OLYMPIA – Democrats abandoned a bill to require wider background checks for gun purchases late Tuesday after disagreements over the proposals caused the House of Representatives to grind to a halt for a second afternoon Tuesday. “It does not appear we are going to make…
Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, the sponsor of the universal background check bill, talks with Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, one of its key opponents, before debate starts on the bill. OLYMPIA -- The House is expected to vote this afternoon on a bill requiring all gun…
OLYMPIA -- Changes to last year's recreational marijuana law that a sponsor says will make it more workable will get a hearing next week in a House committee Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, wants to shrink the distance restrictions for locating stores that sell marijuana and…
OLYMPIA -- Sex crimes involving minors could be prosecuted until the victim turns 30 under a bill that passed unanimously this morning in the House of Representatives. HB 1352 mirrors a bill that passed last week in the and seeks to expand the statute of…
OLYMPIA -- Both chambers are expected to be working feverishly to pass legislation throughout the day ahead of tomorrow's key deadline that will render many unpassed bills dead. Plans to bring up universal background checks for gun purchases hit a major stumbling block Monday when…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee continued filling cabinet slots today with three appointments. Bud Hover, an Okanogan rancher and former county commissioner, was named director of the Department of Agriculture. John Wiesman, Clark County Public Health director, was named director of the Department of Health.…
OLYMPIA -- A vote on a bill that would require a background check for private gun sales might be delayed because it doesn't have enough support to pass, a co-sponsor said. The vote on HB 1588 will probably not take place today, Rep. Mike Hope…
OLYMPIA -- The House gave overwhelming support this afternoon to four bills designed to tighten up mental health laws involving violent people. It gave unanimous support expanded the ability of victims of stalking and "cyberstalking" to seek protective orders from a court, in a bill…
Gov. Jay Inslee talks with Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, during a visit to the House to lobby for votes on a bill to require universal background checks on gun purchases. OLYMPIA -- The House is expected to take up a package of bills supporters…
OLYMPIA – As the Legislature passed the halfway mark in the 2013 session last week, some members started to show signs of too much time in the damp, gray environs of the South Puget Sound. Or maybe just too much time in close proximity to…
Then there was Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, who had the bad sense to be flippant in an e-mail, which in 2013 amounts to spray painting an expletive about one’s boss on a brick wall, and signing one’s name. Orcutt derided the House Democrats’ recent proposal…
OLYMPIA -- Medical examiners would have permission to discuss their conclusions from the autopsies for people killed during law enforcement actions under a bill that passed the Senate unanimously Friday. The proposal, prompted by several high-profile cases in the Spokane area with fatalities involving local…
It remains unclear how much the city will pay a retired judge to investigate “circumstances” that led Police Chief Frank Straub to place his assistant chief on paid administrative leave. Assistant Police Chief Scott Stephens was placed on leave by Straub in December. City officials…
OLYMPIA -- A resolution praising a school program to teach firearms safety to kids briefly ignited the gun-control debate in the state Senate this morning. The resolution was in support of the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, which is sponsored by the National Rifle Association and…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate began its day with a resolution honoring former U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, with a string of legislators telling stories of how the long-term congressman helped them with a project an issue or a campaign. Dicks, who retired last year after 36…
OLYMPIA -- Legislators in both houses will likely spend most of the day at their desks, voting on a wide variety of bills that have to be moved to the other chamber by next Wednesday or be declared dead. The Senate is scheduled to vote…
OLYMPIA – The Senate spent part of a second day making changes to the state’s education laws, approving a plan to identify and change “persistently failing” schools and removing certain outdated mandates for schools. To read the rest of this item, or to comment, go…
OLYMPIA – Some would-be voters would have more time to register online, and younger ones could “pre-register” as early as age 16 under election law changes approved Thursday by the House. Often by large margins, the House passed and sent to the Senate a handful…
OLYMPIA -- If the Legislature were a transcontinental flight, someone would be telling the pilot "We're past the point of no return." Dramatic as that sounds, it's really just the point when you are closer to the place you're landing than the place you left.…
The Spokane Ethics Commission on Wednesday dismissed complaints against two City Council members who were accused of improperly using city resources to promote their positions on propositions on the ballot in last month’s special election. Council President Ben Stuckart and Councilwoman Amber Waldref acknowledged that…
OLYMPIA -- The state should reduce its Supreme Court by four members to save money, Sen. Mike Baumgartner says. In a bill introduced today with two Republican colleagues, the Spokane legislator said the state could save as much as $2 million a year by reducing…
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich asked the Legislature last month to change the laws to make it harder for cops who get fired for breaking the law to be reinstated by an arbitrator. Police organizations argued that the current systyem works just fined. A Senate…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate voted unanimously this morning to expand the time a person can be charged with sex crimes against a minor. Under Senate Bill 5100, a suspect in a sexual assault, molestation, incest of indecent liberties case could be charged at any time…
OLYMPIA – The Senate tried to strengthen laws against human trafficking Monday, approving a pair of bills that would crack down on sex crimes involving minors. In the first of two unanimous votes, the Senate agreed to add a fine of up to $5,000 on…
If you're tired of hearing about the sequester from the Sunday morning talk shows, consider the explanation from Saturday Night Live.
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