Bills that didn’t survive the WA Legislature’s first major deadline; ‘Homes for Heroes Act’ would help public servants buy homes in Washington

RIP: Bills that didn’t survive the WA Legislature’s first major deadline

Washington State Standard — Bills dealing with cow burps, the state flag, and changes to police traffic stop standards are among the first to land in the legislative graveyard this year in Olympia. This session, lawmakers in the state House and Senate have introduced nearly 1,800 bills. To stay alive, much of that legislation needed to get voted out of policy committees by Friday. Next week, more bills will join the cemetery as a Feb. 28 deadline arrives for legislation to pass out of fiscal and transportation committees in the chamber where it originated.

‘Homes for Heroes Act’ would help public servants buy homes in Washington

KING TV — Those who serve the community could get a little help buying a home in Washington under what would be known as the “Homes for Heroes Act.” House Bill 1022 would provide up to $25,000 in loans, at no interest, to those who qualify. Under the proposal, the recipients would need to make less than the median household income and work in certain occupations.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• Feb. 24-28, 2025

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Safer streets | Feb. 22, 2025

ABORTION

• New WA rule states abortion care must be provided in emergencies (Cascade PBS)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• New bill would give laid-off federal workers preference in hiring for WA state jobs (The News Tribune) $
• Over 600 federal workers in Washington have filed for unemployment so far this year (KING TV)
• WA pay transparency lawsuits spark ‘cottage industry’ claims (The Seattle Times) $
• Starbucks to lay off 1,100 corporate workers amid turnaround (The Seattle Times) $
• Profiles in Black leadership (FOX 13)

CONGRESS

• Trump resistance growing after a period of ‘grieving,’ Jayapal says (The Seattle Times) $
• Washington’s U.S. Rep. Smith: ‘There’s absolutely nothing helpful about what Elon Musk is doing’ (KING TV)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Fire at Grays Harbor County Jail prompts evacuation of inmates (KOMO TV)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Judge largely blocks Trump’s executive orders ending federal support for DEI programs (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• Washington Supreme Court hands landlords major victory after CARES Act challenge (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Juvenile justice is more than either-or (David Keenan, chief judge of King County Superior Court’s Maleng Regional Justice Center/The Seattle Times) $

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Seattle Police union President alleges Mayor Bruce Harrell is ‘weaponizing public safety’ (MyNorthwest)
• Sexual assault prevention ‘crucial’ among Western Washington youth (KING TV)

DATA CENTERS

• Southwest Washington officials say data centers use too much power, employ too few people to make economic sense (The Columbian) $
• OPINION: WA is at a crucial moment in data center development (John Mulligan, leads Monument Advocacy’s Energy and Environment practice/The Seattle Times) $

DRUG CRISIS

• First responders, families claim state law allows repeat harm to children without accountability (KING TV)

EARLY LEARNING

• WA lawmakers weigh further delay to early learning expansion (Washington State Standard)

EDUCATION

• Lawmakers fight over parental rights (KNWN Radio)
• Few schools have updates on their evaluations of Trump’s DEI executive order (The Center Square)
• Gee and Ursula: ‘Shameful’ that Washington schools must worry about DEI threat (MyNorthwest)
• Edmonds School District may revert to old sexual harassment policy (The Everett Herald) $
• Records show Stanwood-Camano school board plagued by ideological strife (The Everett Herald) $
• Washougal School Board considers new immigration enforcement, gender inclusivity policies (The Columbian) $
• Without federal funding, Mount Pleasant School and Skamania County would be ‘devastated,’ says Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (The Columbian) $
• EDITORIAL: WA Schools chief to Trump and his Dept. of Education: Back off (The Seattle Times) $

ELECTIONS

• Two WA secretaries of state oppose bill proposing changes to initiative process (The News Tribune) $
• WA GOP criticizes ‘initiative killer’ that adds new signature rules (The Seattle Times) $
• Washington Legislature considers allowing local elections in even years as secretaries of state voice concerns (The Spokesman-Review) $

EMERGENCY POWERS

• Watch: ‘Diluted version’ of emergency powers reform bill passes out of Senate committee (The Center Square)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Cuts to BPA, Army Corps could mean longer and more frequent power outages for Southwest Washington (The Columbian) $
• Battery project in Skagit County clears hurdle (Capital Press) $

ENVIRONMENT

• Wood stove regulation bill will not be moving forward in WA Legislature (KXLY TV)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Washington faces over $1 billion in research funding losses (Axios – Seattle)
• Dan Bongino named Deputy Director of FBI (FOX 13)

FISH

• As DNR passes ban on net pen fish farming, other agencies push back (KING TV)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Public health and political power: Democratic bill says ‘best science’ must be followed (MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: RFK Jr., Trump target meds that 1 in 3 Seattle-area young women use (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times) $

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WWU crowd protests proposed state budget cuts as university faces $18 million shortfall (The Bellingham Herald) $
• CWU creates new council focused on adaptability (Daily Record) $

HOMELESSNESS

• Video: The truth about Seattle’s homeless crisis and left-wing policies (MyNorthwest)
• Homeless count shows decline in unsheltered, but Wenatchee mayor casts doubt on new methods (The Wenatchee World) $

HOUSING

• OPINION: Rent control’s record of ruin (Amber Gunn, senior policy analyst for the Mountain States Policy Center/The Spokesman-Review) $

IMMIGRATION

• Most Washington state sheriffs say they will follow state’s ‘sanctuary’ law — with a few exceptions (Investigate West/Cascade PBS/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• COLUMN: Lawmakers waste time on duplicate law after falling for fake news story (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Proposed law could allow state agencies to decertify elected sheriffs (The Center Square)
• Proposed Washington state law aims to address racial disparities in traffic stops (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• 4 Pierce County deputies injured in attempted carjacking turned chase in Spanaway (KING TV)

LEGISLATURE

• WA lawmakers clash on parental rights, make progress on housing (The Seattle Times) $
• Domestic workers could get guaranteed breaks, minimum wage under proposed Washington state bill (KUOW Radio)
• State House, Senate bills aim to pay parental caregivers of developmentally disabled children (KNDO/KNDU)
• Proposal to implement year-round Pacific Standard Time in Washington among bills that appear dead (KING TV)
• EDITORIAL: Fold up the flag flap — now isn’t the time (Yakima Herald-Republic) $

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Spokane mayor joins lawsuit against Trump administration over cuts to NIH grants (The Center Square)
• Everett is planning for lots of growth. Here’s how. (The Everett Herald) $

MEDIA

• Joy Reid’s MSNBC show canceled in major shake-up (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) $
• COLUMN: The news is trying, the industry’s limping but great journalism continues (Brier Dudley/The Seattle Times) $

MENTAL HEALTH

• Washington Senate panel advances mental health benefits for pilots (FOX 13)
• Statewide, regional programs tackle rural behavioral health in WA (The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: UW behavioral health center finally open; dysfunction threatens it (The Seattle Times) $

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Leaders discuss possible state impacts from newly announced Department of Defense funding cuts (KING TV)
• Washington veterans speak out after being fired in federal cuts (KIRO TV)
• Trump fires chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and two other military officers (AP)

PARKS

• Trump administration backtracks on eliminating thousands of national parks employees (Los Angeles Times/The Seattle Times) $

PRIVACY

• Lawsuit against Amazon provides first test of WA’s health data privacy law (Washington State Standard)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• EDITORIAL: Ecology’s red tape leaves more questions than answers (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $

TAXES

• WA lawmakers light up plan for cigarette tax hike (Washington State Standard)
• Proposed tobacco and vapor tax hike would make small dent in $14 billion deficit (MyNorthwest)
• OPINION: Watch out for ‘mega-taxes’ as budget time draws closer (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington gas prices up 21 cents after California refinery fire. Will they surge again? (MyNorthwest)
• Klicker voices concerns over proposed road usage charge (KWHT/KTEL/KWVN – Elkhorn Media)
• Rep. John Ley says bill would let Oregon off the hook for $1.6 billion in borrowed funds to be paid back by tolling revenues (Clark County Today)
• Bainbridge lawmaker proposes 21st-century mosquito fleet ferry service (The Seattle Times) $
• Could WA soon get more passenger-only ferries? Lawmakers hear the ‘Mosquito Fleet Act’ (The Olympian) $
• King County Metro resumes bus services at crime-riddled corridor in Seattle (The Center Square)
• OPINION: Direct sales of EVs in WA is not a silver bullet (Matthew Phillips, CEO of Car Pros Automotive Group, Brad Brotherton, principal at Brotherton Automotive, Melissa Miller, COO of Honda and Toyota of Seattle, and Jen Moran, executive manager of Carter Motors/The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: Steer clear of the state’s gas tax dead end (The Everett Herald) $

WATER

• Trump keeps talking about taking PNW water — is that possible? (The Seattle Times) $
• What’s in the water? Public invited to observe Budd Inlet sediment sampling in March (The Olympian) $

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• How Trump’s mass layoffs raise the risk of wildfires in the US West, according to fired workers (AP)

WILDLIFE

• Protecting bighorn sheep: Inside WDFW’s innovative GPS project (KPQ Radio)

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