OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee is out of the state this week on an east coast campaign tour, but Democrats in Washington’s Legislature are working to pass key bills on his agenda.
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OLYMPIA — The Washington House passed a measure Thursday that seeks to eliminate fossil fuels like natural gas and coal from the state’s electricity supply by 2045.
Spring brings a burst of cherry blossoms to the Washington State Capitol as lawmakers put the finishing touches on their 2019 legislative session, scheduled to end on April 28.
The state House and Senate passed two separate state operating budget proposals last week. HB 1109, as passed by the House, calls for $52.8 billion in spending with about $2 billion in new tax…
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OLYMPIA — The state Senate passed an amended version of the operating budget totaling $52.5 billion for the next biennium with 31 in favor and 17 opposed.
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OLYMPIA — 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 an…
OLYMPIA — Newly named hate crime offenses would let courts infer the offense was due to the perception of the victim’s association with a protected class, unless evidence suggests otherwise.
OLYMPIA — The legal age to purchase tobacco and vape products is about to rise from 18 to 21 under a bill headed to the governor’s desk after a 33-21 vote by the Washington State Senate on March 27.
House Democrats last week released their version of the 2019-21 state operating budget. After working late into the night Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee passed an amended versio…
OLYMPIA — Washington state Democrats are fulfilling some of the hefty aspirations of the Green New Deal with their own climate-change package, one that would raise the cost of producing, proce…
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LONG BEACH — Off the Washington coast, columns of bubbles rise from the seafloor, as if evidence of a sleeping dragon lying below. But these bubbles are methane that is squeezed out of sedimen…
Lawmakers in Olympia are continuing their rounds of committee hearings this week, while budget writers work behind the scenes on state spending and tax plans for the 2019-21 biennium. The reve…
OLYMPIA — Voter-approved school levy lid rates would rise from $1.50 to $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property, under Senate Bill 5313, currently under consideration in the Senate Ways and Mean…
After a key deadline this Wednesday, the last day to pass policy bills out of their original chamber, only 681 measures out of some 2,150 introduced this session are still alive. The cut-off d…
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday signed SB 5273, to move Washington’s 2020 presidential primary from May to March and require voters to register by party. The bill passed both houses of t…
OLYMPIA — State lawmakers are under the clock in Olympia, as they work long hours to pass hundreds of bills in time for March 13’s 5 p.m. deadline for bills to pass their originating chamber.
OLYMPIA — Despite past voter rejection of similar proposals, Senate Transportation Committee chair Steve Hobbs rolled out a comprehensive funding package that would impose a carbon pollution f…
OLYMPIA — 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.
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OLYMPIA — Washington state’s 19th Legislative District is fiercely independent.
OLYMPIA — Washington residents could vote to make daylight saving time year-round under a bill state senators passed March 12.
OLYMPIA — Climate-change legislation to encourage farmers to shrink their carbon footprint is running into opposition from farm groups.
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Senate passed a bill last week regarding school resource officer training in a bipartisan vote: 48 in favor and one excused.
Training would include:
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Senate voted to extend Extreme Risk Protection Orders to minors in a bipartisan 43-5 vote on March 5.
Gov. Inslee and Ferguson sent out yet another letter Thursday in regard to the initiative, this one aimed towards 262 firearms dealers in the state of Washington. Regardless of local officials…
OLYMPIA — State lawmakers are busy in Olympia’s version of “March Madness,” as members of the House and Senate continue to pass dozens of bills during lengthy floor sessions this week. Followi…
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SPOKANE — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission agreed last week to allow the use of gillnets during the fall salmon fishery on the Lower Columbia River while state fishery managers work…
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OLYMPIA — State senators passed a bill with a 29-20 vote to prohibit harassment, intimidation, bullying and discrimination based on gender identity in public schools.
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers aim to reduce pollution from plastic bags by establishing higher standards for the use of bags at retail establishments.
OLYMPIA — A bipartisan bill to enable public utility districts to sell and distribute hydrogen fuel and sponsored by 33 senators — well over half the state Senate — unanimously passed the cham…
OLYMPIA — Forty days into this year’s scheduled 105-day regular session, state lawmakers have now introduced some 2,200 bills. So far lawmakers have passed more than 300 measures out of House …
OLYMPIA — Programs to recruit and train behavioral and mental health professionals could receive $1.1 million in the next fiscal year under proposed legislation.
OLYMPIA — Washington state may impose restrictions on law enforcement’s use of facial recognition technology.
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OLYMPIA — A proposal to provide exemptions to the Public Records Act for the Legislature is dead, according to bill sponsor, Jamie Pederson, D-Seattle.
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SEATTLE — Exposure to glyphosate — the world’s most widely used, broad-spectrum herbicide and the primary ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup — increases the risk of some cancers by more than…
OLYMPIA — Over the last six years, more than 3,000 children between 12 and 14 years old were charged with crimes in Washington’s juvenile courts.
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) is seeking nominations for the 28th-annual awards for outstanding achievements in historic preservatio…
A group of 11 Democratic lawmakers aims to address the rights of homeless people and their ability to survive in public.
Lawmakers seek to celebrate public lands in Washington state by designating the fourth Saturday of September as Public Lands Day.
OLYMPIA — Media organization representatives from across Washington lambasted proposed legislation that exempts the Legislature from portions of the Public Records Act.
The state Employment Security Department wants lawmakers to create a new department within the agency to increase compliance with the H-2A federal agricultural guest worker visa program.
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OLYMPIA — The state attorney general has stepped in with a warning to more than half the state’s county law enforcement officials who say they refuse to fully enforce the gun control measures …
ASTORIA, Ore. – Coast Community Radio (KMUN, KTCB and KCPB), the nonprofit radio station in the Columbia-Pacific region, has received a $15,000 grant from Templin Foundation.
OLYMPIA — Tiny houses are a trendy new housing option that are often considered affordable; however zoning requirements and other laws make them difficult to legally place.
OLYMPIA — Some convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession may be able to apply to have the crime vacated from their records.
OLYMPIA — A group of 46 Democratic representatives aims to create an Office of Equity in Washington state to promote access to equitable opportunities and reduce racial and ethnic disparities.
OLYMPIA — Addressing the need for a new airport and encouraging the growth of the aviation profession was the topic of proposed legislation and public testimony, Thursday, at the House of Repr…
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OLYMPIA — School resource officers, threat assessments, and statewide school safety best practices are all topics of proposed legislation this year, however, none of the five bills are schedul…
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OLYMPIA — Cities that ban certain dog breeds would have to provide an appeal process for owners under proposed legislation that makes exceptions for good dogs of outlawed pedigree.
OLYMPIA — A proposed bill would ban the exploitation of dwarfs at commercial establishments in Washington state.
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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.
OLYMPIA — More than 2,000 people signed into the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Monday for hearings on 3-D printed guns, high-capacity magazines, domestic violence, as well as proposed tr…
OLYMPIA — The Washington State House public safety committee heard public testimony last week on two bills that address the statute of limitations in certain felony sex offenses as well as ano…
OLYMPIA — Proposed legislation would make it illegal to sell “milk” products not produced by mammals.
OLYMPIA — A proposed water infrastructure program would evaluate and rank potential projects related to a variety of water issues.
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