Capitol  Buzz

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Groundwater replacement system design reaches 60% milestone (Capital Press)

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• WA House passes bill taking aim at warehouse productivity quotas (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Is my money safe? Here’s what is covered, and how you can do more. (The New York Times/The Seattle Times)
• Despite rescue, Seattle startups and banks face SVB blowback (The Seattle Times)
• Silicon Valley Bank collapse had implications for several Spokane companies (The Spokesman-Review)
• Why a California tech bank failure is worrying the Washington wine industry (The Olympian)
• Facebook parent Meta slashes another 10,000 jobs (KING TV)

CANNABIS

• Pot social equity plan hits major milestone — and could expand (Axios – Seattle)
• OPINION: In the era of legal marijuana, the kids are largely all right (Paul Armentano is the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws/The Spokesman-Review)

CONGRESS

• McMorris Rodgers: Social Security is important (The Lewiston Tribune)
• Rep. Newhouse meets with Yakima farmers about Farm Workforce Modernization Act (KAPP/KVEW)

CORONAVIRUS

• Report finds Black children hurt the most by COVID (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/The Seattle Times)
• UW study finds tie between inflammation and long COVID symptoms (Axios – Seattle)

CRIME

• Help for crime victims drops to ‘crisis level’ in WA (The Seattle Times)
• Lawmakers try to combat car thefts as Lynnwood auto dealer calls for change (KING TV)
• Catalytic converter theft bill gets hearing (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Father of Tacoma teacher killed by stalker calls for more action, education to protect victims (KING TV)
• Man charged with murder in Sunnyside head-on crash that killed two children (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• He was charged with murder at notorious Tacoma motel. Here’s why charges were dropped (The News Tribune)

EDUCATION

• Bill under consideration by state Legislature would allow schools to use private financing for energy savings projects (The Chronicle)
• Big cuts loom for Washougal School District (The Columbian)
• OPINION: Don’t alter high school graduation requirements. WA lawmakers should vote no on HB 1308 (Steve Mullin, president of Washington Roundtable/Tri-City Herald)
• COLUMN: 6th grade teacher recorded attacking FOX News gets scolded by student (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)

ELECTIONS

• New state bill looking to address deepfake election photos and videos (KONA Radio)

EMERGENCY POWERS

• EDITORIAL: Three years later, what has pandemic taught us? (The Columbian)

ENVIRONMENT

• WA teen keeps youth at root of environmental movement (The Seattle Times)
• Pacific Northwest forests are heating up and drying out (Crosscut)
• State litter statistics show progress, but a lot of trash remains on Kitsap roadways (Kitsap Sun)

FISH

• Rep. Joel Kretz claims Gov. Jay Inslee killed salmon restoration bill (KONA Radio)
• Tucannon managers plan to play fish barging card (The Lewiston Tribune)

GUN RIGHTS

• Bill would allow release of sealed juvenile records for some out-of-state gun purchases (KNWN Radio)

HANFORD

• PNNL project part of $47 million DOE investment to reduce methane emissions (KNDO/KNDU)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Health care worker shortage bill now relies on Washington state Senate vote (The Center Square)
• $1 million grant will help guide tech-related health outreach in North Central Washington (NCW Life Channel)
• WA state Dept. of Health to invest in health ‘equity zones’ (KONA Radio)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Western’s new hall to be only carbon-neutral academic facility in the region (The Bellingham Herald)

HOMELESSNESS

• Lack of shelter space could postpone clearing encampments around Seattle freeways (KOMO TV)

HOUSING

• Whatcom County’s housing costs increased in February. See how other counties compare (The Bellingham Herald)
• OPINION: It’s time to go big or go home when it comes to state’s housing crisis (Kris Johnson, president of the Association of Washington Business/The Reflector)
• OPINION: WA already lacks affordable housing. Hiking real estate excise tax would make it worse (Kevin Wallace, president of Wallace Properties/Tri-City Herald)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Republican Leader John Braun calls Democrat-sponsored police pursuit bill a half-step (The Chronicle)
• Task force on missing indigenous women proposed to continue (Washington State Journal/Columbia Basin Herald)
• Driver who allegedly rammed Idaho cops caught by Washington State Troopers (The Center Square)
• Kent Mayor: ‘Our police department is fully staffed,’ but needs more officers (MyNorthwest)
• Law enforcement lines overpasses to welcome home deputy from Clark County Sheriff’s Office (The Reflector)
• Officers in Snohomish County shoot, kill man in standoff (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Adopt compromise on police pursuit guidelines (The Everett Herald)

LEGISLATURE

• Former state, Vancouver political leader Jim Moeller dies (The Columbian)
• Olympia considers plan to allow some early prison releases (KNWN Radio)
• Bill to strengthen hazing laws gets support, scrutiny during Senate hearing (KING TV)
• Rep. Mike Steele’s low-income rehab program bill progresses through state legislation (KONA Radio)
• Central Clark County lawmakers talk about session at town hall tour (The Reflector)
• COLUMN: License plates, the X-file, and a tribute to lawmakers who’ve died (Jerry Cornfield/Everett Herald)
• EDITORIAL: Moeller leaves legacy of dedicated public service (The Columbian)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Spokane City Council approves major boost to fees on development (The Spokesman-Review)
• Efforts to replace Columbia County Jail still years away from reality (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• Local governments, organizations urge passage of Regional Sports Complex bill (NCW Life Channel)

MENTAL HEALTH

• ‘You are not alone’: New Sunnyside pediatric occupational therapist has advice for parents (KAPP/KVEW)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• OPINION: My dad was a war hero who died in Vietnam. JBLM should keep its promise to my mom (Laura Dowling, daughter of CWO Robert M. Dowling/The News Tribune)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• EDITORIAL: Beware the insidious slide toward government secrecy (The Seattle Times)

PARKS

• Washington state’s most underrated (and less crowded) parks (Axios – Seattle)

SPORTS

• Former football coach Joe Kennedy reinstated with Bremerton High (MyNorthwest)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• ‘Great intertwined futures’: Inslee welcomes British Columbia Premier Eby to Washington (The Center Square)
• British Columbia Premier visits Olympia to talk housing, homelessness and clean energy (The Olympian)
• The Spotlight goes inside McNeil Island: Home to Washington’s most violent sexual predators (FOX 13)
• Disabled man at risk of returning to nursing home after SNAP benefits end (FOX 13)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• These test strips might help prevent fentanyl overdoses, but they’re illegal (The Seattle Times)

TAXES

• Bill to expand WA’s Working Families Tax Credit garners support at Senate hearing (The Center Square)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington pump price up ninth week since carbon tax became law (The Center Square)
• Stober: Study tunnel for Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (The Columbian)
• Hood Canal Bridge closures will be ‘catastrophic’ for businesses, commissioner says (KING TV)
• OPINION: How to ensure mileage-tax revenue is spent on roads (Mariya Frost, director of transportation at Kemper Development Company, and Sheri Call, president and CEO of Washington Trucking Associations/The Seattle Times)

WILDLIFE

• A day in the life of a fish and wildlife biologist (The Spokesman-Review)