Keeping our kids safe: Addressing dangerous homeless encampments in Washington state; Bill Republicans say would undo ‘parents’ bill of rights’ initiative moves forward

OPINION: Keeping our kids safe: Addressing dangerous homeless encampments in Washington state

Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen/The News Tribune — Our kids deserve to be safe in their neighborhoods. It’s time to remove dangerous encampments. Homeless encampments are sadly becoming a mundane fact of life in Washington. Our state has the third-highest number of homeless individuals in the nation, trailing only New York and California. This crisis remains a top issue in Washington, and there is no shortage of ideas on how to solve it. In the last four years, Washington spent over $4.2 billion on homelessness and housing programs, a dramatic increase from previous spending.

Bill Republicans say would undo ‘parents’ bill of rights’ initiative moves forward

The Center Square — House Republicans in the Washington State Legislature offered up dozens of amendments Thursday during an executive session before the House Education Committee, but none were successful in slowing down a bill that critics say would undo a parents’ bill of rights initiative passed by lawmakers last year. House Bill 1296 would, according to the House Bill Report, promote “a safe and supportive public education system through student rights, parental and guardian rights, employee protections, and requirements for state and local education entities.”

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Fix Washington | Feb. 1, 2025

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• WA businesses fear higher costs, tougher exports due to Trump tariffs (The Seattle Times) $
• Thinking about retiring? New study ranks WA among the five worst states for retirement (The News Tribune) $
• Strike averted at Costco as union reaches tentative agreement (FOX 13)

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Black History Month 2025 celebrates role of Black labor in building nation (FOX 13)

CONGRESS

• Packed house challenges Perez on conservative Bible study, votes on immigration (The Columbian) $
• EDITORIAL: Congress derelict in duty to Skamania schools (The Columbian) $

CORONAVIRUS

• Pasco nonprofit sues WA Attorney General over unvaccinated workers fired during pandemic (Tri-City Herald) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Washington lawmakers confront juvenile detention overcrowding crisis (Washington State Standard)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Trump administration’s push for a federal funding freeze is back in court (AP)

COURTS (STATE)

• The Spotlight: Catch and release (FOX 13)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• OPINION: Shorten prison sentences to reduce state spending? No thanks, Democrats (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)
• EDITORIAL: Reforming youth justice takes hard work, not just good intentions (The Seattle Times) $

DATA CENTERS

• Microsoft cloud growth constrained by data center shortage (Bloomberg/The Seattle Times) $

DRUG CRISIS

• Seattle’s ‘stay out’ zones for drug arrests go mostly unused (The Seattle Times) $

EARLY LEARNING

• Seattle pre-K program is helping more students prepare for kindergarten (The Seattle Times) $

EDUCATION

• Big spending for K-12 heads to Senate Ways & Means (The Washington Observer) $
• More Everett students say ‘Hola!’ to another language (The Everett Herald) $

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• AI-driven power boom will drive demand 38% higher on top US grid (Bloomberg News/The Columbian) $
• Rep. Peter Abbarno leads bipartisan effort to lower utility costs while enhancing emergency preparedness (The Chronicle)
• Grant County farmers protest Washington transmission line (Capital Press) $

ENVIRONMENT

• King County refines wastewater into fertilizer for WA crops, forests (The Seattle Times) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• WA AG: Trump is misleading the country on diversity, equity, inclusion (The Seattle Times) $
• Thousands of U.S. government webpages have been taken down since Friday (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) $

GUN RIGHTS

• Washington House committee advances controversial firearm bills amid heated debate (MyNorthwest)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Washington state public health bill receives lopsided critical testimony (The Center Square)
• WA hospitals issue guidance on what to do if ICE arrives (The Seattle Times) $
• Flu high in Washington as “quad-demic” hits the U.S. (Axios – Seattle)

HOMELESSNESS

• Burien, WA cities keep tightening homeless camping bans (The Seattle Times) $
• Many more cities ban sleeping outside despite a lack of shelter space (Stateline.org/The Columbian) $
• Point-in-Time Count workers collect data, offer resources to Clark County’s homeless (The Columbian) $
• Large number of families, children stay at winter shelter next to Vancouver elementary school (The Columbian) $
• New shelter plans due soon, advocates say, with plans to address existing homeless issues (Kitsap Sun) $

HOUSING

• Washington rolls out (some) affordable housing dollars (The Washington Observer) $
• ADU popularity is growing in Thurston County. But is it really affordable housing? (The Olympian) $

IMMIGRATION

• WA immigrant rights group, others file lawsuit over Trump order (The Seattle Times) $
• Hundreds protest Trump’s immigration policies, ICE in West Seattle (The Seattle Times) $
• Law enforcement, schools, churches, hospitals in Clark County emphasize that crackdowns are federal government’s purview – not theirs (The Columbian) $
• Protest against ICE raids draws hundreds in Wenatchee (The Wenatchee World) $

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Washington state lawmakers hear public testimony on bill to define the role of sheriff’s ‘posses’ (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Seattle police hiring improves, though still short of goals (The Seattle Times) $
• New Seattle police chief starts first day; has big goals in opening months of tenure (The Center Square)
• Thurston County finalizes $14.3 million building purchase for new sheriff station Friday (The Olympian) $

LEGISLATURE

• WA Republicans protest rule change they say could limit House debate (The Center Square)
• WA Lawmakers revisit bill that would prohibit police deception in interrogations (Columbia Basin Herald) $
• W.F. West student Violet Groman serves as page for state Sen. John Braun (The Chronicle)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Snohomish County officials offer students up-close look at civics in action (The Everett Herald) $

MEDIA

• OPINION: Senate Bill 5400 is a commonsense solution to promote democracy (Mary Coltrane, president of the League of Women Voters of Washington, and Dee Anne Finken, local news and democracy chair, League of Women Voters of Washington/The Seattle Times) $

OPERATING BUDGET

• OPINION: Budget reset: Stop the cycle of overspending — show voters the results (Dave Mastin, vice president of government affairs at Association of Washington Business, Rachel Smith, president and CEO of Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Neil Strege, vice president of Washington Roundtable/Washington State Standard)
• OPINION: Parents’ plea: Preserve funding for disability services in WA (Lee Springgate, father of a son with Angelman syndrome, and Robert Wheeler, father of an adult with Down syndrome/The Seattle Times) $

OTHER STATES

• Avalanche of bills: Oregon lawmakers file record number, spurring concern over bottlenecks (The Oregonian) $
• As AI advances, Oregon lawmakers seek to specify only humans can be nurses (The Lund Report/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Students push back on Coeur d’Alene School District’s cell phone policy (KREM TV)

POLITICS

STATE

• COLUMN: Despite winning big, WA Democrats find themselves in the doldrums (Danny Westneat/The Seattle Times) $
• EDITORIAL: Trump power grab ought to inspire local politicians to do better (The Seattle Times) $

SPORTS

• Helmet choice credited for new low in NFL concussions (Axios – Seattle)

TAXES

• Why does WA have no income tax? That’s shaped class and the economy of Evergreen state (The News Tribune) $

TRANSPORTATION

• Speed demons on a leash: Bill would require limiter device for reckless drivers (MyNorthwest)
• Lawmakers pick a knife fight with Tesla (The Washington Observer) $
• Eastern Washington site of de facto EV school bus experiment (The Center Square)
• Amtrak Cascades ridership nearly reached 1 million passengers in 2024 — a 41% increase (The Bellingham Herald) $

VAPING

• WA bill would ban flavored nicotine and tobacco to combat ‘epidemic’ of youth vaping (The News Tribune) $

WATER

• WA’s sunny days spell trouble for snowpack (The Seattle Times) $
• Chehalis Basin Strategy in review: Restoration at Riverbend Ranch near Tenino seeks to balance nature and agriculture (The Chronicle)

WILDLIFE

• Study: Hazing with dogs can change cougar behavior (The Spokesman-Review) $