Cascadia today: Feds hate WA limits on credit reports + fish traps to protect wild salmon + a history of concert posters
Feds oppose WA law banning medical debt from credit reports
In its ongoing war on anything that helps working people, the Trump administration announced it wants to override a Washington law that bans medical debt from being used in assigning a person's credit score, Washington State Standard reports. This, as the Republican party continues to waffle and present bogus solutions rather than taking a vote on expiring Obamacare subsidies. Washington state should do the right thing and create a universal health care system independent of the feds – but doing so will be tricky with a governor who's averse to raising new revenue as he crafts a 2026 budget.
One solution? A tax on the state's wealthiest residents, which, according to Washington State Standard, WA state senator Noel Frame of Seattle is pushing her colleagues to finally pass. If you live in Washington, please let your legislators know you support the proposed 9.9% tax on wealth over $1 million.
No Oregon universities have agreed to Trump demands
OPB reports that no colleges or universities in Oregon have signed on to or support the Trump administration's letter conditioning federal funds on schools eliminating programs that promote diversity and adding requirements for hiring conservative faculty and promoting equal time for conservative viewpoints on campus. This DEI for Right Wing Views has only been agreed to by three schools out of some 6,000 institutions in the US.
To end this continual pressure from the feds, Cascadia needs to break free from the US and set its own education funding policy.
Andrew Engelson
Can fish traps on the Columbia protect wild salmon?
Columbia Insight reports on an innovative commercial fishing operation that may reintroduce fish traps to the Columbia River, banned since 1948. The pilot program, sponsored by Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), sets up pens where fishers sort hatchery-raised fish (which all have a clipped fin) from wild salmon, while still alive. The pilot program will study whether the method is commercially viable.
An exhibit of Portland concert posters
The Portland Mercury has a great review of an exhibit of posters from Portland music show venues from the 1960s to the present. Many of the posters are for sale, and the exhibit takes place at Mint Gallery Records through Dec 12.
Thanks for reading! --Andrew
