David Payne, Detroit News

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AP

State House weighs family leave expansion

AP

Bill gives immigrants with deferrals college aid

Oregonian

Oregon, Washington drivers face biggest gas price jump in two years

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AP

Mary Selecky to retire as WA health agency chief

Business, unions negotiating guest worker program

Report: Family and medical leave law working

EPA: Decline in carbon pollution from power plants

Oak Harbor WA council votes to repeal park gun ban

Report highlights groundwater decline in Columbia

State farm labor group recruits workers in Mexico

Report highlights groundwater decline in Columbia

Wash. joins complaint against Standard & Poor's

Feds: Warming means more fires, insects in forests

3 WA schools best source of Peace Corps volunteers

Senate advances workers’ comp bills favoring business

Aberdeen Daily World

Bill would allow counties to ban fish farming (Van De Wege)

Auburn Reporter

Half-million dollar grant awarded to improve city guardrails

Reichert, Van Hollen to serve as co-chairs of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

Ballard News Tribune

Superintendent will not scrap MAP, will create task force to review test

Bellingham Herald

Blog:  Dems dropped the ball on K-12; recovered by GOP

Columbian

Coast Guard urged to reject CRC span height (Stonier)

Slew of bills target voting process in Washington (Moeller, Hasegawa, Billig)

Rivers, Eyman team on bill to limit interference in initiative process

Eyman: Light rail foes to sue city

AAA: Gas prices spike in Vancouver, nation

Blog: Senate committee approves minimum wage reduction license (Hasegawa, Conway)

Covington/Maple Valley Reporter

Mullet appointed to Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee

The Daily News

Wash. joins complaint against Standard & Poor's

Wash. farm labor group recruits workers in Mexico

Everett Herald

Shrimp fishing ban enacted

Worksource aerospace career fair set for Feb. 20

Davis: Time to scrap paid family leave fantasy (Keiser)

Editorial:  A start for the Boy Scouts (Addressing discrimination)

Federal Way Mirror

Washington's first black political appointee lived in FW

Kirkland Reporter

Rep. Springer introduces local government efficiency legislation

Kitsap Sun

Washington gets $7.3 million in federal transportation funding

Op-ed by Sen. Schlicher: Tourism funding boosts long-term growth

Letter:  Sheldon should address assault weapons

News Tribune (subscription required)

Lawmakers get earful on digital billboards

Op-ed: Callaghan: Democrats go from education reform champions to its foes

Olympian (subscription required)

Gregoire a possibility for EPA

Under the Dome: Today is Wednesday, February 6, … (Fitzgibbon, Appleton)

Editorial: Don’t ax the higher education GET program just yet

Blog: From earthquakes to tsunamis debris – retiring Health Secretary Mary Selecky reflects on 15 years at helm

Blog: State Health Secretary Mary Selecky to retire

Blog: Federal appeals court upholds Washington law requiring finance disclosure by grassroots lobbying groups

Blog: House committee votes to patch its 2011 reform meant to end abuses in ex-Gov. Locke’s 2001 ‘retire-rehire’ law

Blog: Prosecutors look to pare down cost of mental-health “gap” proposal (Pedersen)

Blog: Bill to protest Citizens United’s money flood in federal campaigns gets favorable testimony (Kline)

Blog: House panel votes 11-0 for bill requiring state voter pamphlets for primary elections (Hunt)

Blog: Bill would guarantee paid sick leave for most employees in the state (Jinkins)

Oregonian

Washington initiative king Tim Eyman, 'birther' attorney team up to stop Vancouver light rail

Peninsula Daily News

Tharinger, Van De Wege plan telephone town hall today

Clallam commissioners grilled on Dungeness water rule

Seattle Times

‘Training wage’ bill on state Senate’s table (Conway)

Inslee team downplays earlier bid to lure wind-power firm

Immigration committee examines skilled versus unskilled workers

Op-ed: Reproductive Parity Act is a dogmatic approach to abortion

Editorial: Keep reforming workers’ compensation

Editorial: Ensure access to birth control through Affordable Care Act

Blog: Study: Washington state has country’s 2nd-best election system

Blog: Inslee seeks to lure struggling Massachussetts wind-power firm

Blog: Legislature introduces online commenting system

Blog: Telco choses Seattle over California for climate, taxes

Seattle Weekly

The Innocence Project Tries Again with Wrongly Convicted Compensation Bill

Spits or Swallowed: WA Lawmaker Pens Bill To Allow Students to Taste Wine But Not Drink It

Dads' Rights Rhetoric Enters Debate on Abortion Parental Notification Bill

Skagit Valley Herald

Regional transit officials worried over state funding

Spokesman Review

Native American Heritage Day proposed as holiday name (McCoy, Ryu)

Bill requires all Idaho kids to read 'Atlas Shrugged'

U.S. home prices up as demand increases

British lawmakers vote in favor of gay marriage

Editorial: Graduates’ service rate speaks well of region

Blog: WA Lege Day 23: Changing Black Friday to red (McCoy)

Blog: WA Lege Day 23: Fight ahead over immigration? (Murray, Benton)

Tri-City Herald

Growers to donate $5M for WSU research efforts

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber

Letter: The right of women to choose is at the heart of Lincoln’s call for freedom

Voice of the Valley

Mullet bill would provide schools with epinephrine autoinjectors (Mullet)

Walla Walla Union Bulletin (subscription required)

Editorial: Universities should have leeway to charge more for expensive programs

Wenatchee World

Bill gives immigrants with deferrals college aid

West Seattle Herald

Executive Constantine vows to help veterans connect with benefits in 2013

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KING 5 TV (NBC)

More concealed weapons permits issued in WA

CEO of Duvall herb farm calls for reforms in immigration laws

KIRO 7 TV (CBS)

Bill would ban companies from demanding workers’ social media passwords

New bill would put Washington-made guns and ammo above federal law

KOMO 4 TV (ABC)

Kitsap County employee accused of gun running

KPLU FM

Seattle makes list of best U.S. cities for urban forests

MyNorthwest.com (KIRO FM)

Being too 'picky' about the city's new dump?

Boy Scouts board meets amid talk of policy on gays

Study: Older women don't need annual mammogram

New study says Seattle-area traffic is bad, and bound to get worse

NW Public Radio

Northwest Immigrants Take The Oath Of Citizenship

Washington Lawmakers Consider Expanding Paid Time Off For Families

Northwest Farmers Plan To Bring More Mexican Guest Workers North

Study Analyzes Trends In Groundwater Decline

Q13 TV (Fox)

Lawmakers push to end federal marijuana prohibition, levy taxes on drug

WEB

Adelante con Demócratas

Washington lleva la delantera en voluntariado para el Cuerpo de Paz

Más de 27,000 estudiantes están sin hogar

The Capitol Record

State health secretary to step down

Bill would wipe away criminal records for misdemeanor marijuana offenses (Fitzgibbon)

Wolf debate reaches House committee

Crosscut

Fixing immigration

Should the state pay tuition for undocumented students? (Murray)

Sick leave testimony raises Olympia stakes (Jinkins, Green, Keiser)

HDC Advance

Washington Leads the Way in Peace Corps Volunteerism

Homeless student population now over 27,000

HorsesAss.org

Open Thread 2/5 (Light rail)

Publicola

Fizz: Asked about his qualifications

One question for Labor and Industries (Conway, Keiser)

On other blogs today: lady legislators and gender neutral language (Kohl-Welles)

Isn’t it weird that? (Murray, Kohl-Welles)

Fizz: Apparently still high (Murray, Tarleton)

SDC Hopper

AUDIO – Training wage bill threatens minimum wage (Hasegawa)

Washington State DREAM Act introduced (Murray)

AUDIO – Commerce and Labor bills threaten middle class (Conway)

Sen. Eide proposes bill to help communities crack down on copper wire, metal theft (Eide)

Seattle PI

REI exec picked for interior secretary

Blog: Oil execs, greens like Interior pick

Blog: Seattle's forests get some national love and ranking

Blog: End pot prohibition across America: Congressmen

Slog

Six Thousand King County Children Live in Homes Where Firearms Are Stored Loaded and Unlocked - and Other Details from Public Health's Gun Violence Report

Washington Universities Lead the Nation in Peace Corps Volunteers

UW Professors Support Seattle Teachers' MAP Testing Boycott (Standardized Testing)

UW Daily

Legislation addresses complications for non-traditional students (Seaquist)

Quote of the Day

“In my mind, it’s a fairly far-right agenda. Their agenda is out of the mainstream of Washington. On choice alone, they are simply not where Washington voters are.”

Senator Ed Murray- Seattle Times

Story of the Day

Rep. Tami Green with her college intern Stasha Dennard who attends UW-Tacoma.

Family leave: stronger families and a secure middle class

The Associated Press just wrote a story about family leave legislation in the House of Representatives, with the story first popping up on the wire over at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here’s an excerpt from the piece by Olympia AP Bureau Chief Rachel LaCorte:

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Tami Green of Lakewood, would expand the weekly benefit from a flat rate to a percentage of the employee’s wages, up to $1,000 per week.

The measure also would expand the time allowed from five weeks to 12 weeks. California and New Jersey have similar laws.

Green called family leave “a practical solution.”

“It will promote strong families and a secure middle class,” she told the committee, noting that it could mean fewer families would be forced to go on public assistance.

“In the long term it will save us money,” she said.

Click here to read the whole story.

There’s also a great website about this issue over at the Washington Work and Family Coalition, where they tell stories about real people and dive into the problem without getting all wonky.

Here’s a photo of Selena Allen and her son, Connor, and a link to their family’s story.

Photo courtesy of the Washington Work and Family Coalition.