• 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 sessi...

• 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 t...

• 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 tot...

• 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 do...

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...

• 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...

• 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 excis...

• 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 stat...

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...

• 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 pro...

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 P...

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...

• 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” ini...

• 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. 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 p...

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 assa...

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 H...

• 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 k...

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, s...

(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. Initiati...

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 me...

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...

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...

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 Re...