THE WEEK AHEAD
THE CURRENT | A WASHINGTON HOUSE REPUBLICAN EMAIL UPDATE
CAPITOL CALENDAR RADIO/AUDIO
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
CAPITAL BUDGET
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)
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
CYBERSECURITY
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
HANFORD
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
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
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
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
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
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
TECHNOLOGY
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
WILDLIFE
