HOUSE & SENATE REPUBLICAN MEDIA AVAILABILITY
AGRICULTURE & WATER
BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR
- Washington bill would strip liquor license ban from adult entertainment venues (The Center Square)
- Proposed legislation to compel more retirement savings (Spokane Journal of Business)
CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM
- Environmental justice groups voice concerns as Washington carbon market linkage bill advances (KNKX Radio)
- OPINION: Don’t repeal WA’s Climate Commitment Act; improve it (Paul Roberts, career spans five decades in infrastructure, economics and environmental policy including former chair of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Board and advising Washington cities on climate change/The Seattle Times)
CONGRESS
- Washington Democrats support bipartisan federal tax policy (KHQ TV)
- Next step in Mayorkas impeachment puts Sen. Patty Murray in spotlight (The Seattle Times)
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
- Bill to address Washington’s graffiti problem clears House (The Chronicle)
- Federal Way Police Chief demands change after 69-car crime spree (KIRO TV)
- Washington legislation seeks to add jail time for repeat property crime offenders (KOMO TV)
- Getting more ‘Kia Boys’ off the streets may be helping reduce auto thefts, new data shows (KOMO TV)
- Seattle crime dropped 9% in 2023; police chief warns statistics are incomplete (The Center Square)
- Mayor Lisa Brown discusses new public safety efforts, search for fire and police chiefs (KREM TV)
- Lakewood police: Service calls and car thefts rose, eluding incidents tripled last year (The News Tribune)
- Town hall to discuss drugs, gangs in Walla Walla (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
DRUG CRISIS
EDUCATION
- Wahkiakum School District lawsuit failed, but McEntire bill could help smaller schools build (The Daily News)
- Bill to mandate holocaust education clears Washington House, heads to Senate (The Chronicle)
- Senate passes Braun legislation addressing chronic absenteeism (The Chronicle)
- Braun bill to allow school districts more transportation flexibility passes state Senate (The Chronicle)
- Bill broadening access to funded preschool moving through Washington Legislature (KHQ TV)
- ‘Over the moon’: Everett class credited for rising kindergarten test scores (The Everett Herald)
- Equity group seeks voice on school board (Moscow-Pullman Daily News)
- Russell Wilson-backed charter school could face closure (The Seattle Times)
- COLUMN: Seattle English students told it’s ‘white supremacy’ to love reading, writing (MyNorthwest)
ELECTIONS
- EDITORIAL: Don’t move years for WA’s municipal elections (The Seattle Times)
- EDITORIAL: Switch of local elections may be premature (The Everett Herald)
ENERGY & UTILITIES
- Mosbrucker bill to let PUDs sell bio-gas products passes House (KIHR Radio)
- EDITORIAL: Wind power prepares United States for future (The Columbian)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE
FISH
- Washington House of Representatives passes bill to study avian salmon predation (The Chronicle)
- Walla Walla agencies continue work to improve fish passage in Mill Creek (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
- Why are Republicans more likely to suffer hearing loss? (The Seattle Times)
- Four confirmed cases of whooping cough linked to school outbreak (NCW Life Channel)
HOMELESSNESS
- Vancouver’s homeless shelter ambitions hit roadblocks with Clark College (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
- Redmond City Council gifted a $4 million property to anti-police homeless activists at Plymouth Housing (KVI Radio)
HOUSING
- Rent control legislation advances in Olympia (Puget Sound Business Journal)
- Washington House passes bill limiting rent hikes to 7% (The Center Square)
- Washington state rent stabilization House bill heads to Senate (KING TV)
- WA House approves rent stabilization bill, teeing up legislative showdown in the Senate (NW News Network)
- Rent restriction survives deadline (The Washington Observer)
- Rent control passes House; Republicans warn partisan bill could result in less housing and higher rents (KLCK Radio)
- WA bid to report on-time rent payments to credit bureaus won’t proceed (The Seattle Times)
- Transit-oriented development blasts past the House (The Washington Observer)
- Mandatory yeses for transitional housing (The Washington Observer)
- A push for greener sixplexes grows leaves (The Washington Observer)
- Redmond’s new affordable housing project faces backlash from citizens (KOMO TV)
- Some Tacomans are being pushed out of their neighborhoods. The city wants to intervene (The News Tribune)
- New WA law provides transparency for home buyers & renters. Here’s what you need to know (The Olympian)
- State Senate approves bill to ease design approval on kit built homes (The Chronicle)
- Affordable housing bill progresses to Washington Senate (KEPR TV)
IMMIGRATION
- Another Washington agency sues private prison company running ICE facility (KNKX Radio)
- OPINION: Inspectors were denied entry to Tacoma’s private immigration detention center. Why? (Maru Mora Villalpando, founder of La Resistencia/The News Tribune)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- State Senate approves bill to fully fund law enforcement training (The Chronicle)
- Police raise concerns about proposed ‘hog-tying’ ban in Washington state (KING TV)
- Witness catches video of deadly downtown Spokane shooting (KXLY TV)
- Former Yakima police officer charged with two counts of rape (KNDO/KNDU)
- EDITORIAL: Cautionary tale reminds us why justice is an ongoing concern (Yakima Herald-Republic)
LEGISLATURE
- WA state Democrats preparing to hold hearings for 4 of 6 ballot initiatives (The Olympian)
- WA lawmakers won’t hear testimony on climate policy, capital gains repeal efforts (The Seattle Times)
- The bills that are dead and still alive in Washington’s 2024 legislative session (Washington State Standard)
- WA Legislature keeps most of its priority bills alive — so far (Crosscut)
- Washington state may outlaw deepfake porn (Axios – Seattle)
- Proposed ‘Strippers’ Bill of Rights’ aims to improve protections for adult dancers in WA (The National Desk/KEPR TV)
- Recycling revamp dies (The Washington Observer)
- State House passes major climate policy (The Wenatchee World)
- 19th District senator hopes to ‘get the scoop on the poop’ (The Chronicle)
- Goehner’s bill to aid costly search and rescue efforts in Washington’s wilderness unanimously approved in House (KLCK Radio)
- Local legislators to hold virtual townhall meetings in February (KNDO/KNDU)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Thurston County commission stands by new county manager hire despite past controversy (The Olympian)
MEDIA
MENTAL HEALTH
OPERATING BUDGET
- With new revenue report, WA lawmakers prep for their budget reveal (Washington State Standard)
- Slight increase in revenue confirms need for responsible spending approach, says Senate Republican budget leader (KLCK Radio)
OTHER STATES
- Oregon bill for year-round standard time would create time warp for Clark County residents (The Columbian)
- Oregon Supreme Court chief justice, other court officials concerned about Legislature’s addiction proposal (The Oregonian)
- Drug recriminalization prompts heated debate in Oregon (Pluribus News)
STATE GOVERNMENT
- Flags across Washington to fly at half-staff for fallen Fish and Wildlife employee (KNDO/KNDU)
- Liquor and Cannabis Board begins process to amend or repeal ‘prohibitive conduct’ rule (KING TV)
- Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources releases fun Valentine’s Day cards (KIRO TV)
- Washington DNR’s Youth Education program launches strategic plan, website (KNDO/KNDU)
TAXES
- Jeff Bezos’ move to Miami looms large at WA revenue forecast presentation (The Center Square)
- State Senate forecloses on property tax increase bill (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
TRANSPORTATION
- Public asked to comment on I-90 safety, connectivity between Easton and Cle Elum (KNDO/KNDU)
- Section of I-82 near Wapato still closed as officials investigate cause of embankment failure (Yakima Herald-Republic)
TRIBAL ISSUES
WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE
- A grant to help Washington homeowners rebuild after wildfires passed easily in the state House. Now it’s headed for the Senate (The Spokesman-Review)
- Bill assisting communities damaged by wildfires passes Washington State House (KHQ TV)
WOLVES
