THE WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE STARTED WITH A BANG

The 60-day Washington legislative session began on Monday with a list of tough bills before sine die. Lawmakers will work on how the state spends tax revenues over the next few years generated from the new capital gains tax and carbon fees. Mental health, substance-abuse treatment and prevention, housing and homelessness, the environment, and policing will be discussed when they have over a surplus of $1 billion to spend. Several bills that negatively impact potato producers include and are not limited to water use, plastics recycling, labor, environment, and power equipment emissions.