OLYMPIA – Washington state would spend $10 million over the next two years in an effort protect schools from a massacre like Sandy Hook as part of a school construction proposal that moved quickly through the Senate Monday. With references to the Dec. 14 massacre…
Anticipating a large crowd at Tuesday’s forum on legalized marijuana rules, a state agency made an 11th hour decision to move to a bigger room. The Washington State Liquor Control Board’s forum on its efforts to comply with Initiative 502 will be held in the…
OLYMPIA -- Most work is in the committees today, with a full day of hearings on dozens of bills. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee has 11 different bills involving some change to the state's liquor laws, including allowing beer and wine sales at theaters…
Fred Sittmann of Stanwood, Wash., listens to speakers at Friday's gun rights rally. OLYMPIA – Second Amendment activists came well-armed to a Capitol Campus rally Friday where legislators promised to protect their freedom to have firearms and speakers denounced President Obama and gun control. With…
OLYMPIA -- A hearing on a proposal to require insurance companies to cover abortion services if they cover live births was cancelled this morning, a few days after the committee chairman said he would hear the bill even though he didn't support it. The Reproductive…
OLYMPIA -- This will likely be a short day around the Capitol as some legislators like to leave early to be home for the weekend and committees don't schedule late hearings. The light agenda in both chambers includes resolutions honoring the state's National Guard, and…
Mayor David Condon and Spokane Police Chief Frank Straub will take viewer questions tonight in a live program on KSPS, Channel 7. Talk to City Hall starts at 7 p.m. I'll join Kristi Gorenson of KXLY on the program. Viewers can email questions to cityhall@ksps.org.…
OLYMPIA -- Forums on the state's new legalized marijuana law are proving so popular that the state agency sponsoring is adding to its schedule and in some cases finding bigger venues to handle the expected crowds. The State Liquor Control Board also moved one forum…
OLYMPIA -- The Washington Supreme Court did not rule today on whether the initiative-required supermajority for taxes is constitutional, but a Senate committee will consider three different plans to make it so. The state's highest court traditionally releases opinions on Thursday mornings, so once a…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee thinks the Legislature should leave the state's workers compensation system alone and work through the reforms approved in 2011. House Republicans and the GOP-dominated Senate majority think the state needs to reform the reforms. Although not terribly surprising, they managed…
NOTE: This post was updated at 6:25 p.m. Feb. 6, 2013 to reflect that the Public Disclosure Commission provided the Spokane Firefighters Union with incorrect information about when it needed to file campaign spending reports. Thanks to Proposition 2, Spokane’s special election on Feb. 12…
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee has a final say on whether the Spokane Tribe can build a proposed casino on the West Plains near Fairchild Air Force Base, but wouldn't say Wednesday which way he’s leaning on the project or further tribal gambling in the…
Two Spokane City Council members have apologized for using their city email accounts to send campaign messages. Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart and Amber Waldref sent electronic newsletters to supporters recently that included their opinions on the three proposed measures that will be decided…
The campaign in support of the library tax in Spokane has fixed campaign disclosure problems with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The group, Yes for Spokane Libraries, was late in reporting campaign contributions and spending by several weeks. Last week, it filed reports showing how…
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Jay Inslee has a press conference late this morning, and the House Republicans and Senate coalition leaders have one an hour later. That doesn't necessarily mean the legislators expect Inslee to say something that demands a rapid response. Both sides usually have…
OLYMPIA – The day after Thanksgiving would no longer be Black Friday or left-over turkey day in Washington state under a proposal approved unanimously Tuesday by a House committee. Instead, it would be the legal holiday dubbed Native American Heritage Day. The day after Thanksgiving…
OLYMPIA -- Add immigration to the list of issues that could provoke a heated argument in this year's Legislature. Two mutually exclusive proposals involving undocumented students in the state's colleges will be in the Senate. Young adults who came to the United States with their…
WASHINGTON — The first official steps toward passing a Senate budget will be taken next week, Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray said today. The Democratic senior senator from Washington announced two sessions scheduled for Feb. 12 and 13. Murray has vowed, amid rebukes from House…
OLYMPIA -- A busy morning in the legislative hearing rooms, with separate hearings on the Family and Medical Leave Act, major changes to the state's election laws and a plan to designate the day after Thanksgiving as a legal holiday named Native American Heritage Day.…
OLYMPIA -- Washington is in danger of having two different, and sometimes conflicting, marijuana laws, one for those who have it for medical uses and one for everyone else, legislators were told today. The Senate Health Care Committee is considering a revision to the medical…
OLYMPIA -- The Senate is expected to debate bills that would make changes in the state's workers compensation system today. Changes in workers comp? you may ask. Didn't they strike a deal on that back in 2011? Yes. But one of the changes they made,…
OLYMPIA – A wise old pol once told me changing the election system is difficult for two reasons. The people who must agree to make the change all got their jobs through the current system; and having won at least one election, they all consider…
OLYMPIA – Medical examiners would be able to discuss the results of autopsies in case involving police shootings, giving them a chance to clear up what Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich refers to as “misinformation and myths” in some controversial cases, under a bill being…
OLYMPIA -- Average citizens who come to Olympia to testify before a House committee will get preference when the list of witnesses is long and the amount of time is short. The House of Representatives changed its rules Friday to give preference to people who…
OLYMPIA -- House Democrats turned down a rule that would have guaranteed every representative at least one hearing on a bill of his or her choice during the session. House Republicans proposed the bill among the package of changes Friday they wanted to the rules…
The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.
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