Austin Jenkins
Olympia CorrespondentSince January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.
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The state of Washington is putting tens of millions of dollars into shoring up a fractured children’s mental health safety net. But it may come too late for a 14-year-old nonverbal autistic teen who spent five months stuck in the hospital.
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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday signed into law three gun-related bills, including one that will prohibit the sale of gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
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That’s a wrap. Washington’s sprint-like, 60-day legislative session has adjourned after majority Democrats approved a hefty supplemental budget along with the first major transportation funding package since 2015. Now lawmakers will be free to hit the campaign trail and start raising money for the 2022 elections. All 98 House seats and about half of the state’s 49 state senate positions are up for election this year.
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Mike Kreidler, Washington’s longtime insurance commissioner, is facing allegations that he verbally mistreats staff. Current and former employees say it’s part of a pattern that’s gotten worse in recent months and is contributing to high turnover in the office. Kreidler says he has high standards for his staff, but said he will work to be more careful in how he deals with people.
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With COVID cases and hospitalizations dropping fast, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that the state’s indoor mask mandate will lift on Saturday, March 12, 10 days earlier than previously announced.
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Following in the path of multiple other states, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that he will largely lift the state’s indoor mask mandate, in place since last August, on Monday, March 21.
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In an act of labor solidarity, scores of Democratic staffers in the Washington Legislature staged a “sick-out” Wednesday after a bill that would have allowed them to unionize failed to advance before a key cutoff deadline.
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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s big push to make it a crime for elected officials and candidates for office to incite lawlessness by making false statements about elections appears to have died in the state Legislature.
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As states from Oregon to New York announce plans to end mask mandates, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday announced that he’s lifting outdoor masking requirements and plans to announce next week a date when the mask mandate for public indoor spaces and schools will be lifted.
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As the 2022 midterm elections loom, a partisan battle over access to the ballot box continues to be fought in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. Red states are passing new restrictions, while many blue states are making voting more accessible. That includes Washington.