A furious John Ahern, R-Spokane, is trying to resurrect his bill to allow felony charges against chronic drunk- or drugged drivers.Legislative leaders, including House budget chair Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, are balking at the cost of imprisoning an estimated 1,200 felony DUI inmates within the…
"Senator Weinstein, I know you're a freshman, but please try to pay attention when there's a senior citizen making a speech on the floor. It could be my last. (Looks around Senate.) I know you're all hoping it is." --Sen. Bob McCaslin, 79.
AquaSox, Indians, Bears, Rainiers and Dust Devils fans take heart: an unusual alliance of lawmakers from Everett, Spokane, Yakima, Tacoma and the Tri-Cities are trying to wring millions of dollars for minor-league baseball stadium repairs out of the state Legislature.Read our story here.
With thanks to whatever anonymous Senate Democratic caucus staffer compiles this list each year, here are some of the more exotic bills that, alas, died quietly when Friday's bill cutoff hit:-Senate Bill 6383: (Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle) Requiring labeling of any food containing parts of…
-SB 6876: (Sponsored by 18 lawmakers): “Prohibiting the Superintendent of Public Instruction from encouraging or promoting the teaching of sexual orientation.” From the text of the bill: “The legislature further finds that the office of superintendent of public instruction has published materials that encourage the…
We tend to have a television tuned to TVW during the session, keeping an ear on the low drone of committee hearings and other legislative white noise. Occasionally, someone commits news.Still, it was a little startling tonight, in the middle of a long meeting of…
After years of slapping the proposal down, the state Senate on Wednesday approved SB 6236, which would move the state's September primary election to August.County election officials and Secretary of State Sam Reed have long called for the change. Every year, they say, it's a…
With bill cutoff looming, here are some of the more interesting bills floating around Olympia:-House Bill 3269: Creating Smoking Rooms: Prime-sponsored by Rep. Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla, this would allow bars, clubs or other public places to designate – subject to ventilation laws regarding secondhand…
Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, has proposed Senate Bill 6871, "Removing Members of the Legislature from State Health Care Coverage."None of the other 146 lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors. A hearing's slated for Thursday.
"A generation from now, citizens will wonder what took us so long. " -- Gov. Chris Gregoire, who on Tuesday signed a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Liberal lawmakers had been trying to pass the bill for 29 years.
Ballot measure promoter Tim Eyman says that he'll file an initiative and a referendum this morning related to House Bill 2661, the recently-passed bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.Based on Eyman's preliminary info e-mailed to reporters, the measures look like a second…
The bill passed the Senate, was rushed over to the House, which voted overwhelmingly to concur, and it's headed for the governor.At a jubilant press conference, Gov. Christine Gregoire said she intends to sign the bill into law on Tuesday morning.Bill sponsor Ed Murray said…
With the Superbowl faceoff between the Seahawks and Pittsburgh looming, Gov. Christine Gregoire made a bet this week with Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell.Gregoire staked the following on a Seahawks' victory: a bushel of apples, Ivar's clam chowder, and Applets and Cotlets.Rendell's bet: -A box of…
After years of trying, lawmakers may actually pass a law that makes chronic drunk driving a prison offense.Always, the rub has been: But what would it cost? Incarcerating a person costs more than $25,000 a year, and lawmakers feared a flood of drunk- and drugged…
Republican objections on a procedural motion halt House Bill 2661 for the day. Our best guess: a vote Friday.
Washington state on Tuesday filed suit in U.S. district court in Seattle, accusing White Plains, New-York-based Secure Computer and associates in the United States and India of marketing software that renders computers more susceptible to spyware attacks.State Attorney General Rob McKenna said the software falsely…
Nineteen lawmakers have proposed a bill to make illegal "excessive and unjustified increases in retail prices" during disasters like the Gulf Coast faced last year with Hurricane Katrina. More than a dozens states have similar laws."We want to put a tool in the tool chest…
The Speaker's Roundtable, a Republican political action committee mailed out postcards to five legislative districts last week, blasting Democrats for not endorsing a GOP-backed bill to toughen sex offender laws. (Democrats are working on their own version.) On the front of the card, in big,…
On Wednesday, environmental and labor groups, farmers and alternative-energy companies plan to file an initiative requiring large utility companies to buy more energy from renewable sources like solar power or wind farms.The as-yet-unnumbered "Energy Security Initiative" would require large energy companies to gradually increase their…
Despite a few heartening "sun breaks" this week, Friday marked the 34th consecutive day of rain in Olympia.
By a vote of 60 yes, 30 no.
With the Seahawk-Panthers faceoff looming Sunday, Gov. Christine Gregoire on Thursday bet Washington's bounty against the best, we guess, that North Carolina has to offer.Gregoire's offer: Smoked salmon, potatoes, Yakima Valley cherries, Walla Walla wines and Wenatchee apples.N.C. Gov. Mike Easley's version, according to a…
Among the nearly dozen ballot measures filed this year by Tim Eyman and his ballot measure associates, Spokane's Mike and Jack Fagan, is one that Eyman's calling "The Civil Rights Act." Unlike most of Eyman's measures, this one doesn't target taxes.Initiative 914 would ban racial,…
Even in a town used to political showdowns, it's rare to see the kind of full-on shriek-a-thon that took place around 1 p.m. on the sidewalk near a local sub shop.Two middle-aged men were walking downtown after an annual anti-abortion rally at the capitol. One…
State Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, says he's found a great way to make Washington students competitive in math: steal a page from the best.Anderson's House Bill 2506 notes that in 2003, America ranked below "at least 10 other countries" in math scores by elementary…
Short takes and breaking news from the Washington Legislature and the state capital.
