Washington’s DOL won’t release personal information to the feds without a court order anymore. “We support the Executive Order, but failed to meet the Governor’s intent regarding the protection of this type of information. We are sorry that our work did not align with our state’s values,” said DOL Director Pat Kohler. We guess Inslee’s office never followed up to see if his orders are carried out by his department heads. (The Seattle Times)

A Democratic PAC plans to disband following campaign finance complaints. Activist Glen Morgan launched multiple complaints against the 49^th District Democrats’ PAC, highlighting campaign finance violations from failing to report on time and failing to report accurate numbers. (The Columbian)

Washington was ranked th 49th worst state to drive in by WalletHub. Only Hawaii ranked lower. (MyNorthwest)

UW policy requires groups to cover security costs for events on campus. UW Chief of Police John Vinson said “It’s not a new policy. We’ve just memorialized the policy and put a few coordinated approaches in place to ensure that we’re on the same page across the university in terms of what the expectations are for students hosting events on campus.” Conservative groups say that the increased costs due to protestors make this policy unfair for them at the liberal college. (MyNorthwest) 

Snohomish County homeowners may see a 16% increase in their property taxes next month. “I’m trying hard to get information out to the public so they’re aware of the changes and aware of the impact. As soon as we got the numbers, I wanted to get them out to the public,” Snohomish County Assessor Linda Hjelle said. (MyNorthwest)

A $15 million lawsuit was filed against the Dept. of Defense by Lower Yakima Valley cattle ranchers for damages to their land and livelihood. The suit claims the U.S. Army acted recklessly and without enough backup, leading to a wildfire that spread. “The Yakima Training Center’s fire response personnel were not able to contain the fire to the Yakima Training Center due to the high winds and tinder dry conditions.” (Tri-City Herald)

Yakima County Superior Court Judge Doug Federspiel is running for the state Supreme Court. “I chose to become an American, like generations before me. My wife was born in South Korea and is an immigrant as well. My family adopted a boy born in the Ukraine. Only in America could a family like ours be welcomed. Only in America could I have the opportunity to serve as a judge and seek election to our state’s highest court,” he said. (Yakima Herald)

Repealing I-200 to allow state government to institute affirmative action and racial preferences | SB 6406 | “I-200 puts Washington universities at a disadvantage when trying to recruit top faculty and when trying to enroll the highest achieving, underrepresented minority students. The measure sends the message that the university, and Washington as a whole, does not welcome or value diversity,” UW president Ana Mari Cauce said. (MyNorthwest)

 

Health & Long Term Care (Senate)

Preventing health care entities from rebuking or disciplining providers for referring patients to abortion or assisted suicide services | SB 6247

Concerning state charity care law | SB 6273

 

Law & Justice (Senate)

Establishing the crisis intervention response team pilot project (Hearing is on the Proposed Substitute) | SB 5970

Regulating body worn cameras | SB 6408

Encouraging fairness in disciplinary actions of peace officers | SB 6188

Changing driving a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked driver’s license provisions | SB 6189

 

Public Safety (House)

Modifying vehicular assault provisions | HB 2454

Increasing the public disclosure of registered sex offenders | HB 2487

Concerning the placement and treatment of conditionally released sexually violent predators | HB 2579

Increasing penalties for certain repeat offenders who engage in lurid criminal contact | HB 2619

 

Environment (House)

Allowing local governments to collect reasonable fees to cover costs for long-range planning required by state environmental policy statutes | HB 2599

Concerning Washington’s economic development potential as a world leader in the responsible management of postconsumer materials | HB 2914

 

Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks (Senate)

Concerning the sale of horses | SB 6295

Concerning the use of hydraulic fracturing in the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas | SB 6345

Ensuring compliance with the state’s fiduciary duty in managing state trust lands | SB 6539

 

Human Services & Corrections (Senate)

Concerning suspension of the evaluation, detention, and commitment of persons with a substance use disorder when secure detoxification facility beds are not available | SB 6365

Increasing the availability of assisted outpatient behavioral health treatment | SB 6491

Concerning temporary homeless housing by religious organizations | SB 6555

 

Early Learning & K-12 Education (Senate)

Creating a work group on educational equity for homeless children and youth | SB 6148

Concerning equitable educational outcomes for foster children and youth from preschool to postsecondary education | SB 6223

Covering costs for low-income running start students | SB 6260

 

Education (House)

Promoting preapprenticeship opportunities for high school students | HB 2685

Concerning high school and beyond plans | HB 2686

Concerning highly capable students | HB 2927

 

Labor & Workplace Standards (House)

Addressing workplace bullying by making it an unfair practice to subject an employee to an abusive work environment | HB 2888

Penalizing employers who relocate call centers to another country | HB 2844

Establishing maritime Puget Sound regional prevailing wages | HB 2742

Limiting overtime for correctional officers | HB 2817

 

Commerce & Gaming (House)

Concerning the laboratory testing of marijuana products | HB 2227

Concerning private label marijuana | HB 2473

Requiring retailers to post the total sale price of spirits for sale | HB 2563

Modernizing and clarifying in-state distilled spirits production licenses and fees | HB 2609

Modifying provisions on spirits retailers | HB 2792

 

Labor & Commerce (Senate)

Allowing the sale of wine by snack bar license holders | SB 6346

Modifying alcohol sales by distributors | SB 6444

Adding part-time employees to state civil service | SB 6184

Concerning the deduction of union dues and fees | SB 6296

Providing damages for wage theft | SB 5249

 

Transportation (House)

Extending the sales and use tax exemption for certain alternative fuel vehicles | HB 2340

Expanding the alternative fuel vehicle sales and use tax exemption | HB 2549

Concerning violations of traffic laws that place vulnerable roadway users at increased risk of injury and death | HB 2900

 

Appropriations (House)

Creating a rural county jobs program | SHB 2177

Concerning suicide prevention and behavioral health in higher education, with enhanced services to student veterans | HB 2513

 

Transportation (Senate)

Changing the baseball stadium based special license plate | SB 6489

Issuing an identicard for offenders released from prison facilities | SB 6280

Enhancing youth voter registration | SB 5110

 

Ways & Means (Senate)

Prohibiting the use of state bond proceeds for state employee compensation | SB 6123

Expanding community-based behavioral health facilities through issuance of state bonds | SB 6468

Do you like The Morning Briefing? Forward this to a friend! It helps us grow our community and serve you better.

If you feel we missed something that should be covered, email us at [email protected].

If you don’t want to receive this email each morning, click here to opt-out of The Morning Briefing.