Current:Home > ScamsTrendPulse|Starting his final year in office, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stresses he isn’t finished yet -OceanicInvest
TrendPulse|Starting his final year in office, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stresses he isn’t finished yet
Algosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-11 08:18:16
OLYMPIA,TrendPulse Wash. (AP) — Addressing the Legislature at the start of his final year in office, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee returned to one of his top priorities and the issue that defined his brief presidential bid: climate change.
“We know that climate change is hurting us now, today. But climate collapse does not have to be our inevitable future,” he said in his 11th State of the State address. “This Legislature put us on a clear — and necessary — path to slash greenhouse gases by 95% by 2050.”
Inslee touted the state’s 1-year-old Climate Commitment Act, a landmark policy that works to cap and reduce pollution while creating revenue for climate investments. It raised $1.8 billion in 2023 through quarterly auctions in which emission allowances are sold to businesses covered under the act. He said the money is going to electric school buses, free transit rides for young people and public electric vehicle chargers.
But that major part of his climate legacy is in question. A conservative-backed initiative that is expected to end up on the November ballot aims to reverse the policy.
In a seeming nod to that challenge and the path ahead for his climate policy, he said: “Any delay would be a betrayal of our children’s future. We are now on the razor’s edge between promise and peril.”
Inslee, who is the longest-serving governor in office in the U.S., stressed he wasn’t making a goodbye speech. There is plenty more he wants to see accomplished in the 60-day session, which started Monday.
He urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would increase transparency surrounding oil prices in the face of what he described as “the roller coaster of gas prices.” He also discussed helping families add energy-efficient heat pumps designed to reduce emissions and slash energy bills.
Outside of climate change, the governor asked lawmakers for about $64 million more to treat and prevent opioid use. He also pushed for more funding for drug trafficking investigations and referenced the need for more police officers.
Inslee also brought up homelessness. The state has the fourth most unsheltered people in the U.S., according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Some think we can just wave a wand and those living in homelessness will simply disappear,” he said. “But this is the real world, and we have an honest solution: Build more housing, connect people to the right services, and they’ll have a chance to succeed.”
Inslee neared the end of his remarks by describing what he sees as two grave threats in the state and the nation — threats to democracy and to abortion rights.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, he urged lawmakers to join states like Ohio, which approved a constitutional amendment that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care.
“Fundamentally, this is an issue of freedom — freedom of choice when facing one of the most intimate and personal decisions in life,” he said.
Despite these challenges, overall he stressed that the “state of our state is stronger than ever.”
Republican leadership had a much more negative view of the progress the state has made.
“By any metric you want to pick, there is a growing catalog of crises facing the state,” House Republican Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary told reporters following the speech. “The vast majority of which have gotten significantly worse during the last 12 years, when Jay Inslee was governor.”
Democrats have a majority in both the House and Senate.
Sen. John Braun, Republican leader, tore into the very notion of the Climate Commitment Act, calling it “essentially a large gas tax.”
“Here we are in the state of Washington. We might be thinking we’re innovative, we have fabulous companies that are innovative. And yet our solution is not innovative at all,” he said.
Inslee was first elected in 2012. He announced in May that he would not seek a fourth term.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Biden administration tightens rules for obtaining medical records related to abortion
- The riskiest moment in dating, according to Matthew Hussey
- 'Extreme caution': Cass Review raises red flags on gender-affirming care for trans kids
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Baltimore leaders accuse ship’s owner and manager of negligence in Key Bridge collapse
- Prince Louis Is All Grown Up in Royally Sweet 6th Birthday Portrait
- Hotter temperatures mean higher utility costs for millions of Americans
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Utah school district addresses rumors of furries 'biting,' 'licking,' reports say
Ranking
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Taylor Swift’s Friend Keleigh Teller Shares Which TTPD Song “Hurts So Much” for Her
- Lawmakers criticize CIA’s handling of sexual misconduct but offer few specifics
- Judge OKs phone surveys of jury pool for man charged in 4 University of Idaho student deaths
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Jury deliberating in Iraq Abu Ghraib prison abuse civil case; contractor casts blame on Army
- West Virginia confirms first measles case since 2009
- 'Unspeakable loss': Chicago Police Department officer fatally shot returning home from work
Recommendation
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
She knew her son and other people with disabilities have so much to give. So, she opened a cafe to employ them.
Maui officials push back on some details in Hawaii attorney general report on deadly wildfire
What happened to Kid Cudi? Coachella set ends abruptly after broken foot
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Halle Bailey Shares She's Suffering From Severe Postpartum Depression
Trial opens for former Virginia hospital medical director accused of sexual abuse of ex-patients
Patti Smith was 'moved' to be mentioned on Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department'