Washington Constitution: Records obtained by The Center Square show Washington's attorney general helped lawmakers design a tax aimed at overturning a 92-year-old state constitutional ruling, not just to raise revenue.
Pittsburgh Overtime: 116 Pittsburgh city workers earned more from overtime last year than their base salaries, costing taxpayers $71 million in overtime alone.
Virginia Redistricting: Virginia voters narrowly approved a redistricting amendment that could flip as many as four U.S. House seats before the 2026 midterms.
Pentagon Audit: The Pentagon is asking Congress for a $1.5 trillion defense budget, a 42% increase, while failing its eighth consecutive financial audit.
Illinois Tariff Refunds: Illinois businesses can now file for a share of $8 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down certain import duties.
Washington state officials sought to use a tax law to overturn a 92-year-old constitutional ruling
What we found: Nearly 1,000 pages of public records obtained by The Center Square show the Washington attorney general's office worked with Democratic lawmakers to design the state's new 9.9% income tax on millionaires specifically to force the state Supreme Court to overturn its 1933 Culliton v. Chase ruling, which declared income to be property and made a progressive income tax unconstitutional. "I would like to force the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider its caselaw that considers income to be property," Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen wrote in an August email. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the law on March 30.
The stakes: If the 1933 ruling falls, a simple legislative majority could impose a progressive income tax on every Washington earner, not just millionaires. The state has no income tax today.
The backstory: Washington has long banned income taxes under a 1930 constitutional amendment requiring uniform property taxation. The 2023 capital gains tax survived legal challenge only because lawmakers labeled it an "excise tax" on a transaction, not a tax on income directly. This law takes a different approach, designed to challenge Culliton head-on.
Where it stands: A lawsuit to block the tax is already filed, and a separate fight over a citizen referendum to repeal it is pending, with the attorney general's office now on both sides of the constitutional question it helped create.
3 States
Pennsylvania — 116 Pittsburgh city workers earned more from overtime last year than their base salaries, costing taxpayers $71 million in overtime — $20 million more than budgeted — as Mayor Corey O'Connor declared the city $8.6 million in the red. The pattern is common in cities where police, fire, and EMS staffing shortages are filled with overtime rather than new hires, signaling a structural budget problem that cities from Chicago to Phoenix are only beginning to address. Read the full breakdown of where $71 million went.
Louisiana — A Caddo Parish judge cleared Amazon's permit to build a multi-billion dollar data center in west Shreveport after 90 days of legal limbo, giving the company a green light on its third major campus in north Louisiana. The ruling reflects a national tension playing out in communities across the South and Midwest between the economic promise of tech infrastructure investment and opposition to large industrial development; the Sierra Club has already announced its intention to appeal. Dive into the full report.
Illinois — Illinois businesses became eligible this week for a share of roughly $8 billion in tariff refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down certain import duties collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a federal law the Trump administration used to impose them. The refund portal crashed twice on its first day due to volume, businesses face a multi-step claims process, and new tariffs could arrive as early as July. Learn what the refund process means for taxpayers.
2 Issues
Elections — Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday by a margin of roughly 51% to 49%, allowing the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to redraw congressional maps before the 2026 elections. The proposed map would shift Virginia's House delegation from 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans to as many as 10-1 in Democrats' favor. If it survives legal challenge, it flips the national redistricting math from a projected Democratic net loss of three seats to a net gain of one. Dig into the details of what’s happening.
Energy — Gas has averaged more than $4 per gallon nationally for 22 consecutive days, and diesel has risen 52% year-over-year to more than $5.51 per gallon, driven primarily by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, not a domestic supply shortage. Diesel at $5.51 a gallon matters far beyond the pump; it raises costs for trucking, rail freight, and manufacturing, meaning the price increase eventually shows up in nearly everything consumers buy. Read the full story.
1 Number
$1.5 trillion
The Pentagon is asking Congress for $1.5 trillion for the next fiscal year, a 42% increase over current defense spending, while the agency has failed eight consecutive financial audits, and the national debt stands at $39 trillion. See what taxpayers would be funding.
A surprising discovery in Renton, Washington is raising questions about election processes
Nearly 500 undelivered, unopened ballots were found near a dumpster in Renton, Washington, some from multiple election cycles back.
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Benson is facing scrutiny after a federal grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts, including wire fraud and money laundering. She served on the SPLC's board from 2014 through early 2019, overlapping with the period covered by the indictment. Her office did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment. She is also contending with at least four active lawsuits alleging racial discrimination within the Michigan Department of State, which she leads.
Should public officials be required to complete anti–hate speech training as part of their duties?
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