Weather: Imagine a day of sunshine, butterflies, birds, and bees harmonizing in rapturous melody as blue fills the sky on the cusp of spring. Forget about it. Just like yesterday, today will be cloudy and soggy, with a high of 50 degrees. 

Ukraine Ceasefire (Maybe): The US lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after the country said it was open to an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia. The suspension of weapons aid followed the recent shitshow Oval Office meeting between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky. Trump’s lapdog, Rubio, stated that Washington would now present the ceasefire option—which includes no security guarantees for Ukraine—to the Kremlin. “He wants to be a president of peace,” said Rubio, speaking out of both sides of his mouth about a man who had Mahmoud Khalil disappeared via ICE this week and who continues to fund the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Escalating Trade War: Canada’s just said, “Oh, you want 25 percent on steel and aluminum, US? Hold my beer.” “The 51st state” has announced it will impose 25 percent tariffs on nearly $30 billion worth of US imports, including steel, aluminum, computers, and sports equipment. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated the move is a direct retaliation for the Trump administration’s trade policies, targeting goods like machinery and consumer products. And not wanting to let Canada have all the fun, the EU has announced it will impose trade “countermeasures” on up to $28 billion worth of US goods.

Education Dept Cuts: The Department of Education continues to crush its to-do list this week. Last night, it fired another 1,300 workers via email, halving the agency’s workforce and gutting the department’s Office for Civil Rights. Education Secretary Linda McMahon is spinning this as an effort to “deliver services more efficiently”—or, translated from billionaire-speak, “more efficiently dismantle crucial support for grants, scholarships, and services for children with special needs, all while pandering to the so-called ‘parental rights movement.’” According to the goals of Project 2025, the department’s next moves are expected to include ending Title I, eliminating free school meals, and making book banning a federal priority. Lawsuits are pending.

Toxic work environment: A House subcommittee hearing ended abruptly yesterday after Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self intentionally misgendered Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride. McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress, has been the target of hateful attacks from her Republican colleagues since her term began in January. The 71-year-old Rep. Self addressed McBride as “Mr.,” prompting Democratic Rep. Bill Keating to criticize him, saying, “Mr. Chairman, you are out of order,” and adding, “Have you no decency?” Butt-hurt by that backlash, Self immediately adjourned the hearing to continue his anti-trans attacks on X. Real work getting done by the ruling party.

UW Hiring Freeze: In anticipation of federal funding cuts, the University of Washington has frozen non-essential staff hiring and limited future faculty hiring. Following the UW’s financial mitigation guidelines, departments are exploring ways to reduce spending by 5 to 10 percent. There are currently no plans to implement a furlough strategy, though Governor Ferguson, in his “anything and everything but tax the rich plan,” proposed saving $300 million by requiring most state employees to take one furlough day per month over the next two years.

Ferguson cutting food banks: Because he’d rather literally take food out of the mouths of the poor rather than tax the rich, Gov. Fergusion’s big idea to plug our $15 billion budget hole is to cut food bank funding. God forbid we ask billionaires to chip in while we raid the canned goods aisle. I guess he believes people can fill their empty stomachs by photosynthesis. 

Davison Adding Staff: Well, Disney on Ice must be touring hell. I actually have some sympathy for Ann Davison (and my therapist thought these last two months were lucrative). Seattle dared to defy Trump, so now the feds are yanking funds, killing jobs, and packing up shop like a sore loser taking their ball home. That’s left the City Attorney’s office scrambling to keep up with all the legal battles. Look at the bright side: At least we’re creating some jobs… in the exciting field of suing our own government!

Starbucks Strike: The coffee might be hot, but the labor disputes are boiling. Joining a six-city strike, baristas at the University Way Starbucks walked off the job all because the coffee giant refused to finalize a fair union contract three years after workers won their vote. The strike came a day after UW students rallied on campus to demand the university stop serving Starbucks until the coffee titan settles a fair contract with wages for baristas. Meanwhile, Starbucks execs keep raking in millions, proving once again that while they may run on caffeine, their business model runs on hypocrisy.

Tacoma Toxicity: It used to be the “aroma,” but apparently, nothing quite says Welcome to Tacoma like a bunch of mystery barrels marked with toxic waste just chilling downtown. But no one seems to know where they came from. The city says the barrels are on private property, and the business supposedly responsible isn’t talking. Maybe this is Tacoma embracing its Fallout era?

In a time of climate and ecological emergency, we’ve seen fire and we’ve seen rain. Happy Birthday, James Taylor.

27 replies on “Slog AM: UW Declares Hiring Freeze, Canada Announces Retaliatory Tariffs, and Gov. Ferguson Might Cut Food Bank Funds”

  2. @1: he is. he also has a big deficit.

    not sure how TS thinks Bob is going to “tax the rich”. that would take a legislature willing to do so.

  5. @2: Bob Ferguson has proved himself a savvy politician during his decades in office. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he and the Dems were laying the groundwork to introduce a tax increase, with these genuinely serious but ultimately insufficient spending cuts as the political rationale—”We tried our absolute best to avoid this, but there is no other way.”

    If I’m right, look for Ferguson to call a special session sometime in May or June, and don’t be surprised to see new taxes suddenly appear on the menu. It would be good politics, and Ferguson is good at politics. 😃

  7. @2 “not sure how TS thinks Bob is going to “tax the rich”. that would take a legislature willing to do so.”

    Good thing his party has overwhelming majorities in both houses. Assuming the Dems actually want to make state taxes more progressive, and maintain funding for causes they allegedly care about.

  8. YEs! Kristo hits it AGAIN! Fucking middle man ‘merica is sucking all the substance from our nations efforts. If you look at all the ridiculously expensive institutions in this country, (ie. 4 year college, healthcare, entertainment) they are being drained by parasitic middle people. Kind of like when dweeeebeeee makes their comments just to suck on the energy out of liberal progressives. I seriously hope they tax the rich, I can’t wait to read dweeeebeee complain about how lousy feeding needy people and staffing our state hospitals is making their day. Hey dweeeebeee did your rep from texasssss that ended the meeting when they called out on their trans hate give you a call for a shoulder to cry on? you suck.

  9. @1 The problem appears to be that you actually believed the Republican messaging about Ferguson being a far left Democrat. He’s pretty much squarely in the middle of the Democratic Party, maybe a bit to the right of the middle of the party. That definitely puts him left of center overall, but not nearly as wild-eyed as the Republican messaging said.

    @5 That was my guess too. It might not even be a special session if the set of cuts that would otherwise need to be made are unacceptable to the Legislature before the budget is adopted. That would leave him a little more political capital to call a special session later to deal with backfilling the federal government’s cuts.

  11. @2/5/7/9 The legislature by state law has to have a balanced budget before they end the session. Depite Ferguson suggesting $7B in cuts the math says there is still another $8B out there. The legislature has been busy passing a spate of public policies (e.g. rent control was approved yesterday) but have yet to even focus on the budget. I would anticipate them turning to that soon once the new revenue forecast comes out. There are going to be tax increases the question is of what form and how much. A statewide jumpstart tax seems likely as do increases to the B&O tax. Bob is a savvy politician so he’s setting himself up to the good guy and the legislature the bad guys in this spectacle. At the end of the day we’re all going to end up paying for this directly or indirectly via price increaaes.

  12. Thank you, Marcus, for the James Taylor classic, Fire and Rain, for ending on a calming and more aptly reflective note.

  14. @5: I mostly mean an income tax. that is an anathema in this state, although I guess it’s been decided that it’s do-able now?

  15. Why don’t DNC pols just start misgendering their bigot colleagues? “Thank you for your insights, Ms. Self.” “That’s an excellent point, Mr. Taylor-Greene.”

  18. @14 it’s against the state constitution which is how capital gains got killed and why they need to get so creative with revenue streams. Anyway point is they control the whole government so GOP won’t be an obstacle, it’s all up to them

    @16 I don’t get it

  19. @18 the capital gains did not get killed. It’s in full force and I’m sure one of the options they are going to look at is lowering the threshold. Right now it also excludes your primary home so they may remove that as well but that would surely anger a lot of people so we’ll see if the tip toe around it.

    @14 the only way they could get an income tax passed in amending the state constitutions and they don’t have the numbers to do that as they would need a supermajority. They are going to push for a supermajority in the 2026 midterms and if they get that I would expect to see an constitutional amendment go before the voters along with one that would kill the initiative process. Of course none of it will actually offset regressive revenue. It will simply be new spending so we can be just as awesome as states like CA, IL and NJ who have no issues at all.

  21. @19 “the capital gains did not get killed. It’s in full force”

    Right, I misspoke, should have said how it got struck down at the appellate level before being restored by state Sup. Ct. as a not-income tax. Good catch.

  22. @11: “The legislature by state law has to have a balanced budget before they end the session”

    Do you have a source for your rule that they have to pass the budget before they end the session? I’m not convinced the budget needs to be passed during regular session. I believe it can be passed during special session, as I speculated above @5. So long as they get it in before the fiscal biennium ends on June 30, I don’t think there is anything wrong with doing it during special session. If it goes past June 30, the government shuts down, but even then I think they could swoop in afterwards and pass a budget during special session. Source for the regular-session rule?

  23. @22 technically you may be right but only the gov can call for a special session so the legislature cannot assume that will happen. If they don’t pass a budget and the gov refuses to call a special session the gov shuts down. For those reasons I think it’s safe to say they need to pass it by end of session. Too much uncertainty to go beyond that.

  24. @20

    My apologies, my error.

    I have been freaking out all week over the news about Canada.

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Trump attempts to invade Canada, he is that utterly insane

  26. @13 pat L: Happy Belated 77th Birthday, James Taylor, born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 12, 1948.

    Boomer or not, though? Ouch! I’m a Boomer—born in the last generational year.

    and

    @20 pat L: Your frustrations are perfectly understood, pat. I feel the same way, and am just as shaken up by this current fascist billionaires-gone-berzerk crime syndicate as you are.

    It wouldn’t surprise me if the UK steps in to aid Canada and declares WWIII on the Divided States of MAGA confusion.

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