House-of-origin cutoff looms; Financial literacy may become a graduation requirement for students

THE WEEK AHEAD

• The Week Ahead | February 12 – 16

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• February 11

CAPITOL CALENDAR RADIO/AUDIO

• Capitol Calendar | February 12 – 16

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Overtime bill hits a dead end in WA Legislature (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Washington’s H-2A bill aims to enhance data collection, faces fiscal concerns (Columbia Basin Herald)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Why Washington’s dancers want a “strippers’ bill of rights” (Axios – Seattle)
• Boeing’s next crisis: aerospace workers demanding 40% pay raise (Bloomberg News/The Columbian)

CANNABIS

• EDITORIAL: Don’t delay legislation on high-potency cannabis (The Seattle Times)

CENSUS

• COLUMN: For the first time in decades, number of kids in King County drops (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• OPINION: Stop whitewashing history. Let’s create a future that doesn’t need Black History Month (Thelma Jackson, civil rights activist, educator, and serves on Lacey’s Commission on Equity/The Olympian)

CONGRESS

• Congress agrees on how much to spend — but not on how to spend it (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• The Boldt Decision’s impact on Indigenous rights, 50 years later (Crosscut)

COURTS (STATE)

• Domestic violence victims and advocates press for family court system reform (The Center Square)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• State Patrol refers charges for protest that shut down I-5 in Seattle (The Seattle Times)
• Point Defiance Park walker stabbed in apparent random attack (The News Tribune)
• ‘You call that a knife?’ Robber gets chased off by machete-wielding store clerk (The News Tribune)
• COLUMN: The ‘terrifying’ teen hit-and-run case shows: We still need locks (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times)

DRUG CRISIS

• Fentanyl education in schools: Unanimous support one new bill is seeing from House lawmakers (KING TV)
• Should you have Narcan in your pocket? Experts now recommend carrying life-saving drug (The Spokesman-Review)
• ‘You could potentially save somebody’s life’ – Narcan availability continues to grow (Kitsap Sun)

EDUCATION

• Financial literacy may become a graduation requirement for students (The Seattle Times)
• WA House unanimously adopts Rude’s financial education bill (KWHT Radio)
• Students rally for more representative classes, staff in Seattle schools (The Seattle Times)

ELECTIONS

• Moving local elections to even-numbered years (The Washington Observer)
• Voters still must show up in person for these WA elections. That could change (Tri-City Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Don’t let somebody else decide your school’s fate — vote (Yakima Herald-Republic)

ENVIRONMENT

• Water is a component of Yakima plan to respond to climate change (Yakima Herald-Republic)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Inside Biden’s five-hour faceoff with the special counsel (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• The private sector’s biggest bet in homelessness fell apart. What now? (The Seattle Times)
• A Seattle suburb known for affordability becomes example of U.S. debate on homelessness (The Seattle Times)
• Tacoma homeless village might get an extension, then become site for housing development (The News Tribune)

HOUSING

• Washington House passes bill requiring energy performance reports before home sales (KHQ TV)
• Lot-splitting goes down in flames (The Washington Observer)
• Taking ADU tax breaks statewide (The Washington Observer)
• Washington State is the only state to provide tax-payer funded lawyers to tenants facing eviction (KIRO TV)
• Thurston County home sales did something in January that they struggled to do in 2023 (The Olympian)
• Mortgage rates hold steady to start 2024. Is an uptick in the housing market on its way? (The Business Journals/Puget Sound Business Journal)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Pasco Republican’s anti-trafficking bill trains hospitality workers to spot sex slavers (Tri-City Herald)
• 11 and 15-year-old girls trafficked in Seattle (MyNorthwest)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• They started building a bulkhead for a new home on Hood Canal. Then the feds found out (The Seattle Times)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• SPD’s woman employees describe harassment, discrimination in report (The Seattle Times)

LEGISLATURE

• House-of-origin cutoff looms (The Washington Observer)
• Legalizing cafes in more neighborhoods (The Washington Observer)
• Why WA might shorten the time mortuaries must keep unclaimed bodies (Washington State Standard/The Seattle Times)
• Washington state lawmakers push to keep bills alive ahead of Tuesday cutoff (KOMO TV)
• New bill would force clergy to report child abuse, neglect (KIRO TV)
• Bill requiring AEDs in gyms unanimously passes Senate (KIRO TV)
• WA Senate advances bill to make DUI offenders pay child support (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Legislation would impose fines for untreated sewage discharge (Washington State Journal/Columbia Basin Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Downtown development in Puyallup is one of the new mayor’s priorities. Here are his plans (The News Tribune)
• Former Everett police chief to earn $234K in mayor’s office (The Everett Herald)
• City of Bellingham seeks to clarify efforts of suspended Immigration Advisory Board (The Bellingham Herald)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Senate leans into updates to the behavioral health system in Washington (The Washington Observer)

OPERATING BUDGET

• Estimates show capital gains tax repeal draining billions from Washington budget (Washington State Standard)

OTHER STATES

• EDITORIAL: Legislators must go bold to fix housing shortage (The Oregonian)

TAXES

• Rep. Corry relieved property tax increase bill failed, but warns Democrats still have many other bills that will cost you (KLCK Radio)
• COLUMN: Seattle property taxes among top 5 most expensive in big U.S. cities (Gene Balk/The Seattle Times)

TRANSPORTATION

• Getting There: BNSF halts work in Spokane Valley, likely adding to delays for Pines Road project (The Spokesman-Review)
• Commuters and impact at center of plan to rally state’s focus around ferries (Kitsap Sun)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Spokane County wildfire victims seek help from state, federal government as recovery continues (The Inlander)

WILDLIFE

• Doctors, tribe work to rescue golden eagle (The Lewiston Tribune)