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SEATTLE — Governor Bob Ferguson today declared an emergency in King and Pierce counties as a result of the closure of the White River Bridge between Buckley and Enumclaw. The bridge was severely damaged after being struck by a semi-truck on Aug. 18.

The Washington State Department of Transportation took immediate action, implementing emergency measures, closing the bridge and establishing a detour. WSDOT has been working to evaluate the damage and plan for temporary repairs as soon as possible. WSDOT teams were on the bridge immediately after the collision, conducting inspections and taking measurements for temporary repairs. WSDOT has already started fabricating pieces and securing other materials for the repairs.

The emergency proclamation allows the state to seek federal funds to reimburse the work currently underway to repair the bridge, and work into the future. The proclamation is available here.

“The White River Bridge is a critical lifeline to these communities, and we are doing all we can to get it reopened as quickly as possible,” Governor Ferguson said. “The work is happening right now, and this declaration will ensure we can seek federal reimbursement to protect state dollars.”

Work already underway

Structural damage extends the full length of the bridge and includes horizontal and vertical components. Engineers are currently reviewing the data collected and are running models to better understand the extent of the damage and determine repairs, reopening options and timelines. 

WSDOT is meeting almost daily with local partners to provide updates, answer questions and coordinate on the response.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In response to recent federal actions that have undermined the independence of the CDC and raised concerns about the politicization of science, Washington, California and Oregon are beginning the process to provide evidence-based unified recommendations to their residents regarding who should receive immunizations and to help ensure the public has access and credible information for confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy. 

OLYMPIA — Today, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced they will launch a new West Coast Health Alliance to ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics. The alliance represents a unified regional response to the Trump Administration’s destruction of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) credibility and scientific integrity.

Joint statement from Governors Newsom, Kotek, and Ferguson: “President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people. The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”

“When federal agencies abandon evidence-based recommendations in favor of ideology, we cannot continue down that same path. Washington State will not compromise when it comes to our values: science drives our public health policy. Public health at its core is about prevention — preventing illness, preventing the spread of disease, and preventing early, avoidable deaths. We stand firmly with trusted medical professionals and organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as fellow West Coast health agencies — whose guidance remains rooted in rigorous research and clinical expertise. Our commitment is to the health and safety of our communities, protecting lives through prevention, and not yielding to unsubstantiated theories that dismiss decades of proven public health practice.”

Dennis Worsham, Secretary of Health, Washington State Department of Health

“The dismantling of public health and dismissal of experienced and respected health leaders and advisors, along with the lack of using science, data, and evidence to improve our nation's health are placing lives at risk. California stands together with our public health and medical professional colleagues to uphold integrity and support our mission to protect the health of our communities.”

Erica Pan, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FAAP, Director and State Public Health Officer, California Department of Public Health

“Our communities deserve clear and transparent communication about vaccines — communication grounded in science, not ideology. Vaccines are among the most powerful tools in modern medicine; they have indisputably saved millions of lives. But when guidance about their use becomes inconsistent or politicized, it undermines public trust at precisely the moment we need it most. That is why Oregon is committed, alongside California and Washington, to leading with science and delivering evidence-based recommendations that protect health, save lives, and restore confidence in our public health system.”

Sejal Hathi, MD, MBA, Director, Oregon Health Authority

Details about this new Alliance

Our three states share a commitment to ensuring that public health recommendations are guided by safety, efficacy, transparency, access, and trust. The Alliance will help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies in California, Oregon, and Washington are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders. Through this partnership, the three states will start coordinating health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations. This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions. 

In the coming weeks, the Alliance will finalize shared principles to strengthen public confidence in vaccines and in public health. While each state will independently pursue strategies shaped by their unique laws, geographies, histories, and peoples, these shared principles will form the foundations of the Alliance. Importantly, the three states affirm and respect Tribal sovereignty, recognizing that Tribes maintain their sovereign authority over vaccine services. 

CDC’s dismantling

Since its founding, the CDC has been central to protecting Americans from disease. But recent leadership changes, reduced transparency, and the sidelining of long-trusted advisory bodies have impaired the agency’s capacity to prepare the nation for respiratory virus season and other public health challenges.  In a vacuum of clear, evidence-based vaccine guidance, manufacturers lack reliable information to plan production, health care providers struggle to provide consistent plans of care, and families face uncertainty about access and coverage. 

In June, California, Oregon, and Washington condemned Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to science-driven decision-making. We will continue to provide clear, evidence-based guidance to people living in our states, look to scientific experts in trusted medical professional organizations for recommendations, and work with public health leaders across the country to ensure all Americans are protected. The absence of consistent, science-based federal leadership poses a direct threat to our nation’s health security. To protect the health of our communities, the West Coast Health Alliance will continue to ensure that our public health strategies are based on best available science. 

What you need to know: The state of Hawaii is joining Washington, California, and Oregon in the West Coast Health Alliance, which is providing unified recommendations on immunizations to residents based on science, not politics.

OLYMPIA – Roughly 24 hours after the launch of the West Coast Health Alliance, Hawaii is joining Washington, California, and Oregon in a shared commitment to safeguard public health. Together, these states will provide evidence-based immunization guidance rooted in safety, efficacy, and transparency — ensuring residents receive credible information free from political interference.

“We are proud to announce the state of Hawaii is joining the West Coast Health Alliance to uphold the scientific integrity of public health recommendations. We look forward to collaborating as allied states on the best practices for our constituents. Together, we’re taking a stand to ensure the safety of our residents is protected and guided by evidence-based findings and not political whims.” – Governors Ferguson, Newsom, and Kotek

“Hawaii is proud to stand with our West Coast partners to ensure public health decisions are grounded in science, not politics,” said Governor Josh Green, M.D. “As an island state, we understand how critical it is to protect our communities from preventable disease. By joining the West Coast Health Alliance, we’re giving Hawaii’s people the same consistent, evidence-based guidance they can trust to keep their families and neighbors safe. Using science as our guiding star, Hawaii had the highest vaccination rate and lowest mortality rate of virtually any other state or region across the globe,” said Green, an emergency room physician who became Governor in 2022. “This approach is critical as we all go forward into an era with severe threats from infectious diseases.”

Details about this new Alliance

The Alliance states share a commitment to ensuring that public health recommendations are guided by safety, efficacy, transparency, access, and trust. The Alliance will help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies in Washington, California, Oregon, and Hawaii are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders. Through this partnership, the four states will start coordinating health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations. This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions.

In the coming weeks, the Alliance will finalize shared principles to strengthen public confidence in vaccines and in public health. While each state will independently pursue strategies shaped by their unique laws, geographies, histories, and peoples, these shared principles will form the foundations of the Alliance. Importantly, the four states affirm and respect Tribal sovereignty, recognizing that Tribes maintain their sovereign authority over vaccine services.

CDC’s dismantling

Since its founding, the CDC has been central to protecting Americans from disease. But recent leadership changes, reduced transparency, and the sidelining of long-trusted advisory bodies have impaired the agency’s capacity to prepare the nation for respiratory virus season and other public health challenges. In a vacuum of clear, evidence-based vaccine guidance, manufacturers lack reliable information to plan production, health care providers struggle to provide consistent plans of care, and families face uncertainty about access and coverage.

In June, Washington, California, and Oregon condemned Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to science-driven decision-making. We will continue to provide clear, evidence-based guidance to people living in our states, look to scientific experts in trusted medical professional organizations for recommendations, and work with public health leaders across the country to ensure all Americans are protected. The absence of consistent, science-based federal leadership poses a direct threat to our nation’s health security. To protect the health of our communities, the West Coast Health Alliance will continue to ensure that our public health strategies are based on best available science.

Nonpartisan report also projects rising prices and about 31,900 fewer jobs by 2029 in Washington

OLYMPIA — Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference today to detail the Washington State Office of Financial Management’s stand-alone, nonpartisan analysis of the potential effects of the 2025 Trump tariff actions on Washington families, employers, and the state budget. To our knowledge, this is the first statewide, nonpartisan report that specifically models the effects on household prices, industries, growth, and state revenues.

The analysis, released today, found that full implementation of President Trump’s proposed tariffs will result in significantly higher costs for Washington families, as well as the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in state revenue over the next four years.

“The Trump Administration’s chaotic tariff implementation is already wreaking havoc on Washington’s economy and our businesses’ ability to plan for the future,” Governor Bob Ferguson said. “This report makes it clear: The full implementation of President Trump’s tariffs will be devastating for Washington state families, businesses and our state budget.”

“This report gives us a range of scenarios of how U.S. tariffs and retaliatory tariffs could impact the state's economy and future budgets,” said OFM Director K.D. Chapman-See. “It helps us see which industries could be affected, and where support for Washington families and businesses might be needed.”

“Tariffs are a regressive tax that disproportionately burden low-income households,” said Thomas Reynolds, CEO of Northwest Harvest. “At a time when federal food assistance programs are shifting and grocery affordability is increasingly out of reach, leadership across sectors must come together to ensure everyone has enough to eat. At Northwest Harvest, we’re working to get essential food to every county in Washington—and we see firsthand how Governor Ferguson is standing up for communities by spotlighting how tariffs deepen food insecurity.” 

Key findings

The OFM report projects the impacts to Washington if President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs are fully implemented and maintained through 2029. This would create an average or “effective” tariff rate of 27 percent. Under that scenario, Washingtonians will see:

• Higher prices for food. Groceries face near-term increases, resulting in 16% higher prices cumulatively over two years.
• Higher prices for clothes and shoes. Clothing and footwear prices are projected to rise around 7% in one year and then ease.
• Higher prices for cars. Used car prices are projected to rise about 20–25% over two years. New cars are projected to rise 6–8%.
• Tens of thousands of jobs at risk. Washington will lose about 31,900 jobs by 2029, with agriculture, food processing, and aerospace the hardest hit.
• Less revenue for public services. Based on the model’s assumptions, weaker sales and business activity could lead to a loss of $2.2 billion in general fund revenue to the state by 2029.
• Slower growth. Quarterly state GDP growth is 1.2 to 1.8 percentage points lower through 2029.

OFM also ran a projection with the tariffs in effect as of Aug. 7. That effective rate is more than 18 percent — the highest since 1933. If those were extended through 2029, would also experience significant adverse impacts. For example, Washington stands to lose 20,000 to 25,000 jobs.

Governor Ferguson action on tariffs

In May, Governor Ferguson led a coalition of 24 public and private partners, including state and local officials, state legislators, labor unions, and business and economic development interests, to file a “friend of the court” brief in support of the federal multistate lawsuit to block President Trump’s illegal tariffs

Last Friday, a federal court of appeals agreed with the coalition and struck down the illegal tariffs — but the court let the tariffs remain in effect for now to give the Trump Administration time to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Trump filed that appeal yesterday. If the Supreme Court accepts the appeal, the tariffs will remain in effect until the justices decide the case.

Ferguson’s amicus brief states: “If allowed to remain in effect, the President’s tariffs will continue to wreak havoc on Washington-based interests by disrupting established supply chains, forcing businesses and consumers to pay more for goods, equipment, and services, and interfering with the Governor’s ability to shape and implement a state budget and pursue state policy priorities amid the significant uncertainty, chaos, and adverse economic conditions caused by the tariffs.”

How the state will use the report

The Governor’s Office and OFM are using this analysis to guide careful budgeting that protects core services, and targets support to the communities and sectors most exposed to trade shocks. State agencies are coordinating with ports, growers, manufacturers, and small businesses to manage supply and market-access challenges. They are also elevating requests for federal flexibility where warranted. OFM will keep the public informed with updated numbers and plain-language explainers as conditions change.

Access the report and materials

• Full report and technical appendix

About the Office of Financial Management (OFM)

The Office of Financial Management provides budget, policy, and data services that help the Governor, Legislature, and state agencies serve the people of Washington. OFM develops the Governor’s budget, supports statewide performance and results, and publishes independent analysis to inform public decision-making. Learn more at ofm.wa.gov.

About the Forecasting and Research Division

OFM’s Forecasting and Research Division produces independent economic, demographic, and policy analysis for Washington. The division develops official state population estimates and projections, supports the state’s revenue and caseload forecasts, and publishes research on the economy, health care, education, public safety, and other issues that affect communities across the state.

Executive Order 25-07 offers stability for workers, companies and ensures public works projects stay on track  

WENATCHEE — Today, while speaking at the Washington Building and Construction Trades Council annual convention, Governor Bob Ferguson signed an executive order that creates security and stability for workers and companies tasked with carrying out critical state-funded projects.

Executive Order 25-07 requires large and complex public works projects over $35 million to have Project Labor Agreements for their workers. These pre-hire collective bargaining agreements allow all workers, including subcontractors and regardless of union membership status, to receive fair pay, protections and benefits. Project Labor Agreements also keep projects on track by establishing dispute resolution processes for workers and restricting strikes and lock-outs.

“All workers deserve fair pay and benefits. This executive order provides strong protections for workers on major projects, and predictability for the public,” Ferguson said. “Utilizing Project Labor Agreements on major projects will help promote family-wage jobs, worker safety and on-time delivery of these critical projects.”

Project Labor Agreements protect workers, keep projects on track

Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are negotiated agreements between a contractor and one or more labor organizations that establish the terms of employment for a specific project.

Under Governor Ferguson’s Executive Order, PLAs on major projects will establish consistent, transparent working conditions and dispute resolution for all workers, including contractors and subcontractors. PLAs are established before any workers are hired on a project, so all workers have a clear understanding of the working conditions for the projects. 

PLAs protect workers from issues like wage theft and misclassification through mechanisms such as grievance arbitration. They also make labor costs more predictable and accurate by establishing terms at the outset of the project.