Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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• Total spending of $52.4 billion • Includes levy lid lift for school districts and some tax increases OLYMPIA (April 28, 2019) —The Washington State Legislature adjourned minutes before its midnight deadline on April 28, ending its 105-day session on time for the first time since 2009. Before the $52.4 billion biennium operating budget saw final passage, lawmakers worked out a deal that includes a school levy lid lift and prohibiting public records requests on the bump stock buyback plan. “This truly has been an epic legislative session...
• Lawmakers aim to improve “herd immunity” in Washington state • Lawmakers aim to stop the ongoing measles outbreak with passage of bill OLYMPIA (April 23, 2019) – The Washington House of Representatives concurred with Senate amendments on Tuesday that remove the personal exemption to the measles vaccine and send the legislation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who is expected to sign the bill into law. In the House concurrence floor vote, Rep. Vickie Kraft, R-Vancouver, said “this just essentially forces more vaccinations on students that may not need it...
• Includes a graduated Real Estate Excise Tax and separate Capital Gains Tax • Includes new insurance premium tax increase to combat wildfires OLYMPIA (March 29) -- The Senate Democrats introduced their operating budget proposal on Friday totaling $52.2 billion -- an increase of $7.5 billion over the last biennium. K-12 education accounts for 60 percent of the increase in spending with increases of $4.5 billion and an additional $937 million in special education funding. Other major increases include behavioral health and long-term care. The...
• Firearms would be removed from domestic violence situations for 5 days • Already considered a best practice but not done statewide • Measure has already passed the House OLYMPIA (April 2, 2019) — A bill to require the removal of firearms from domestic violence calls if there is probable cause that a crime was committed passed out of the Senate Law and Justice Committee onTuesday. The bill was previously passed by the House of Representatives on March 5 with 60 voting in favor and 38 opposed, all those voting in opposition were Republi...
OLYMPIA (March 29) -- The Senate Democrats introduced their operating budget proposal on Friday totaling $52.2 billion -- an increase of $7.5 billion over the last biennium. K-12 education accounts for 60 percent of the increase in spending with increases of $4.5 billion and an additional $937 million in special education funding. Other major increases include behavioral health and long-term care. The Senate proposal, like the House version released last week, includes revenue increases, however these increases differ and focus on...
• Would make 3-D printed guns illegal, along with the sale of said guns • Recent case on ghost guns in New Jersey makes it a national issue OLYMPIA (March 26) -- Undetectable and untraceable firearms and their creation would be illegal under proposed legislation. These types of firearms are being manufactured most commonly via 3-D printers and are often referred to as “ghost guns.” The Senate Law and Justice Committee heard public testimony on Engrossed House Bill 1739 on Tuesday. The Senate version, SB 5061, passed out of the Law and Justice C...
• Utilizes increase from economic growth revenue to fund education • Includes new taxes like capital gains and real estate excise OYMPIA (March 25) -- The House of Representatives’ budget proposal includes a capital gains and real estate excise tax along with business and occupation tax changes to raise revenue. The operating, capital, and transportation budget proposals were released on Monday and detail the 2019-21 biennium. The total budget is $52.8 billion for the 2019-21 biennium. The approximate revenue raised from the proposed new taxes...
• Already passed the Senate, • Would give tenants 14 days before eviction process begins OLYMPA (March 19) -- Protecting tenant rights through increasing the length of eviction proceedings is part of eviction-reform legislation, currently in the state House of Representatives. The House Committee on Civil Rights and Judiciary heard public testimony on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5600 on Tuesday. The bill would extend from three to 14 days the time a tenant has to comply with a notice to pay rent or vacate before unlawful detainer action. T...
• Allows non-traditional addresses to be used for voter registration on tribal lands • Election officials must have access by public roads to ballot drop boxes on tribal lands OLYMPIA (March 15) -- The Native American Voting Rights act was signed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee at a widely attended ceremony on March 14. "We believe these three steps will allow tribal members to help us form a more perfect union and make good decisions about our destiny," Inslee said of the changes the bill mak...
OLYMPIA (March 12, 2019) School District Bonds will still need 60 percent of the vote, after a Senate constitutional amendment failed to get the two-thirds vote required to pass. The amendment received 28 votes in favor and 21 in opposition. The only Democrat in opposition to Senate Joint Resolution 8201 was Senator Tim Sheldon, D- Potlatch. A school district bond is voted on by the public, usually to finance a building project. During the Senate floor debate, many senators voiced their concerns with reducing the voting percentage threshold,...
• Requires suppliers in the agricultural supply chain to report human rights violations to retail sellers • Met with wide farmer community opposition OLYMPIA (Feb. 28, 2019) Retail sellers of agricultural products, regardless of where the product originated, who do business in Washington and have a worldwide gross receipt of more than $200 million, would be required to disclose violations of employment-related laws, incidents of slavery, peonage, or working to payback debt, and human trafficking, under proposed legislation. Sen. Rebecca Sal...
OLYMPIA (March 7, 2019) -- A statewide broadband office would be created under legislation passed by the Washington state Senate in a unanimous vote March 6. Senate Bill 5511 would establish the Governor’s Statewide Broadband Office, require the Public Works Board to create a grant and loan program, and modify the state Universal Communications Services Program, along with other changes. The expansions to the Universal Communication Services Program would cost $5 million annually and if the money is not used in any given year the funds would r...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 21) -- School districts would be required to use excess career and technical education funding for specific purposes under proposed legislation. This bill sends an important message that sending money for career and technical education is important and the money should equate to program availability for student, said Sponsor District 18 Senator Ann Rivers R- La Center. The bill is an effort to create boundaries in how money left over after funding education programs, earmarked for career and technical education, formerly known as...
• Initiative would reduce car tabs to a flat rate • Opponents say it would harm transportation funding OLYMPIA (Feb. 260 -- The Senate and House transportation committees heard public testimony Tuesday on Tim Eyman’s “Bring Back Our $30 Car Tabs” initiative. The legislature has the option to propose an alternative to the initiative which would appear alongside the initiative on the 2019 ballot. Eyman was the only person to testify in support of Initiative 976, in both the House and Senate. “I think that the fact that the voters have voted for i...
• Senator withdraws bill exempting legislature from public disclosure of some records OLYMPIA (Feb. 19) A proposal to provide exemptions to the Public Records Act for the Legislature is dead, according to bill sponsor, Jamie Pederson, D-Seattle. Senate Bill 5784 drew fire from media representatives at a public hearing last week. At a press conference Tuesday, Democratic leaders from both the house and the senate indicated that because of the outcry against the proposal, they would not move forward with a public records bill this session. The S...
• Currently the death penalty is not valid per the state Supreme Court OLYMPIA (Feb. 15) The Senate passed a bill Friday to remove the death penalty from Washington state statute and replacing it with life in prison without parole. Senate Bill 5339 passed with 28 in favor, 19 opposed, with senators Phil Fortunado, R-Auburn and Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, excused. Republican senators Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake and Brad Hawkins R-Wenatchee, and sponsor Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla voted in support of the typically democratic bill. Democratic senat...
The House public safety committee heard public testimony Tuesday on two bills that address the statute of limitations in certain felony sex offenses as well as another bill that would establish best practices for storing and processing of sexual assault kits. Both bills are sponsored by Mason County District 35 Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, who has been working for many years to get the statute of limitation changed for sex offences. House Bill 1231 would add child molestation in the first degree and rape of a child in the first degree to the list...
Differences in water usage best practices during a drought and homeowners’ association landscaping requirements are the target of new legislation. The goal of House Bill 1165, introduced by District 34 Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, is to require HOAs’ landscaping guidelines to align with water conservation guidelines during a drought. Many HOAs or condominium associations have requirements on the type of landscaping allowed – which often excludes fire resistant or low-water plants. The bill would prohibit HOAs from fining residents for emplo...
• Wide rural and tribal support (OLYMPIA) Jan. 16, 2019--The creation of a Statewide Broadband Office and an initial investment of $25 million into getting broadband into “every nook and cranny” was announced by Governor Jay Inslee on Jan. 16. “We know the reality on the ground is that there are just too many places that do not have access,” said Inslee. “So, we know that fundamentally the digital divide should not and will not be able to divide those haves and have nots when it comes to digital and broadband access.” Inslee’s proposal target...
By Emma Scher WNPA Olympia News Bureau OLYMPIA— In his State of the State address Jan. 15, Governor Jay Inslee emphasized his program requests but was criticized by Republicans for fueling partisanship. House minority leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, said he believes the governor “dissipated” feelings of unification after Monday’s speech by Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, at the House swearing-in ceremony. Inslee’s stance on gun control drew a clear line on the floor between Democrats, who gave a standing ovation, and Republicans, who remained...
(OLYMPIA) Jan. 17, 2019-- “Bring Back Our $30 Car Tabs,” an initiative that would limit annual motor-vehicle registration fees to $30 except for voter-approved charges, was sent to the Legislature for consideration by the Secretary of State. Initiative 976 received enough signatures to potentially make it to the November 2019 ballot. The initiative can take three different pathways by either being approved as is by Legislators, by Legislators passing on the initiative and it being voted on by the public, or by Legislators passing an alternative...
House Bill 1064, a proposed amendment to De-Escalate Washington- Initiative 940, was unanimously voted through the House Public Safety Committee Tuesday. After the vote, Rep. Brad Klippert, R Kennewick, who is a former law enforcement officer, led members of the committee and those in attendance in a raucous cheer. I-940, approved by voters by a wide margin last year, added training requirements for law enforcement officers in the areas of de-escalation, mental health and first aid. The amendment makes no major changes to I-940 but focuses on m...
By Emma Epperly WNPA Olympia News Bureau A proposed bill would allow the residential address portion of a voter registration form to be filled out with a nontraditional address. Democrat majority caucus chair, Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, pre-filed SB 5079, titled The Native American voting rights act of Washington. “The Washington state Legislature has a chance to rectify historical wrongs with the passage of the Native American Voting Rights Act. In doing so, we will send a loud and simple message to the Native community: we recognize that c...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 4, 2019) Legislation proposed on the last day of January would largely exempt state legislators from the Public Records Act according to the attorney who led the fight against a similar bill last year. That bill was passed in a last-minute move after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in January 2018 that the legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decision and litigation is still ongoing in the Washington Supreme Court. A public outcry over...
OLYMPIA (Feb. 5, 2019) Legislators propose replacing the moribund death penalty with the mandatory imposition of life imprisonment without parole. The Senate Law and Justice committee heard public testimony on Senate Bill 5339 sponsored by Senator Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. “It’s been a long public discourse the last 10 to 15 years in our state and in our country about this issue,” said Carlyle. “I think the result of that civic discourse in the last number of years has been a growing recognition that the data shows that the death penalty is ap...
