Washington
Washington lawmakers revive plan for state cap on rent increases • Washington State Standard
Democratic state lawmakers are again pushing a proposal to restrict rent hikes across Washington.
Despite the rent cap bill’s dramatic failure last session, backers say its prospects this year are better given new lawmakers, revamped legislative committees and growing public support. The road to final passage, however, could still be tough.
Rep. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle, prefiled a “rent stabilization” bill in the House on Thursday. It is similar to where the plan left off last year.
The bill includes a 7% cap on yearly rent increases for existing tenants, with some exceptions, including buildings operated by nonprofits and residential construction that is 10 years old or less. It also requires landlords to give 180 days notice before an increase of 3% or more and limits some move-in and deposit fees.
“People are suffering, and I don’t know how anyone comes back to the legislative session and doesn’t want to support relief,” said Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, who will sponsor the legislation in the Senate.
Supporters say the proposal would help tenants and alleviate homelessness, but opponents say a rent cap could only worsen Washington’s housing shortage by disincentivizing new development.
Democratic leaders said Thursday that the proposal will likely be heard quickly in the House after the session kicks off next week but could move slowly in the Senate where it died last year.
Trudeau said the new makeup of the chamber and the membership of key committees could be in the bill’s favor. Last year, supporters blamed moderate Democrats on committees like Ways and Means and Housing for killing the bill. Two of those moderates — Sens. Mark Mullet and Kevin Van De Wege — did not run for reelection last year and will no longer be in the Senate.
Trudeau also said that because the policy is being named early as a priority for their caucus, it will give lawmakers more time to consider it.
“We’re still going to have conflict, just hopefully not as dramatic as last year,” she said.
Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, told reporters Thursday that he believes his caucus is ready to support the bill, but that it would take passing other legislation to increase housing supply and improve affordability.
In the House, the outlook is more certain. “We passed it off the floor in the House last year, and we will pass it off the floor this year,” House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said.
The bill is sure to cause some heavy debate.
Last year, it had support from affordable housing advocates, tenants and labor unions.
Michele Thomas, at the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, said stabilizing rents is essential to help prevent evictions and homelessness.
“I think lawmakers understand how much rising rents are contributing to housing instability, to homelessness, and to our state’s eviction crisis,” Thomas said.
Among those against the proposal are business groups, landlords and developers.
Sean Flynn, board president and executive director at the Rental Housing Association of Washington, an industry group, criticized the idea, saying it would drive developers out of the state and lead to less home construction.
“The fundamental problem that we have in our housing market is a lack of supply,” Flynn said. “This chokes off supply.”
Instead of a cap on all rents, Flynn said the Legislature should try to target tenants who need assistance most and specific landlords who use predatory rent increases without cause.
One idea that has support from Republicans is creating a tenant assistance program that would give rental assistance vouchers to low-income tenants who may need help paying rent during a given month. Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, is sponsoring that bill.
House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, told reporters Thursday his caucus is working on similar proposals with a more targeted approach to helping tenants.
Stokesbary and Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said their members likely will not support a rent cap policy this session. Stokesbary said he understands the short-term relief of the proposal but that the state ultimately needs more housing.
“In the long-run, this is a much worse deal for renters,” he said.
Braun said lawmakers should find ways to make permitting easier and increase available land for home construction. He said there is “no quick solution” to the state’s housing and homelessness crisis.
But supporters of the rent cap bill push back on the idea that solely building more housing will solve the state’s problems.
Thomas said lawmakers have put a lot of emphasis in recent years on increasing the supply of homes and alleviating homelessness, but they have not passed legislation to help tenants struggling to keep their homes. Failing to do so will only result in higher levels of eviction and homelessness, Thomas said.
“Rent stabilization stands alone,” she said. “Each of these issues are important, and the Legislature needs to address the entire housing ecosystem.”
The Washington Commanders have an unhappy star in wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
The former Ohio State wideout has one year remaining on his contract, and he wants a new deal before the start of the season.
Bleacher Report writer Kristopher Knox thinks the Commanders could trade McLaurin to the Arizona Cardinals for pass rusher Zaven Collins if a deal isn’t struck.
READ MORE: Commanders’ Dan Quinn shouts out Capitals coach for major honor
“The Arizona Cardinals might not seem like an obvious candidate for McLaurin because they added their No. 1 receiver when they drafted Marvin Harrison Jr, in 2024,” Knox wrote.
“What the Cardinals don’t have, however, is a top-tier receiver who can complement Harrison and help get more out of quarterback Kyler Murray. McLaurin could be that, and now could be the perfect time to add him.
“Murray and head coach Jonathan Gannon are both entering a pivotal season. Murray hasn’t performed at a Pro Bowl level since 2021 and may need help to get back to the form he had before his 2022 ACL tear. Gannon has delivered just 12 wins in his two seasons at the helm.
“Adding McLaurin could help Murray return to his pre-injury production and, potentially, help Arizona get over .500. To sweeten the pot, the Cardinals could include edge-defender Zaven Collins, who had five sacks last season but could be a potential 2026 cap casualty.
“The Cardinals could save $4.4 million this year by trading Collins, and they’ve added Calais Campbell, Josh Sweat and rookie first-round pick Walter Nolen III to their pass-rushing rotation this offseason.
“Washington could be very interested in a little edge help.”
The Commanders will hope to get a new deal done with McLaurin in the near future.
READ MORE: Commanders coach eyes growth for second-year linebacker
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2025 offseason.
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Washington
Search expands for former Army soldier accused of killing his 3 young daughters in Washington state
SEATTLE — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters.
Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search Friday for Travis Caleb Decker, 32, four days after the girls – 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker – were found dead at a remote campsite outside Leavenworth.
The girls’ mother reported them missing the night of May 30 when Decker failed to return them to her home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, after a scheduled visit.
Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Friday night that he was ordering the state’s National Guard to help with the search, saying “we will be providing helicopter transportation for law enforcement as they search in remote areas.”
“The brutal murder of these young children has shocked our state,” he added in a statement on social media. “I’m committed to supporting law enforcement as they seek justice for Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia.”
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that there were more than 100 officers involved in the search, which covered rugged terrain in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, and more than 500 tips had poured in from the public.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have been given notice to, and are working in conjunction with our surrounding counties in the event Mr. Decker moves through the forest into their jurisdiction,” the statement said.
Decker was an infantryman in the Army from March 2013 to July 2021 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2014, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro. From 2014 to 2016, he was an automatic rifleman with the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Last September his ex-wife, Whitney Decker, wrote in a petition to modify their parenting plan that his mental health issues had worsened and that he had become increasingly unstable, often living out of his truck. She sought to restrict him from having overnight visits with the girls until he found housing.
“He has made huge sacrifices to serve our country and loves his girls very much but he has got to get better,” she wrote. “I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all. … But I cannot have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times unsupervised, with dozens of strange men, or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him both in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for their safety.”
Authorities warned people to be on the lookout for Decker and asked those with remote homes, cabins or outbuildings to keep them locked, to leave blinds open so law enforcement can see inside and to leave exterior lights on.
It was unclear if Decker was armed, but the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to $20,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest.
An online fundraiser for Whitney Decker raised more than $1 million, and friends Amy Edwards, who taught the girls in a theater program called “Short Shakespeareans,” and Mark Belton thanked supporters during a news conference Thursday.
Undated photo of Travis Caleb Decker who the police are asking the public for help in locating the Washington state father who is wanted for murder.
Wenatchee Police Department via AP
“Their laughter, curiosity and spirit left a mark on all of us,” Edwards said. “They were the kind of children that everyone rooted for, looked forward to seeing and held close in their hearts.”
Edwards and Belton said Whitney Decker hopes the tragedy prompts changes to the state’s Amber Alert system as well as improvements in mental health care for veterans. The night the girls were reported missing, Wenatchee police asked the Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert but it declined, saying that as a custody matter without an imminent threat, the case did not meet the criteria for one.
The patrol did issue an “endangered missing person alert” the next day, but those do not result in notifications being sent to mobile phones.
As searches expanded for the girls last weekend, a sheriff’s deputy found Decker’s pickup in the area of Rock Island Campground, northwest of Leavenworth. There were two bloody handprints on the tailgate. The girls’ bodies were discovered down an embankment nearby with evidence that they had been bound with zip ties, according to an affidavit filed in support of murder and kidnapping charges against Decker.
County Coroner Wayne Harris said Friday that his office was awaiting pathology results to determine when and how the girls were killed.
Authorities issued closure notices the previous day for that camping area, which lies in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, as well as for a large swath of rugged territory to the north. That included trails and campgrounds along the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Canadian border to Mexico, and around Stehekin, at the northern end of Lake Chelan.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Biggest Mega Millions win of all-time, Publix grocery store in Florida in 2023
The biggest Mega Millions win of all-time is $1.58 billion, won in Florida in 2023.
Another multimillionaire is born.
One lucky player in Washington state won $7.4 million after hitting the jackpot in the Lotto game, Washington’s Lottery announced in a June 6 news release.
The player, whose name was not released, purchased the ticket at the QFC in Enumclaw at 1009 Monroe Avenue for the May 14, 2025, drawing, the release said.
The retailer gets a selling bonus of $74,000 and intends to donate $20,000 to the Enumclaw Food Bank, according to the release.
“It’s not every day a winning ticket is sold in your store, and our team wanted to do something special,” Brent Stewart, president at QFC, said in the release. “Donating to the Enumclaw Food Bank is the perfect way to live out our purpose to feed the human spirit and help people in our community.”
The win comes after a Mega Millions ticket worth $2 million was sold in Washington for a drawing in April.
What is the Lotto game?
Lotto is a Washington state jackpot game, according to Washington’s Lottery.
The cost of a ticket is $1, and players pick two sets of six numbers between 1 and 49. Alternately, players can have numbers selected for them with the Quick Pick system.
Jackpots start at $1 million and grow until a player hits all six numbers.
Can lottery winners in Washington remain anonymous?
Washington’s Lottery is a public agency subject to the Washington Public Records Act, according to the agency’s website. The names of lottery winners may be revealed through public records requests, even if a trust is established.
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