WA Parents’ Bill of Rights advances out of House after heated debate; The bills that are dead and still alive in the Washington Legislature

WA Parents’ Bill of Rights advances out of House after heated debate

The Seattle Times — House Democrats advanced a bill in the early hours of Thursday that will undo several provisions of a popular Republican-backed parents’ rights initiative passed by the Legislature last year. The House vote comes after months of intense debate that centers on the balance between the rights of students to privacy, the rights of parents to know what students disclose to school officials and how existing legal frameworks deal with those issues. $

The bills that are dead and still alive in the Washington Legislature

Washington State Standard — Lawmakers in the Washington Legislature spent the past week and a half passing bills off the House and Senate floors ahead of a Wednesday deadline. Measures that didn’t make it through their chamber of origin by that cutoff are likely dead for the year. Legislators left dozens of bills behind and spent hours working to pass others. The House pulled several long nights as Democrats pushed through controversial legislation on topics like guns and the rights of public school students.

HOUSE & SENATE REPUBLICAN MEDIA AVAILABILITY

• Democrats attack parental rights, push extreme housing mandates, and side with criminals over public safety

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Washington state industries and consumers brace for tariff impacts (KUOW Radio)
• OPINION: In this Washington, lawmakers must act to protect people’s economic well-being (Eli Taylor Goss, executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, and Rian Watt, executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute/The Spokesman-Review) $

CANNABIS

• Washington House passes cannabis union bill (Capital Press) $

COMMUNITY & FAMILY ISSUES

• Push to legalize neighborhood cafes in WA cities runs aground again (The Seattle Times) $
• Thurston County declares loneliness crisis (KIRO TV)

CONGRESS

• Senate works to avert partial government shutdown ahead of midnight deadline (AP)

CORONAVIRUS

• On five-year anniversary of COVID shutdowns, schools and hospitals reflect on ever-present effects (The Spokesman-Review) $
• A Hanford contractor, and not its owner, was sentenced for COVID relief fraud. How an unusual legal strategy helped him skirt charges (The Spokesman-Review) $

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Washington taxpayers shell out $60 million for jail claims, lawsuits as oversight bills fail (KING TV)
• Flushing illegal contraband behind bars, WA youth facility leader says it’s ‘ok’ (FOX 13)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Judge orders federal agencies to reverse layoffs. Some in Tri-Cities could get jobs back (Tri-City Herald) $

COURTS (STATE)

• Washington among the bottom of states in public defense funding (Cascade PBS)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• COLUMN: Seattle has a domestic terrorism problem that Democrats won’t talk about (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

DRUG CRISIS

• Yakima County sees spike in overdose incidents (KNDO/KNDU)

EDUCATION

• Watch: WA schools must notify parents immediately under revamped House bill (The Center Square)
• No more waiting – Schools must notify parents immediately under reworked House bill (KIRO TV)
• 2 a.m. drama in the Washington Legislature over parental notification debate (KVI Radio)
• Emails reveal outrage over ‘out-of-context’ remarks by WA senator on parental rights (The Center Square)
• School budgets under pressure amid federal funding concerns (KIRO TV)
• Superintendent Reykdal: State funding is down $1,000 per student in Washington (KOMO TV)
• Washington school districts caught in legal dilemma over transgender athlete executive order (KXLY TV)
• Tumwater board defends its controversial trans girls vote. 1 member says he was threatened (The Olympian) $
• State Superintendent weighs in on Mead School Board letter to feds: ‘Follow state law, follow state law and then if you’re not sure, follow state law’ (The Spokesman-Review) $
• WA officials challenge Education Department firings (The Seattle Times) $

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Pasco Rep’s bill to boost Washington’s electric grid clears House hurdles (KHQ TV)
• OPINION: Move to shore power for ships would reduce carbon, improve WA communities’ health (Jayne Stevenson, state climate policy manager for Pacific Environment/The Seattle Times) $

ENVIRONMENT

• EDITORIAL: Pass bill to cut plastic pollution and reduce waste in WA (The Seattle Times) $

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• Thousands of fired federal workers must be offered reinstatement, a judge rules (KUOW Radio)
• Washington federal workers defy Musk-directed ‘What did you do last week’ probe in their own mass emails (The Spokesman-Review) $
• Unkept trails, cancelled programs. Washington state feels the impact of federal forest cuts (KUOW Radio)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Doctor shortage across WA causing appointment delays (KIRO TV)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• UW, WSU face federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign (The Seattle Times) $
• Whitman College official responds to Education Department warning to stop antisemitism (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin) $

HOUSING

• Pierce County to spend $17M raised from new sales tax on affordable housing. Here’s where (The News Tribune) $
• VHA wants blanket approval for housing projects outside of Vancouver from the rest of Clark County (The Columbian) $
• ‘There’s no one single solution’: Panelists discuss affordable housing challenges at ‘Columbian Conversations’ event (The Columbian) $

INSURANCE

• Rising insurance costs squeeze Washington’s foster care providers (Puget Sound Business Journal) $

LEGISLATURE

• Here are the bills that died, survived legislative cut-off deadline (KING TV)
• Dead or alive: Which bills have a chance this legislative session? (Cascade PBS)
• Rent cap, parents rights survive key cutoff deadline in WA Legislature (NW News Network)
• With another cutoff having passed, here are some bills that WA lawmakers are still mulling (The News Tribune) $
• Legislative cutoff marks end for these bills that could have become Washington law, at least for now (The Spokesman-Review) $
• House approves two bipartisan bills from Rep. Kevin Waters, including one that would allow breweries to sub out their kitchen space (KLCK Radio/Gorge Country Media)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Yakima Valley police chiefs call on Coroner Jim Curtice to resign (Yakima Herald-Republic) $
• New member drops Lynnwood City Council appointment after Onlyfans scandal (FOX 13)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Pasco’s Rep. Barnard tax relief bill for disabled veterans in Washington moves forward (KNDO/KNDU)

OPERATING BUDGET

• Washington Senate Republicans release budget proposal to close budget gap without new taxes (KAPP/KVEW)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon appeals court upholds limits on police video recording of protests (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

PARKS

• Washington to pay for road repairs so Hoh Rain Forest can reopen (Washington State Standard)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Safety measures for kids on social media may become law in Washington state (KUOW Radio)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• WA AGO defends Seattle law firm previously hired to negotiate WSU project (The Center Square)
• Gorge Commission member listed as missing (KLCK Radio/Gorge Country Media)

TAXES

• WA legislators approve $100M plan to hire more cops (KPQ Radio)

TRANSPORTATION

• Not-so-smooth road ahead: Report says WA’s highways among the worst in the nation (The Center Square)
• Trump administration takes aim at bike lanes, other WA projects (The Seattle Times) $
• King County executive wants Sound Transit CEO job. What could that mean for Pierce County? (The News Tribune) $

WILDLIFE

• 5 coyote attacks in Bellevue within the last week (KREM TV)

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