Declaring that dogs "are neither a commercial crop nor commodity," several senators are proposing legislation to require humane practices in commercial dog breeding."Without proper oversight, puppy mills can easily fall below even the most basic standards of humane housing and husbandry," says Senate Bill 5651,…
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate want to let child care workers collectively bargain with the state over how much the state pays to subsidize low-income families, professional development for the workers, benefits and grievance procedures.Low state reimbursement for care makes it hard for…
Two years ago, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that even after felons are released from prison, the state can bar them from voting until they pay off all their court-ordered fines and fees.For poor people with big bills and few options for employment, this…
Sen. Val Stevens, re: a proposal to require kids under 18 to have a driver's license to ride an ATV on certain roads. (The law now: anyone 13 or older can ride one on those roads.)
House Bill 1835 would replace old references to mental retardation in state law with the gentler phrase "intellectual disabilities."
A senator from a struggling timber district has come up with an interesting idea: a tax on plastic.The money would go into a special "climate protection forestry account," which would be used to pay for incentives to the forestry industry. The goal: to reduce carbon,…
Interesting stuff from the latest newsletter from the Building Industry Association of Washington: Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, has replaced former Sen. Brian Weinstein as the building group's great Satan. Weinstein drew the builder's ire by championing legislation that would have made it easier to sue…
Planned Parenthood has managed to un-do a budget cut, convincing lawmakers and the governor to overrule a state agency's decision to ctop paying for 70 family planning nurses across the state.The Department of Social and Health Services had decded to end those contract positions today.…
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bills to broaden the rights of couples who register with the state as domestic partners. So far, nearly 5,000 couples have signed up for the registry. Many are same-sex partners; others are heterosexual senior citizens. (The latter…
I spent a couple of hours yesterday sitting in on meetings between state officials and a large group of business/political/community leaders from Spokane. Among the things that came up:-Gov. Chris Gregoire said she expects the state's revenue picture to keep getting worse for a while.…
There's another interesting farmers-versus-environmentalists water battle shaping up in the statehouse this year.Farm groups are backing a reform that sounds utterly common-sense: changing decades-old laws that require farmers to use every drop of their water allocation or, after a few years of failing to do…
Environmentalists and cattlemen clashed Thursday over a decades-old law that allows largely unlimited pumping from wells – with no permit – as long as the water is used for livestock.To ranchers, that’s a common-sense exception that helps agriculture and dates back many decades.To environmental groups…
More from the print paper:In 2007, jubilant Democratic lawmakers approved $250-a-week stipends to workers who take unpaid time off to bond with a new baby.Two years, later without paying anyone a dime, paid family medical leave has stalled. Gov. Chris Gregoire halted computer work on…
Lawmakers, unhappy with a recent court ruling saying that it's not illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student, so long as the student's 18, are trying to now make it illegal.The recent court ruling “opens the door for this being open season…
Fascinating and depressing, here's a 1981 look at a quirky new technology: reading your newspaper on your "home computer" via signals transmitted over phone lines.The news report has Tomorrowland feel to it, fat monitors with tiny screens, clunky keyboards, a guy setting a phone handset…
Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking the federal government to declare a statewide "economic injury disaster" for Washington's businesses due to the heavy snow storms in December.The move by the federal Small Business Administration would free up low-interest loans for businesses at a time when credit's…
Echoing similar plans in the other Washington, Senate Democrats in Olympia Tuesday detailed their plans to combine “green jobs” with a renewed push for conservation and alternative sources of power.“We now have a partner in the federal government in a way that we haven't had…
The American Heart Association, cancer society, and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids are calling for $1-a-pack tax hike on cigarettes, saying that less smoking saves the state a lot of money on health costs."It's not about revenue, it's about health savings," state Sen. Rodney…
The state attorney general's office says that a Dec. 29 legal settlement between the power utility Avista, state regulators and others contains critical flaws that cost ratepayers millions of dollars more than should be allowed.The AG's Public Counsel Section is appealing the deal, today filing…
What we're reading:-This analysis, by a private think tank called the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, of the differences between House Democrats' recent cost-cutting plan and a similar proposal from Gov. Chris Gregoire. Researcher Jeff Chapman concludes that the House would reduce the budget…
Local Reps. Matt Shea and John Driscoll made their opening floor speeches Monday, making the case -- although it didn't have to be made, judging by the unanimous voice vote -- for passage of a resolution honoring the state's National Guard troops.Shea, a former company…
In Tuesday morning's paper:OLYMPIA _ Trying to launch a big boat in rough waters, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers on Monday began making the case for a sweeping overhaul of Washington's education system.“All in all, we think this is the first comprehensive reform of…
House Democrats have just released a 48 page list of budget cuts that they say will save $640 million by June 30,2009. Among them: less spending on nursing homes, local mental health treatment and hospitals."We know there is going to be significant pain as a…
CNN has an interesting map up this morning, showing unemployment rates by state.The upshot: We're no Wyoming or North Dakota (when did you last hear that?), but Washington's still doing the best on the West Coast.
Here's the quiz:a) Where does the cattle-calling nickname "Bossy" come from?b) Why is bacon not so tasty anymore?c) And what is the world's only seaweed-eating sheep?Find out all this -- and much, much more -- in three minutes of testimony by Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
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