With just two weeks left in the legislative session, lawmakers will consider 3 initiatives; Bills on the bubble at the last big cutoff

THE WEEK AHEAD

• The Week Ahead in the House | February 26 – March 1

THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE

• Public hearings set for three initiatives | February 24

CAPITOL CALENDAR RADIO/AUDIO

• Capitol Calendar | February 26 – March 1

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• WA apples are flowing back into India, for now (The Seattle Times)
• New Washington law requires all eggs sold to be from cage-free facilities (KNDO/KNDU)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Could WA lawmakers end developments like this one: a massive warehouse project in South Tacoma? (The Seattle Times)
• Grocery worker protections move forward in Washington in preparation for merger disruptions (KUOW Radio)
• Minimum wage for Seattle gig workers could get second look (The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: The problems facing the middle class present a high-end issue (Jon Talton/The Seattle Times)
• COLUMN: America still needs more welders, fewer philosophers (Don Brunell/Snoqualmie Valley Record)

CAP-AND-TRADE PROGRAM

• Climate Commitment Act impact: $30 million refunds fall short of farmers’ $150 estimate (Columbia Basin Herald)

CAPITAL BUDGET

• A schoolyard fight in the capital budget (The Washington Observer)

CONGRESS

• Sen. Murray seeks aid for Snohomish County’s fentanyl, child care crises (The Everett Herald)
• Murray visits WA to discuss lack of childcare (Columbia Basin Herald)

CORRECTIONS & JAILS

• Washington’s prison population is down 30% since 2017 (Axios – Seattle)
• Unjust incarceration of child sex trafficking survivors must stop, Washington nonprofit says (KING TV)
• OPINION: Solitary confinement is torture and Washington state needs to end it (Noreen Light, Survivors Opposing Solitary/The News Tribune)

COURTS (FEDERAL)

• Supreme Court to decide how the First Amendment applies to social media (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)

COURTS (STATE)

• WA’s public defender system is breaking down, communities reeling (The Seattle Times)
• WA Supreme Court asked to review Spokane homeless camping-ban initiative (The Center Square)

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

• Local officers arrest over 40 people for different crimes in 48 hours – here’s how (The News Tribune)

CYBERSECURITY

• Why health care has become a top target for cybercriminals (The Seattle Times)

DRUG CRISIS

• Rep. Dan Griffey calls on Gov. Inslee to declare a state of emergency on fentanyl (KLCK Radio/Gorge Country Media)
• Spokane organization tests illicit drugs in hopes of saving lives (KXLY TV)
• Meth cleanup at Edmonds motel-shelter made matters worse, report says (The Everett Herald)
• Tri-Cities investigation takes down drug dealer selling ‘massive quantities’ across U.S. (Tri-City Herald)
• Clallam County hits record high overdose, accidental death numbers (KONP Radio)

EDUCATION

• Washington state wants school districts to keep better track of truant students (Investigate West/Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Student isolation and restraint reform dies in Senate Education — again (The Washington Observer)
• Financial literacy may soon be required in WA to graduate. Meet the Tri-City teen behind it (Tri-City Herald)
• Holocaust education requirement fails in WA Legislature (The Seattle Times)
• WA Dems blamed for death of bill requiring schools teach ‘history’ of pledge of allegiance (KOMO TV)
• Paraeducators approve strike if impasse continues with PASD (Peninsula Daily News)
• COLUMN: Grade inflation is troublesome (Greg Jayne/The Columbian)
• EDITORIAL: Get serious about ensuring teacher quality in WA (The Seattle Times)

ELECTIONS

• Washington’s presidential primary is underway. Are you ready? (Washington State Standard)
• Are you required to mark a political designation for Washington state’s presidential primaries for your vote to count? (KREM TV)

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & SERVICES

• Bill from Rep. Goehner would support search and rescue efforts (KPQ Radio)
• Public lands commissioner advocates for more tsunami prep funding to protect coastal cities (KING TV)

FISH

• White House, tribal leaders, Inslee, Kotek hail ‘historic’ deal to restore salmon runs in Pacific Northwest (AP)
• Governors, tribes ratify Columbia River Basin pact at White House signing ceremony (States Newsroom/Washington State Standard)
• Northwest tribes, Washington and Oregon sign Columbia River salmon agreement at the White House (The Spokesman-Review)
• Tribes, officials sign Columbia River Basin Agreement on Snake River dams (Capital Press)

GUN RIGHTS

• EDITORIAL: Two WA gun bills are spot-on but a third is unfair to dealers (The Seattle Times)

HANFORD

• Why this is a pivotal moment for Hanford’s nuclear waste cleanup (The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• How a bill could affect health care consolidations, patient care in WA (The Seattle Times)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WA public universities give applicants more decision time amid FAFSA woes (The Seattle Times)
• Regents: Problems aren’t unique to WSU (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Faculty at WSU speak out after report demanding ‘immediate change’ in leadership surfaces (KREM TV)
• WSU representatives shed light on ‘unprecedented’ fiscal challenges facing athletics (KING TV)

HOMELESSNESS

• Concern grows as homeless man who dug up Seattle park with excavator now has cabin built (FOX 13)
• A sweeping homeless camping ban that passed by 75% of voters in November isn’t being enforced — city leaders say it poses too big of a legal risk (The Inlander)

HOUSING

• Housing affordability dominates two town halls by legislators from 17th, 49th districts (The Columbian)
• Micro-apartments are poised to become legal in Washington state (KUOW Radio)
• Snohomish County has the highest rent in the state. Could this bill help? (The Everett Herald)
• Affordable homeownership could come to Kingston, but neighbors worry over wetland property (Kitsap Sun)
• Yakima looks at funding options for crime-free rental housing program (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• OPINION: We need housing solutions that provide renters with immediate and long-lasting relief (Rep. Mark Klicker/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

IMMIGRATION

• Biden tells governors he’s eyeing executive action on immigration, seems ‘frustrated’ with lawyers (AP)
• Illegal immigrants could get professional licenses under Washington State bill (The National Desk/KEPR TV)

INVASIVE SPECIES

• Inslee declares Washington’s first-ever Invasive Species Awareness Week (NCW Life Channel)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Nearly 100 protest outside SPD precinct over decision not to charge officer in death of Jaahnavi Kandula (FOX 13)
• Prosser police chief out after less than a year, ‘abuse of power’ investigation (Tri-City Herald)
• OPINION: Pass bill that would hold police accountable and make us all safer (Nickeia Hunter, vice president of NAACP Chapter 1139/The Seattle Times)

LEGISLATURE

• With just two weeks left in the legislative session, lawmakers will consider 3 initiatives (The News Tribune)
• Olympia rally supporting six initiatives to the legislature; three get hearings next week (The Center Square)
• In focus: Capitol rally attendees again call on lawmakers to act on six initiatives (The Chronicle)
• In Session: Rebates, rents, initiatives highlight legislature’s final weeks (KING TV)
• Budgets, initiative hearings top agenda in week 7 of Washington’s legislative session (NW News Network)
• Bills on the bubble at the last big cutoff (The Washington Observer)
• Some other cutoff casualties (The Washington Observer)
• Ban on child marriage, protections for prescribers of abortion drugs head to Inslee (The Washington Observer)
• Ban on child marriages in Washington could soon be law (Washington State Standard)
• WA bill to eliminate child marriages may soon become law (The Seattle Times)
• WA bill requiring clergy to report child abuse dies in House committee (Spokane Public Radio)
• Ban on banning: state legislation pass anti-book banning bill (KGMI Radio/My Bellingham Now)
• Former Southwest Washington lawmaker honored by Washington State Senate (The Chronicle)
• BLOG: Rep. Mike Steele on the achievements and disappointments of 2024 legislative session (Shift)
• OPINION: Democrats react to initiative pressure with disrespect, disinformation (Sen. John Braun/The Chronicle)

LGBTQ

• State receives $75,000 to survey, document important sites in LGBTQ+ history (KING TV)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• US government worried about Chinese ‘spy cranes.’ What does that mean for Port of Tacoma? (The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Former mayor knows the cost of courage (Yakima Herald-Republic)

MEDIA

• Behind the bylines: Subscribers invited to meet The News Tribune staff (The News Tribune)
• Yakima Herald-Republic will participate in two programs that will bolster local journalism (Yakima Herald-Republic)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• JBLM Army doctor accused of sexually assaulting nearly 4 dozen male patients (KOMO TV)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• WashCOG launches campaign for open government, PRA defense (The Center Square)
• OPINION: Erosion to state’s Public Records Act is at a tipping point, must be reversed (Mike Fancher, president of Washington Coalition for Open Government/The Chronicle)
• COLUMN: How we can halt the erosion of government transparency (Kate Riley/The Seattle Times)

OPERATING BUDGET

• House Republican lawmakers say supplemental operating budget proposal heavy on government spending without tax relief (KLCK Radio/Gorge Country Media)

OTHER STATES

• A housing shortage is testing Oregon’s pioneering land use law. Lawmakers are poised to tweak it (AP)
• New Idaho bill would create $420 mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession (Idaho Capital Sun/Washington State Standard)
• EDITORIAL: Recriminalization bill offers a necessary start on addressing Oregon’s addiction crisis (The Oregonian)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• WIAA equips referees with body cameras to combat bad behavior in Washington high school sports (SBLIVE SPORTS/The Olympian)
• Spokane mom says her first-grader left campus and she was not notified (KHQ TV)

TAXES

• New tax on real estate sales over $3M moves ahead in Legislature (Washington State Standard)

TECHNOLOGY

• Washington vs China: Why the NW could have the next generation of battery tech (KUOW Radio)

TRANSPORTATION

• Bi-state panel meets for first time to discuss establishing tolls on Interstate 5 Bridge (The Columbian)
• Captain who crashed ferry in West Seattle had long history of work troubles, records show (KING TV)
• COLUMN: Ferry funding that can benefit people, right now, and the planet in the future (Dr. Niran Al-Agba/Kitsap Sun)

TRANSPORTATION BUDGET

• House passes $14.3 billion supplemental transportation budget (KIRO TV)
• House favors a bipartisan transportation plan to hire more state troopers, improve roads and ferries (KLCK Radio/Gorge Country Media)

TRIBAL ISSUES

• Wash. may help tribal authorities enforce warrants under proposed bill (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Over 50 years later, Chinook Indian Nation gets compensation for stolen lands from federal government (KING TV)
• An Indigenous teen in Washington disappeared amid clear signs of danger (KNKX Radio)
• Yakama leader Ted Strong dies at age 76 (Yakima Herald-Republic)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Washington State Department of Natural Resources release draft of fire reduction plan (KHQ TV)

WILDLIFE

• State proposing significant changes to hunting rules for 2024-2026 seasons (Source One News)