug"s Heroes and Zeroes of the 2022 Washington State Legislature article, and get into some of the personality quirks that make politics so "fun." In the second half, we cover the big legislative wins and losses, including a bit of the political knife fights that prevent anyone from cashing in too many wins. Like the legislature, we do run out of time to address the year in lawmaking. So, as we promise in the pod, here is a link to an excellent discussion of the Move Ahead Washington transportation package on the Hacks and Wonks podcast featuring our own Ryan Packer. Also, to dive into further details on the legislative session, be sure to check out our article,  Heroes and Zeroes of the 2022 Washington State Legislature.  Do you have a hero or zero to add to the list? Or maybe you want to comment on how a particular piece of legislation fared? In any case, we want to hear from you. Contact us at podcast@theurbanist.org.