43 in Seattle. News radio 1000 FM 97 7 stay connected, stay informed. Good evening it is 7 O 5, I'm Kelly blier and here's what's happening. The integrity of our elections remains a top issue in this midterm campaign Northwest news radio is Ryan here has talked about it with both state party chairs. Washington state's Democratic Party chair Tina podlaski was quick to say Republicans embrace what's been dubbed the big lie, the denial that the last election was conducted fairly. Padlo says her party's candidate, the appointed Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was among the few to start a disinformation unit. So hammering on that and making certain that people understand how safe, Washington elections are, and how well run Washington elections are. But it's not as though he's not dealing with bad actors all the time. State Republican chair Caleb heimlich says he believes it's fair to raise questions that, quote, it should be easy to vote and hard to cheat and that our vote is sacred. And we want to make sure it's one person, one vote that it's only eligible voters that are casting their ballots and that we should all have confidence in the results of our elections. That's the only way our democracy is able to function. Heimlich also says he supports the use of ballot drop boxes, both agree the most important thing is to make sure you vote. Ryan Harris northwest news radio. The governors continued plans to attack the homelessness crisis and housing costs call for more state money next year than it will spend this year. Governor Jay inslee's proposals include more rapid short term housing as the state and cities work to clear homeless camps from under freeways as well as the services the people need. He also wants to speed up the permitting process to lower building costs and make it easier to build more dense housing near transit corridors, as he says it provides things washingtonians want. We want our housing program to be rapid and we want it to be real. And this is rapid. We are moving the ball, getting people off of our right aways in weeks, not decades. The chair of the state Republican Party says we've already spent billions of dollars on what he says is a still growing homelessness problem, and he'd like to see more of a focus on what he calls actual results. Just as the city council is crafting Seattle's budget for the next two years, the revenue forecast predicts a steep decline in tax collections, details from northwest news radios Jeff pojo. Over the next two years, forecasters expect a $64 million decrease in real estate excise tax revenues, 9.4 million less in general fund revenues and 4.5 million less from the sweetened beverage tax. This has made crafting a balanced budget for Seattle much more difficult. In a statement, budget chair Theresa mosquito says, quote, we will respond with urgency and compassion to this new revenue forecast by continuing to craft a budget that focuses on core city services, avoids austerity and invests in a more equitable economy. A final budget is expected to be approved by the end of the month. Jeff pojo and northwest news radio. A federal lawsuit filed today in Seattle against close to a dozen property management companies for allegedly conspiring to drive up student housing costs. Lawyer Steve Berman tells northwest news radio, the collusion goes back as far as 2010. Managers of student housing have used a company called real page to give everyone access to what prices they're going to charge. So there's no incentive to charge a lower price. All the big college towns were allegedly victimized, including Seattle, the lawsuit seeks repayment for those who were overcharged in the company's held libel under federal antitrust law. In Bellevue technology and traffic safety are on a