Today is Saturday, Feb. 4, the 26th day of the 60-day session.
QUOTED
“I would like to remind this body that there are still members of the (National) Guard either individually or in small units that are deployed in harm’s way. And when they return, the battle still continues, whether to find a job or going through physical therapy to recover from injuries, or trying to fight off the nightmares of PTSD.”
– Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, speaking on the floor in favor of a resolution to honor the Washington National Guard, with which Hobbs also serves.
TODAY
There will be a public hearing on exempting certain students from a culminating project for high school graduation and removing writing as a statewide assessment requirement for graduation. House Bill 2538 will be heard in the House Ways and Means committee at 9 a.m. in Hearing Room A of the O’Brien Building.
House Ways and Means committee also will hear House Bill 2246, which would give whistleblower protections to employees who report their employers for Medicaid fraud.
The last day for bills to pass fiscal committees, such as Ways and Means, is Tuesday.
MONDAY
The proposal to authorize same-sex marriage that passed the Senate on Wednesday will have a public hearing in the House Judiciary committee. The hearing on Senate Bill 6239 will begin at 8 a.m. in Hearing Room A of the O’Brien Building. The measure passed the Senate, 28-21.
FLOOR ACTION
Resolutions honoring Washington’s National Guard were adopted by both the House and the Senate, House Resolution 4655 and Senate Resolution 8674. Members of the Guard visited the Capitol for the announcements.
UPCOMING
Delegates of the Washington State Labor Council’s Legislative Conference will discuss the body’s legislative agenda as well as vote on U.S. senate, governor and state attorney general endorsements, at an event Thursday.
BILLS INTRODUCED
House Bill 2766 would establishing a 2 percent excise tax on millionaires to help fund education, specifically to reduce kindergarten through fourth-grade class sizes.
Compiled by Alexis Krell.
