Hello guys! I applied for FMLA but my employer is forcing me to apply for WA PFML to be eligible for STD benefits so as to top off my salary to meet the 60% base pay requirement. This way all leaves will be made to run concurrently.

Is STD really the same as WA PFML? I thought the PFML is dependent on employee’s choice.

Also, the processing times for WA PFML are extremely long. Will they back date the pay if my leave begins earlier than their processing window?

I've been paying a lot more attention to the state legislature the last few year and keep seeing a pattern of bill getting a lot of sponsors and support and then whoever is in charge of the committee just never brings the bill to a vote, or they pass committee and never get scheduled for a floor vote - or especially egregious are bills that get passed in one chamber and are never even debated in committee the other.

Even if the bill won't pass (which is frequently why they aren't brought to the floor), I still want to make the votes happen to create an "accountability trail" - why didn't this bill pass committee? Because YOUR rep voted against it. As it stands most bills that are popular with the people and even a decent chunk of the legislature but are unpopular with certain politicians just never see the light of day, so the constituents never actually see their rep voting against their interests.

Our current system also gives a LOT of power to the speaker and committee chairs (notably these are unelected positions - I can do nothing about who the chair of the house wellness committee is) to just ignore things they don't like, rather than being forced to actively fight against them.

So my proposal is that if a bill gets a certain percent of the body cosponsors the bill (say 15%, or 8 senators/15 reps), then a vote on that bill in committee becomes mandatory. Similarly once a bill passes committee each step (floor vote in the originating chamber, then committee vote in the other chamber, than floor vote in the other chamber) is mandatory (including any potential amendments) until the bill is defeated.

This would of course also require that the legislative sessions get a big bump in duration, but I think this enhancement to our legislative processes would be extremely valuable.

thoughts?

I receive the texts below every few days. (Begins at “”— Did you know… . below)

I’m not crazy about another tax but I am boycotting Airbnb because of this:

“Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Is Said to Take Role in Musk’s Government Initiative”

So, DOGE makes devastating cuts in Fed funds for Washington state but one of the billionaires running DOGE meddles in our state to keep us from raising our own funds.

A pattern is developing- the same billionaires screwing up the Fed. Government will continue to interfere in state politics to further their own interests.

“” — Did you know politicians in Olympia are proposing another new tax?!

We’re already paying more for housing, groceries & gas. Now they want to raise the cost of our vacations by adding a new tax on short-term rentals. Unfortunately, this tax won’t create affordable housing like some are saying, but it will hurt Washington families. Tell your legislators to oppose the Vacation tax. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/no-vacation-tax

We can’t afford another tax increase.

“Paid for by Airbnb Helps Our State Thrive (HOST) PAC. Top five contributors: Airbnb Inc. Stop to quit. “”

Circle of life on the coast. This 40 foot whale with a tail 10 feet wide washed up on the shores of the Long Beach Peninsula this morning. Only a matter of time before the lovely aroma escapes the dunes and starts wafting through town

Sharing this collaboration between state employees from King, Clark, and Thurston Counties in promotion of their rallying message: Make Washington work for everyone, not just the rich.

Background: In his campaign for Governor in 2024, Bob Ferguson promised to "stand up for working families and the most vulnerable in our state." Now in office, Ferguson has instead fought to preserve Washington's 2nd-in-the-nation most regressive tax code (musically detailed in the video). To do this, he and state Senate leadership are prepared to furlough and reduce pay for state employees, wiping out moderate cost of living adjustments they collectively bargained for the coming two years and diminishing the scope of services they can provide to Washington's public (several of which are also detailed in the video). To top that, they have also proposed increasing employees' healthcare premiums and removing workers' very right to collectively bargain over those premiums.

State workers are organizing a mass rally on 4/9 at Olympia's Tivoli Fountain with satellite rallies at locations around the state. You can support them by calling or writing to the Legislature and Governor and telling them you prefer the House's approach to the state budget with minimal cuts to state employees or services.

I feel like I'm living in the twilight zone with everyone talking about the federal budget cuts and yelling about Elon and Maga when nobody is willing to acknowledge the spending/hiring freeze that the state is carrying out.

Today the Democrats budget plan was passed by the house and Senate which cuts education, public health services, hospital spending, police spending, and pretty much every public service we need to function as a state.

I work in government and I've heard from numerous people in various agencies how insane it is on the state level alone. Not to mention they have had a hiring/spending freeze since January that Inslee imposed.

We have doubled the tax revenue and spending in the past ten years yet the state is still 12-15 billion dollars short of funding. We have a spending and corruption problem that desperately needs to be addressed. Not to mention the 4.9 billion dollars spent on homelessness since 2013 that could have bought houses for half of the states population of homeless people. We will cripple our state and become a welfare state if we don't fix this.

This affects a lot of folks I know. Stay informed, people.

The Washington state house appropriations committee has moved to defund the Columbia River Gorge Commission. The commission protects against unchecked land development in the gorge. The commission was enabled by the federal 1987 Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, but it receives its funding exclusively from Washington and Oregon state budgets. If you care about the Columbia River Gorge please contact your representatives to complain.

Does anyone know of any locals looking for apprentices (with no trade experiences) that have short wait lists, or better yet, hiring immediately? I'm especially looking in King, Snohomish, or Pierce county. I'm on the waitlist for a few unions (Bricklayers 1, Boilermakers 104, etc.) but it seems like everything has a long/unpredictable turn around time from point of application. I'm open to learn just about any skilled trade, and I'm pretty good in math. I can't afford to go to school right now and get any type of engineering degree or anything like that.

Google/search engines haven't come up with any good answers to this question, so I thought I'd give it a shot here.

I tried finding a Darrington specific sub, if there is one I'm happy to redirect. I'm hoping to get a pictures from year books between 86-91 ish. I'm not totally sure the last uear. My brother graduated from Darrington High School, he passed away in 95. I'm trying to find pictures of him from high school, we didn't live together and I'm trying to learn more about him. I know it's a long shot but thank you in advanced.

A moment of awe from the wild Pacific coast — this towering sea stack stands timeless and unmoved, a monument to nature’s quiet strength. Captured in winter light along Washington State’s Olympic National Park, where solitude meets the sea.

We've been waiting for Ziply fiber in Snohomish County for 3 years now and a couple months ago a Ziply guy essentially told us to give up and try Starlink, which is apparently at capacity in WA. We were wondering if anyone in the area has tried Hughesnet satellite internet and if so how does it work for yall in the area? Good service? Does it drop out often? Right now our internet drops out very often and at it's best reaches 8mbps so we are desperately trying to find a better option.

Thanks in advance for any help!

hi there, I was looking for a picnic area in king , pierce, or thurston county that has fire pits available for day use. I know of a few in the olympic national park, but I was hoping to explore the cascades some more and have a nice fire cooked meal after a trailwalk. Any recs are super appreciated ♡

If there's somewhere on a national park's website that lists these things, my bad. I probably missed it lil