Helen Sommers Building | HCR 4400 | 48-0-0-1 Senate vote, 91-4-0-3 House vote

Requiring coverage for hearing instruments under public employee and Medicaid programs | SB 5179 | 48-0-0-1 vote

Regarding penalties associated with the failure to comply with Discover Pass requirements | SB 5342 | 47-1-0-1 vote

Restricting the practice of conversion therapy | SB 5722 | 32-16-0-1 vote

Preventing harassment, intimidation and bullying in public schools | SB 5766 | 30-16-0-1 vote

Voting Rights Act | SB 6002 | 29-19-0-1 vote

Regarding student freedom of expression at public schools, higher ed | SB 5064 | 43-5-0-1 vote

Concerning the age of individuals at which sale or distribution of tobacco and vapor products may be made | SB 6048

Prohibiting health carriers and pharmacy benefit managers from using contracts to prevent pharmacists from telling their customers about cheaper ways to buy prescription drugs | SB 6026

Enacting the employee reproductive choice act | SB 6102

Enacting the reproductive health access for all act | SB 6105

Reducing criminal justice expenses by eliminating the death penalty and instead requiring life imprisonment without possibility of release or parole as the sentence for aggravated first degree murder | SB 6052

Removing the prohibition on planning for a nuclear attack in emergency management plans | HB 2214

Making residential burglary a crime against persons | HB 2427

Exchanging and aligning specific powers, duties, and functions of the superintendent of public instruction and the state board of education | HB 2824

Establishing maritime Puget Sound regional prevailing wages | HB 2742

Expanding recreational access to department of fish and wildlife and department of natural resources lands | HB 2803

Allowing the department to use a different assumption for annual investment returns for the reserve funds for self-insured and state fund pension claims | HB 2762

Amending state greenhouse gas emission limits for consistency with the most recent assessment of climate change science | HB 1144

Adding training on public works and prevailing wage requirements to responsible bidder criteria | HB 1673

Providing a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees’ retirement system plan 1 and the teachers’ retirement system plan 1 | HB 2511

Increasing the mandatory retirement age for Washington state patrol officers | HB 2693

Bringing the state into compliance with the federal FAST act | HB 2606

“The plain and unambiguous language of the Public Records Act applies to the offices of senators and representatives,” Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese ruled Friday. Should the ruling hold up on appeal, legislators would have to make their records public, just like elected officials and agencies around the state have to do. (The Seattle Times)

The Washington State Republican Party chose Caleb Heimlich as its new chair. Heimlich, currently the party’s executive director and chief of staff, has worked for the state GOP since 2011. (The Seattle Times)

Seattle hired a former police chief to assist with finding a new police chief. Gary Peterson’s experience comes from helping Dallas, San Francisco, Kansas City and Sacramento with recent police chief search and hire processes. (The Seattle Times)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s photo was featured on the cover of Time as one of the women who marched in 2017’s Women’s March and followed up by running for office. (Time)

An estimated crowd of 100,000-122,000 people participated in the Women’s March in Seattle on Saturday. (The Seattle Times)

SDOT is pushing ahead with its People Street program, even though 34 of 44 businesses responding to a survey say the event – which cuts off a block of the city from vehicle traffic so people can walk around – resulted in lower-than-normal sales (not that Seattle has ever cared about the businesses that help the city thrive, other than wringing more tax revenue from them). (MyNorthwest)

California’s High-Speed Rail Authority is doubling the salary of WSDOT’s Highway 99 tunnel administrator. “He made a habit of publicly praising STP for steady progress, notwithstanding cost disputes of up to $600 million…The tunnel is expected to open for traffic this fall, three years after state leaders initially promised.” We’re not sure what drew California to Joe Hedges, but we wish him the best of luck with somebody else’s budget. (The Seattle Times)

9 of 17 text messages on Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist’s personal phone have been ruled public records by Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese. The judge ruled, “Lindquist prepared outgoing text messages within the scope of his employment.” The messages in question, part of a long-running lawsuit, are from 2011 and were allegedly relating to possible job applicants as well as comments about online news stories. (The Seattle Times)

The Oak View Group reserved 13 domain names – potential NHL hockey team names? Some notable uninspired ideas: Seattle Cougars, Seattle Evergreens and the Seattle Rainiers. (MyNorthwest)

Former WSU football players came together from around the nation to honor the late Tyler Hilinski. The team and WSU community are grieving the quarterback’s death last Tuesday. (The Seattle Times)

Experts believe Rattlesnake Ridge may come tumbling down between mid-March and early April. “This is a blunt instrument, but it’s been tested and it has worked on slides before,” University of Washington geomorphologist David Montgomery said of the tool experts have used to predict the expected movements of the slow ridge slide. (The Seattle Times)

6,000 people showed up for Spokane’s Women’s March, the local paper estimated. (The Spokesman Review) 

“Radiation confusion” sent 100 Hanford workers packing into temporary offices, due to a problem from naturally-occurring radon. (Tri-City Herald)

 A Wyoming senator is holding up the nomination for the Dept. of Energy’s environmental cleanup programs, including the one currently underway at Hanford, until the agency stops putting excess uranium on the market. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) says he will stall the nomination until the practice is stopped, as it is hurts the uranium mining industry in his state. (Tri-City Herald)

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