Laurel Demkovich

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News >  WA Government

FEMA rejects Gov. Inslee’s request for individual assistance to aid displaced Whitman County residents

UPDATED: Mon., Feb. 8, 2021

Gov. Jay Inslee’s request for individual assistance for residents in Whitman County who became displaced after wildfires devastated their communities this summer has been denied, according to a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

News >  WA Government

Inslee signs unemployment insurance relief into law, marking first bill signing of session

UPDATED: Mon., Feb. 8, 2021

The bill, which passed both chambers quickly a week ago, increases the weekly benefit amount for the lowest-wage workers from 15% to 20%, gives businesses relief from some unemployment taxes last year and prevents an automatic unemployment tax increase of $1.7 billion from 2021 to 2025.

News >  WA Government

Democrats hope to change Washington’s regressive tax structure with new taxes on wealthy

UPDATED: Mon., Feb. 8, 2021

Two proposals Democrats are trying this session to flip that system include implementing a capital gains tax and a "billionaire" tax.

News >  K-12 education

Washington state House bill would prohibit Native American mascots for most public schools

UPDATED: Fri., Feb. 5, 2021

The bill, which received its first committee hearing Friday, would require public schools to change their mascot, logo or team name beginning Jan. 1, 2022. It would not apply to school names.

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Washington has the capacity to vaccinate way more people than the number of doses received

UPDATED: Thu., Feb. 4, 2021

The Department of Health has pushed back its timeline of when more Washington residents can receive the COVID-19 vaccine based on limited supply.

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Bill to expand state’s reentry program for prisoners passes Washington Senate

Thu., Feb. 4, 2021

The bill, requested by the Department of Corrections, would create two participation tracks for the program, which was established in 2018 and allows for incarcerated individuals to complete the last portion of their sentence in the community in a partial confinement on electronic home monitoring.

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Washington House passes $2.2 billion COVID-19 relief package, heads to Senate this week

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 2, 2021

OLYMPIA – A state COVID-19 relief bill that would allocate $2.2 billion in federal funds passed the House of Representatives on Monday, meaning some financial assistance is one step closer for businesses and families struggling because of the pandemic.

News >  WA Government

Security breach exposes personal information for more than a million people who filed unemployment claims in Washington

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 2, 2021

The security incident involved a third-party provider that the office uses to transmit files, Accellion, which announced in January that a breach on Dec. 25 allowed for unauthorized access to numerous files stored in the system. 

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Proposed Washington child care legislation could provide relief to providers who desperately need it while supporting economic recovery

Sun., Jan. 31, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified preexisting issues, and many providers are hoping the state will soon provide more relief and create a more accessible business model.

News >  WA Government

Washington Legislature sends unemployment insurance relief bill to governor

Sat., Jan. 30, 2021

In an effort to get relief to businesses and unemployed people soon, the state House of Representatives passed the measure Friday 89-8, less than 48 hours after the Senate passed it 42-7. It's the first of many COVID-19 quick action bills the Legislature hopes to pass in the coming weeks. 

News >  WA Government

Spokane still can’t move to Phase 2, but Gov. Inslee offers more flexibility in reopening plan

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 28, 2021

Regions may now move forward to Phase 2 if they meet three out of the four metrics, slightly looser than the previous requirement to meet all four, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday in a news conference.

News >  WA Government

A Washington bill to waive some graduation requirements in emergencies is closer to becoming law

Thu., Jan. 28, 2021

The bill would allow school districts to provide individual students emergency waivers from testing requirements or credit requirements if a local, state or national emergency causes significant disruption to their schooling. School districts would have to apply through the State Board of Education who can adopt rules on how they choose to administer the waivers.

News >  WA Government

Washington lawmakers want to ban openly carrying firearms at state Capitol, public demonstrations

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 27, 2021

In its first public hearing, the bill received some support from Democratic lawmakers and gun reform advocates while Republicans and gun rights supporters thought the bill goes too far. 

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Spokane Arena vaccination site is set to open Wednesday. What you need to know

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 26, 2021

Very few providers are offering vaccine appointments in Spokane County this week, with the exception of the Spokane Arena site operated by CHAS, the Washington National Guard and the Spokane Regional Health District.

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Bill that would ban large-capacity magazines gets mixed reviews in first state Senate committee hearing

Tue., Jan. 26, 2021

The bill, which would make it a gross misdemeanor to possess large capacity magazines except in certain cases, received mixed reactions by those who testified.

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Bill to change composition of public health boards receives strong support in public hearing

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 26, 2021

Many supporters of the bill cited the firing of former Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz as the reason for needing to change the makeup of public health boards. The bill would require local public health boards to include a majority of non-elected officials. 

News >  WA Government

‘Our work is not finished’: Washington lawmakers propose $2.2 billion for early action COVID-19 relief

UPDATED: Sat., Jan. 23, 2021

House and Senate Democrats released a $2.2 billion proposal that would provide business assistance grants, school assistance, rental assistance as well as fund vaccine administration, COVID testing, business and operation tax relief to businesses who received a Paycheck Protection Program loan. Most of that comes from federal stimulus funds that the state has received.

News >  Washington

Bill to reopen Washington economy draws more than 1,000 to virtual public hearing

Thu., Jan. 21, 2021

Restaurant owners and hospitality workers were among the biggest supporters of the bill, which is co-sponsored by 15 Republicans and one Democrat. Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan would allow restaurants to open indoor dining, and fitness centers and indoor entertainment establishments to open to 25% capacity.

News >  WA Government

State patrol spent $1.6 million so far on capitol security leading up to Inauguration Day

Thu., Jan. 21, 2021

Other than a handful of individual protesters roamed the campus at various times throughout the day, but a draw down of Washington National Guardsmen as well as state troopers might still take some time. 

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Spokane area officials had little warning about Inslee’s mass vaccination plan

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

Despite Gov. Jay Inslee announcing a new vaccination plan on Monday, few details are currently available and many stakeholders were left in the dark about those plans until the governor announced them.

News >  Education

In effort to get kids back in school, state Republicans introduce bill to change reopening metrics

Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

A proposed bill in the Legislature would change reopening metrics for schools to allow kids to get back to in-person learning sooner than the current plan allows.

News >  WA Government

Spokane Arena will become mass COVID-19 vaccination site as Washington expands eligibility to everyone 65 and older

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 19, 2021

The new vaccination plan announced Monday includes opening up large vaccine administration sites statewide, giving more flexibility to the state's tiered approach and requiring providers to administer 95% of their allocations within the first week of receiving them. 

News >  WA Government

Police reform in focus during first week of state Legislature

Sun., Jan. 17, 2021

The first week of the Legislature brought forth numerous hearings on proposed police reform legislation, from changing tactics to updating training protocols to collecting data on every use of force incident. 

News >  WA Government

House votes to extend Inslee’s COVID-19 orders until end of state of emergency

Sat., Jan. 16, 2021

OLYMPIA – The Washington State House of Representatives voted to extend Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 emergency orders, despite Republican objection to the length of the extension.

News >  WA Government

Senate committee releases broad recommendations for post-COVID-19 economic recovery

Fri., Jan. 15, 2021

Providing economic assistance to families and businesses, improving broadband internet access, reopening schools and allowing for more flexibility in childcare options are just a few of the broad set of recommendations released by a Senate special committee for economic recovery post-COVID.