WALeg Day 24: Hemp, teen wages and energy plans
OLYMPIA -- The Senate unanimously passed a bill legalizing industrial hemp, and committees take up topics ranging from minimum wages for teens to charges for electronic public records today.
The hemp bill declares the low-THC form of the cannabis an agricultural product, and would allow farmers to grow it. Considering the voters have legalized marijuana, a form of the plant with high levels of the intoxicating chemicals, it just make sense to legalize hemp, Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, the sponsor, said.
This afternoon, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee has hearings on bills that would set a special minimum wage for teenagers for summer jobs or for training and make changes in the state's worker comp system. It might also vote on bills to open the state's contract negotiations with its employees unions and allow students at four-year universities who are under 21 to taste wine if they're in viticulture classes.
A group of senators held a press conference to introduce an omnibus bill on energy policy at the same time the Department of Ecology held a press conference to explain its method for taking public comment on a "decision document" to be sent to the governor on carbon fuel standards.
Here's the full list of hearings:
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Wednesday, February 04, 2015 |
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Time |
Committee |
Location |
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8:00 AM |
Senate Hearing Rm 2 |
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Senate Hearing Rm 3 |
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House Hearing Rm B |
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House Hearing Rm A |
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House Hearing Rm D |
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House Hearing Rm E |
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House Hearing Rm C |
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10:00 AM |
SENATE SESSION/CAUCUS |
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HOUSE SESSION/CAUCUS |
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1:30 PM |
Senate Hearing Rm 1 |
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Senate Hearing Rm 4 |
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Senate Hearing Rm 2 |
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Senate Hearing Rm 3 |
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House Hearing Rm D |
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House Hearing Rm E |
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House Hearing Rm A |
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House Hearing Rm C |
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House Hearing Rm B |
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3:30 PM |
Senate Hearing Rm 1 |
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Senate Hearing Rm 4 |
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House Hearing Rm A |
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House Hearing Rm B |
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House Committees
Agriculture & Natural Resources
2/4/15 8:00 am
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm B
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- HB 1268 - Regarding hemp as a component of commercial animal feed.
- HB 1269 - Extending the dairy inspection program assessment expiration date.
- HB 1522 - Establishing an intrastate meat inspection program.
- HB 1527 - Requiring the Washington state department of agriculture to approve the comparable recertification standards of private entities for the purposes of waiving the recertification requirements under the Washington pesticide control act.
- HB 1622 - Expanding the products considered to be potentially nonhazardous as they apply to cottage food operations.
- HB 1654 - Controlling noxious weeds while still supporting pollen-rich forage plant communities for honey bees.
- HB 1685 - Establishing a Washington food policy forum.
- HB 1742 - Changing cottage food operation provisions.
- HB 1755 - Authorizing a livestock movement reporting system.
Possible Executive Session:
- HB 1137 - Authorizing licensed geologists to perform the duties of licensed water well operators or resource protection well operators.
- HB 1179 - Exempting cider makers from the wine commission assessment.
- HB 1182 - Concerning a geological hazards assessment.
- HB 1256 - Providing the department of natural resources with discretionary authority to use resources available in the derelict vessel removal account to fund complementary derelict vessel prevention programs.
- HB 1271 - Increasing rock collecting opportunities on state lands.
- HB 1435 - Designating a class of existing commercial ocean vessels that may be allowed to moor, without satisfying the insurance requirements of chapter 195, Laws of 2014, at a moorage facility without the moorage facility assuming additional liability.
Appropriations*
2/4/15 3:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm A
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 1/29/2015 2:22 PM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1047 - Concerning state agencies continuity of operations planning requirements.
- SHB 1068 - Concerning sexual assault examination kits.
- HB 1389 - Addressing the scope of state fire service mobilization and ensuring compliance with existing state and federal disaster response policies.
- HB 1395 - Authorizing the use of nonappropriated funds on certain administrative costs and expenses of the stay-at-work and self-insured employer programs.
- HB 1526 - Dedicating aircraft excise tax revenue to the airport aid grant program.
- HB 1620 - Increasing the surcharge to fund biotoxin testing and monitoring.
Business & Financial Services*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm D
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 10:31 AM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1579 - Addressing motor vehicle underinsured coverage.
- HB 1659 - Addressing the benefits of group life and disability insurance policies.
Possible Executive Session:
- HB 1415 - Concerning the linked deposit program.
- HB 1422 - Concerning misrepresentation of a floral product business's geographic location.
- HB 1443 - Concerning fees charged by commercial parking businesses and requiring notice to customers.
- HB 1475 - Addressing premiums on policies issued through the Washington longshore and harbor workers' compensation act insurance assigned risk plan.
- HB 1054 - Concerning collection agency transaction fees for processing electronic payments.
- HB 1212 - Prohibiting retail businesses from recording consumer identification information during transactions.
- HB 1329 - Addressing electronic notices and document delivery of insurance products.
Early Learning & Human Services*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm E
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 11:32 AM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1436 - Concerning homeless youth prevention and protection.
- HB 1642 - Creating the youth substance abuse prevention and education program.
Possible Executive Session: HB 1481 - Concerning the sealing of juvenile records and fines imposed in juvenile cases.
Health Care & Wellness*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm A
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 12:17 PM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1002 - Prohibiting unfair and deceptive dental insurance practices.
- HB 1173 - Prohibiting noncompete agreements that restrict the right of physicians to practice in a geographic area for a period of time after termination of an employment contract.
- HB 1183 - Concerning radiology benefit managers.
- HB 1471 - Mitigating barriers to patient access to care resulting from health insurance contracting practices.
- HB 1514 - Concerning dental office support services.
- HB 1762 - Concerning the relationship between a health insurer and a contracting health care provider.
Possible Executive Session:
- HB 1285 - Requiring critical congenital heart disease screening for newborns.
- HB 1340 - Developing a process to allow pilot programs for health care professionals to learn new skills or roles, use existing skills in new circumstances, and accelerate training.
Higher Education*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm C
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 1/29/2015 2:46 PM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1303 - Creating the degree production incentive program.
- HB 1439 - Establishing an online alternative credit model at Central Washington University.
- HB 1445 - Using computer sciences to satisfy world language college admission requirements.
- HB 1556 - Strengthening the Washington advanced college tuition payment program by setting new requirements on the purchase and use of tuition units.
Possible Executive Session:
- HB 1030 - Creating the Washington advance higher education loan program.
- HB 1236 - Eliminating the parent or guardian approval requirement for the college bound scholarship pledge.
- HB 1138 - Creating a task force on mental health and suicide prevention in higher education.
- HB 1367 - Requiring the student achievement council to develop a grant program to encourage training for students studying in the medical field to work with individuals with disabilities.
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm A
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- HB 1257 - Concerning tenant screening.
- HB 1460 - Concerning the disclosure of certain eviction records in certain reports.
- HB 1565 - Concerning the preservation of housing options for participants in government assistance programs.
- HB 1573 - Concerning the disposition of tenant property placed upon the nearest public property.
- HB 1574 - Creating procedures for disposing property in the leased premises of a deceased tenant.
Local Government
2/4/15 8:00 am
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm D
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- HB 1605 - Modifying certain provisions governing benefit charges of fire protection districts and regional fire protection service authorities.
- HB 1606 - Establishing regional fire protection service authorities within the boundaries of regional cities.
- HB 1656 - Concerning Washington's property assessment appeal procedures.
- HB 1657 - Concerning Washington's property assessment appeal procedures.
- HB 1658 - Concerning the imposition of a filing charge for certain property assessment appeal petitions.
- HB 1702 - Addressing local authority in the regulation of fireworks.
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm B
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- HB 1440 - Prohibiting the use of a cell site simulator device without a warrant.
- HB 1468 - Granting the governor authority to proclaim a state of emergency in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
- HB 1639 - Concerning technology-enhanced government surveillance.
State Government*
2/4/15 8:00 am
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm E
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 9:37 AM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1397 - Concerning personal financial affairs statement reporting requirements for elected and appointed officials, candidates, and appointees.
- HB 1431 - Modifying exemptions relating to real estate appraisals.
- HB 1447 - Granting the director of the department of enterprise services the authority to fine contractors as a penalty for certain behaviors.
- HB 1547 - Authorizing funding and expenditures for the hosting of the annual conference of the national association of state treasurers.
- HB 1806 - Correcting references to elections statutes.
Executive Session:
- HB 1086 - Establishing a cost recovery mechanism for public records sought for commercial purposes.
- HB 1136 - Concerning employment after public service in state government.
Technology & Economic Development*
2/4/15 8:00 am
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm C
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 1/30/2015 3:43 PM
Work Session: Presentation on the Life Sciences Discovery Fund.
Public Hearing:
- HB 1670 - Spurring agricultural innovations.
- HB 1681 - Increasing jobs in the maritime trades industry.
- HB 1690 - Providing a tax deferral for the expansion of certain existing public facilities district convention centers.
Possible Executive Session:
- HB 1078 - Enhancing the protection of consumer financial information.
- HB 1094 - Concerning biometric identifiers.
- HB 1095 - Promoting thermal energy efficiency.
Transportation*
2/4/15 3:30 pm
House Full Committee
House Hearing Rm B
John L. O'Brien Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 4:03 PM
Public Hearing:
- HB 1393 - Authorizing certain public transportation benefit areas to impose a sales and use tax approved by voters.
- HB 1396 - Incentivizing the use of alternative fuel commercial use vehicles with tax preferences.
- HB 1480 - Creating intermittent-use trailer license plates.
- HB 1586 - Transferring a railroad right-of-way to the Port of Royal Slope.
- HB 1593 - Concerning local transportation options.
Senate Committees
The schedule is subject to the addition of more committee agendas. Please check our website, http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature/pages/calendar.aspx
Accountability and Reform*
2/4/15 8:00 am
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 2
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/3/2015 2:03 PM
Public Hearing:
- SB 5737 - Concerning government performance and accountability. (Hearing is on the Proposed Substitute.)
- SB 5736 - Concerning savings from performance management.
Work Session: Lean management projects, Department of Social and Health Services WorkFirst Program.
If draft bills, proposed substitutes, or striking amendments are to be heard, they can be obtained from committee staff or on the committee's website, http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/ACRE/Pages/default.aspx, as soon as they are available. Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.
Commerce & Labor*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 1
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 2/2/2015 5:10 PM
Public Hearing:
- SB 5510 - Simplifying and adding certainty to the calculation of workers' compensation benefits.
- SB 5513 - Creating the workers' recovery act by amending provisions governing structured settlements by lowering age barriers and clarifying legislative intent.
- SB 5516 - Addressing compensation for injured workers.
- SB 5420 - Introducing private competition in industrial insurance coverage.
- SB 5331 - Concerning workers' compensation group self-insurance plans.
- SB 5509 - Concerning workers' compensation reform through clarification of occupational disease claims.
- SB 5421 - Creating a teen summer employment wage.
- SB 5422 - Establishing a temporary teen training wage.
Executive Session:
- SB 5332 - Regulating local employment laws and contracts.
- SB 5552 - Accommodating the civil rights of religious objectors to mandatory payments to labor organizations.
- SB 5329 - Requiring public employee collective bargaining sessions to be open meetings.
- SB 5001 - Clarifying provisions that allow for the tasting of alcohol by students under twenty-one years of age.
- SB 5212 - Increasing the number of tasting rooms allowed under a domestic winery license.
- SB 5260 - Exempting cider makers from the wine commission assessment.
- SB 5051 - Clarifying transportation and delivery services for marijuana producers, marijuana processors, and marijuana retailers.
- SB 5504 - Allowing additional liquor distributor employees to stock liquor under certain circumstances.
- SB 5342 - Concerning definitions related to human trafficking.
Other business.
Energy, Environment & Telecommunications
2/4/15 1:30 pm
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 4
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- SB 5310 - Addressing enforcement actions at facilities sited by the energy facility site evaluation council.
- SB 5330 - Concerning stage II gasoline vapor control programs.
- SB 5366 - Limiting the enforcement of policies of the department of ecology.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.
Financial Institutions & Insurance
2/4/15 1:30 pm
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 2
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- SB 5263 - Concerning the Washington uniform common interest ownership act.
- SB 5536 - Concerning the recoupment of certain costs by collection agencies.
- SB 5612 - Restricting check cashing fees.
- SB 5616 - Concerning pawnbroker fees and interest rates.
- SB 5475 - Concerning the first mortgage interest business and occupation tax deduction.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.
Natural Resources & Parks*
2/4/15 1:30 pm
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 3
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 1/30/2015 2:34 PM
Public Hearing:
- SB 5320 - Concerning the administrative rate the recreation and conservation funding board may retain to administer the grant programs established in chapter 79A.15 RCW.
- SB 5405 - Creating a task force to examine land ownership by the federal government in Washington.
- SB 5614 - Concerning the maintenance and operations of parks and recreational land acquired through the conservation futures program.
- SB 5627 - Concerning an exemption from discover pass requirements for off-road vehicles.
- SB 5705 - Establishing a mineral prospecting and mining advisory committee.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.
Trade & Economic Development
2/4/15 8:00 am
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 3
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
Work Session: Washington STEM industries, jobs, and training opportunities.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 1
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
- SB 5325 - Incentivizing the use of alternative fuel commercial use vehicles with tax preferences.
- SB 5333 - Extending the sales and use tax exemption for clean alternative fuel vehicles.
- SB 5444 - Establishing an electric vehicle infrastructure bank.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 4
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
REVISED 1/30/2015 2:36 PM
Work Session: Low income health care.
Possible executive session on bills heard in committee. Other business.