Week in Review: taxes, texts, and school Covid relief funding

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Seattle Times Isabella Breda, Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan and Crosscut’s Mai Hoang.

King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed a new property tax levy to fund mental and behavioral health, build five regional crisis care centers, and add more services. This is in addition to other upcoming Seattle and King County property tax requests. The county faces a budget deficit. The Seattle Times Editorial Board writes the local governments’ administrative costs have risen: “Advocates across the political spectrum decry the lack of affordability in Seattle. If City Hall wants to help the average resident, it ought to make sure its financial house is in order, and not make more revenues the immediate go-to when it comes to hard choices.” What are the best arguments for and against these tax proposals?

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed into law a $6.5 million dollar plan to combat climate change locally. The “Green New Deal” aims to have all city-owned buildings to run on clean energy by 2035, and to help transition away from fossil fuels. Is the City Council in lockstep here or are there diverging viewpoints?

Washington schools are scrambling to spend the $2.6 billion it received in Covid relief before deadlines in 2025. Superintendents are saying that is not enough time to get programs and projects fully off the ground. Why did Congress attach a deadline?

An electric commuter airplane took to the skies for the first time over Moses Lake on Tuesday. The nine-passenger plane may not be completely ready to make its first customer deliveries before 2027. What kind of challenges have there been?

2022 is boasting a near-record crop of hops in Eastern Washington. Early summer heat and late summer wildfires had an impact on the crop last year. Yakima Valley grows 75% of U.S. hops. How come the cherry crop was little and the hop crop is big?