Capitol  Buzz

OUR NEWS RELEASES FROM THIS WEEK

• Legislature passes ‘workable’ drug-possession compromise
• Statement from Rep. Gina Mosbrucker on passage of new drug possession ‘Blake’ bill
• Statement from Rep. Peter Abbarno on passage of new drug possession law
• Reps. Drew Stokesbary and Eric Robertson release statement on Gov. Jay Inslee’s veto of budget proviso restricting placement of sexually violent predators in communities like Enumclaw
• Rep. Chris Corry named ranking member on House Appropriations Committee

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• Washington labor market still ‘resilient’ amid recession concerns (Crosscut)
• State Legislature OKs $3.5M for Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1 project (The Columbian)
• COLUMN: Amazon rides to the rescue of Seattle’s ailing downtown (Jon Talton/The Seattle Times)

CENSUS

• Seattle regaining residents after shrinking during the pandemic (Washington State Standard)
• OPINION: Seattle isn’t dying, it’s the fastest-growing big city in US (Ursula Reutin/MyNorthwest)

CONGRESS

• Attorneys general want Congress to act on drug tied to fentanyl overdoses (The Center Square)
• Sen. Cantwell’s Recreation for All bill heads to full Senate (The Columbian)
• FBI employees testify on GOP politicization claims after losing clearances (AP)
• Western Caucus releases 2023 Farm Bill priorities (Columbia Basin Herald)

COURTS (STATE)

• Latino voter discrimination claim in Franklin County lands at WA state Supreme Court (Tri-City Herald)

CRIME

• License to Fraud: Scammers are stealing identities using personal info from Washington DOL (KIRO TV)
• Attorney General embarks on new approach to organized retail theft (KOMO TV)
• Fake business loans land Yakima, Seattle entrepreneurs in prison (Crosscut)
• Tacoma leaders, police see violent crime plan ‘making a difference.’ Here’s what’s next (The News Tribune)

EDUCATION

• Inslee axes special education study, drawing bipartisan rebuke (Washington State Standard)
• How bad was the pandemic on WA students? It depends on where you live, study says (KUOW Radio)
• Required recess, more special education funding among changes approved by WA lawmakers (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Tacoma teacher claims she wasn’t offered this job because of her age, race and sex (The News Tribune)
• COLUMN: Parent concerned over extreme gender theories at Seattle Catholic school (Max Gross/MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Public schools smart to boost skilled trades (The Columbian)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• New $800M sustainable aviation fuel plant planned for Washington state (The Seattle Times)
• Company looks to build 52 fast EV charging stations in Washington this year (The Center Square)

ENVIRONMENT

• Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ discovered in drinking water all over Washington (KIRO TV)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• OPINION: FAA chief must be a watchdog independent from industry (Justin T. Green, aviation attorney and partner at Kreindler & Kreindler LLP in New York/The Seattle Times)

HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS

• Nurses at MultiCare hospital vote ‘no confidence’ in CEO amid contract negotiations (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Tacoma General’s newest employee works 22 hours a day and says little beyond ‘meep-meep’ (The News Tribune)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• University of Puget Sound to remove name of eugenics professor from museum (The Seattle Times)

HOMELESSNESS

• Biden to provide federal aid for Seattle to combat homelessness (MyNorthwest)
• Regional Homelessness Authority unveils scaled-back five-year plan (The Seattle Times)

HOUSING

• Seattle-area rents hold steady after pandemic-fueled spikes (The Seattle Times)
• Seattle rent skyrockets from early pandemic (Axios – Seattle)
• ‘I don’t want Tacoma to become another Bellevue’: Frustration as rents increase in Pierce County (KIRO TV)
• 300 units of affordable housing proposed for Tacoma’s Dome District (Puget Sound Business Journal)

LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS

• Changing shoreline protections worry some Thurston County property owners (The Olympian)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• ‘Gone but not forgotten’: Clark County Law Enforcement Memorial honors Brown, Sahota (The Columbian)
• Spokane takes a different approach to policing: Behavioral Health Unit (KXLY TV)

LEGISLATURE

• EDITORIAL: 3 rural WA lawmakers voted ‘No’ on state’s new drug law. They have good reason (Tri-City Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Snohomish County executive announces $1.4M plan to address drug crisis (The Center Square)
• BLOG: Is the organizational structure of Sound Transit and KCRHA responsible for their many failures? (Shift)

MENTAL HEALTH

• WA expands role of dental therapists, hoping to improve oral health (The Seattle Times)

OPERATING BUDGET

• Gov. Inslee signs new $69.2B state budget ‘out of necessity’ (MyNorthwest)
• Home care providers win $21 minimum wage, more in new state budget (The Everett Herald)
• Washington state budget includes $250K for tax transparency website (The Center Square)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon Republican walkout: 6 more senators are potentially ineligible for reelection (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Stalled Oregon Legislature hobbles climate action once again — with millions on the line (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
• Campaign to move the Idaho-Oregon border gains a 12th county’s support. What to know (The News Tribune)
• Portland 6th fastest-shrinking big city in America since 2020, census estimates show (The Oregonian)

PRIVACY

• Google to pay $40M to Washington state after lawsuit over location tracking (The Center Square)

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Bellingham student accused of sexually assaulting another at school pleads guilty (The Bellingham Herald)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• TikTok content creators file lawsuit against Montana over first-in-nation law banning app (AP)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• US drug overdose deaths hit record high in 2022 as some states — including Washington — see big surge (NPR/Oregon Public Broadcasting
• Police: 7 inmates taken to Everett hospital due to smuggled fentanyl (The Everett Herald)
• Snohomish County Sheriff says mass overdose is reflective of larger issue outside jail walls (KIRO TV)
• How is fentanyl addiction treated? (KOMO TV)
• NCW health officials expect synthetic tranquilizer use to rise (The Wenatchee World)
• EDITORIAL: Now comes hard work of making drug treatment available in WA (The Seattle Times)

TAXES

• Spokane County property tax valuations up $1.4 billion (The Center Square)

TECHNOLOGY

• How tech salaries stack up in Washington state and across the US (Puget Sound Business Journal)

TRANSPORTATION

• WSDOT deactivates 511 (KWHT Radio)
• Walla Walla Public Schools receives first electric school bus (KEPR TV)

WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE

• Prescribed burns could heal Washington forests after decades of fire suppression (FOX 13)
• CAFÉ hosts Lands Commissioner Franz for community wildfire talk (NCW Life Channel)

WILDLIFE

• EDITORIAL: Golden eagles are losers in race to build wind farms (Capital Press)

WOLVES

• Washington looks to roll back wolf protections (Washington State Standard)
• Washington mulls reclassifying wolf status (The Lewiston Tribune)