Capitol Buzz: Conservatives push back on Washington state’s COVID-19 restrictions with protests and legislation; Washington Legislature 2021: a chance of fuel taxes ahead Washington House Republicans sent this bulletin at 01/04/2021 09:54 AM PST Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Capitol Buzz: January 4, 2021 01/04/2021 09:45 AM PST AGRICULTURE & WATER New carbon proposal claims to benefit Ag, but will hurt farmers (Pacific Northwest Ag Network) Snow and irrigation: Water content of snowpack in Upper Columbia Basin is at 116% of average (Columbia Basin Herald) OPINION: Compromise, not litigation, needed in Nooksack River Basin water rights (Larry Stap, fourth-generation dairy farmer producing milk near Lynden/The Seattle Times) BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR Need for free food in Washington state has doubled, many groups report, as COVID-19 rips away jobs and security (The Seattle Times) Amazon surpasses Boeing as Washington state’s biggest employer (The Seattle Times) Gold Bar restaurant defies governor’s orders (KCPQ TV) Workers union pushes for COVID-19 vaccines for grocery store employees (KOMO TV) Laid-off employees of Ponderay Newsprint are running out of time and money (The Spokesman-Review) Outdoor dining cold comfort for struggling Clark County restaurants (The Columbian) CONGRESS Pelosi narrowly reelected speaker, faces difficult two years (AP/The Seattle Times) EXPLAINER: How Congress will count Electoral College votes (AP/The Seattle Times) The Divide: Congresswoman Jayapal on fight for COVID-19 relief (KCPQ TV) Herrera Beutler’s legislation to strengthen grid security and increase energy efficiency signed into law (The Daily Chronicle) Columbia River safety bill with Herrera Beutler provision signed into law (The Columbian) Rep. Schrier introduces bill to reduce livestock methane (KPQ Radio) CORONAVIRUS U.S. officials consider half-doses of Moderna’s vaccine to give more people some immunity (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) Coronavirus vaccines have arrived, but frustrated Americans are struggling to sign up (The Washington Post/The Seattle Times) WA Notify app is working to alert users of coronavirus exposures, but no data on how well (The Seattle Times) Washington creates online system to help determine who can get COVID-19 vaccine (KCPQ TV) COURTS (FEDERAL) Judge: Groups can’t challenge endangered species plans (AP/The Seattle Times) CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT Spokane police record a 186% increase in homicides in 2020 (The Spokesman-Review) Former SPD chief calls for police departments to ‘evolve and reimagine’ policies in 2021 (MyNorthwest) Tacoma puts 5th officer that report says restrained Manuel Ellis on administrative leave (The News Tribune) CYBERSECURITY Microsoft says Russian cyberattack exposed its source code (Puget Sound Business Journal) EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY Teachers’ unions express concerns as some districts prepare for in-person learning (KNKX Radio) Hydroponic kits and toys for black bears: Washington science teachers get creative during pandemic learning (The Seattle Times) Washington’s 2020 graduation rate sets record as 6 Clark County high schools stand out (The Columbian) OPINION: Put kids’ needs first by opening schools (Ben Hoffman, MD, professor of pediatrics at OHSU and Alex Foster, MD, MPH director of the MD/MPH program at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and assistant professor of pediatrics/The Oregonian) EDITORIAL: Return to classrooms on the horizon (Yakima Herald-Republic) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE Records show who is on ICE flights at Yakima airport; fewer deportations during pandemic (Yakima Herald-Republic) Social media backlash after FDA fines Wash. distiller for making hand sanitizer(KOMO TV) FISH After a tough 2020 of small fish and COVID-19, North Pacific pollock fleet prepares for winter season (The Seattle Times) State senator expresses concern over fish culvert project (KPQ Radio) HEALTH CARE New Washington state law now caps monthly insulin copay at $100 (The Seattle Times) MultiCare Health System announces acquisition of Capital Medical Center (The Daily Chronicle) PeaceHealth reports 30 patients testing positive for COVID-19 after admission (The Reflector) HOMELESSNESS King County plans to buy a dozen hotels to house homeless in 2021 (KING TV) CARES funding, five-year plan and increased engagement could set county up to help encampment residents, but few plans emerge as clock ticks on eviction (The Daily Chronicle) Homeless in Seattle get help from city waste pumper (KUOW Radio) A ‘homelessness authority’ was supposed to get Seattle and its suburbs on the same page; after a slow year, they may be further apart (The Seattle Times) $3.8M tiny house project will give Tri-Cities homeless a place of their own (Tri-City Herald) EDITORIAL: Renton shelter dust-up offers cautionary tale (The Seattle Times) HOUSING Eviction moratorium has been extended, but debate likely to continue in Olympia (Yakima Herald-Republic) For the first time in 100 years, Seattle renters outnumber homeowners (The Seattle Times) Here’s what the 2021 housing market will look like in Seattle (Seattle P-I) Commerce invests record $97 million in affordable housing projects serving thousands of people statewide (iFiberOneNewsRadio-KMAS) Fans blow methane away from Everett houses built on landfill (The Everett Herald) EDITORIAL: County towns already zooming (Daily Record) LAND USE & PROPERTY RIGHTS Billig and Salomon legislation would change effective date of growth planning actions under the GMA (Washington State Wire) LEGISLATURE Conservatives push back on Washington state’s COVID-19 restrictions with protests and legislation (The Seattle Times) As 2021 session approaches, Yakima Valley lawmakers say they want to roll back governor’s emergency powers (Yakima Herald-Republic) Olympia lawmaking is about to go virtual. Participants see both minefields and silver linings (The News Tribune) Laws: What’s new for Washington in 2021 (KIRO TV) New laws lead some Washington prosecutors to rethink three-strike life sentences (The Seattle Times) Minimum wage increase, protections for orcas among new laws taking effect in 2021 (MyNorthwest) State Rep. John Lovick: Events since George Floyd’s death are ‘a turning point for all of us’ (KNKX Radio) Rep. Alex Ybarra appointed lead Republican on education committee (Columbia Basin Herald) OPINION: Legislature’s ‘Four Corners’ square off on state challenges in 2021 (Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, Senate Republican Leader John Braun, Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, and House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox/The Seattle Times) OPINION: When the public’s away, the Legislature shouldn’t play (Senator Tim Sheldon/Kitsap Sun) LOCAL GOVERNMENT Centralia to hold candidate interviews for open council position (The Daily Chronicle) Local state of emergency to extend past one-year mark (The Daily Chronicle) MEDIA The Chronicle has new owners after 52 years with the Lafromboise family (The Daily Chronicle) MENTAL HEALTH ‘We have to move on’: Local experts encourage mental health care into the new year (The Spokesman-Review) POLITICS ELECTIONS The Divide: Should Washington change how it elects governors? (KCPQ TV) Should an electoral college pick WA’s next governor? This Tri-Cities lawmaker says so (Tri-City Herald) Washington unlikely to gain congressional seat, but 2021 redistricting may still bring drama (The Seattle Times) RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Local vodka distillery closes doors due to lack of distribution channel (The Daily News) STATE GOVERNMENT As Washington state rolls out new jobless benefits, some get a windfall while others face snags (The Seattle Times) An Olympia cafe followed all of Inslee’s mandates – the state threatened them anyway (KCPQ TV) Washington State Patrol filling 84 positions in 2021 (KPQ Radio) EDITORIAL: Shake up Employment Security Department (The Columbian) SUBSTANCE ABUSE New law requires faster treatment for addiction (KIRO TV) TAXES How Seattle’s new payroll tax complicates efforts to enact one statewide (Crosscut) TECHNOLOGY Another arrest, and jail time, because of a bad facial recognition match (The New York Times/The Seattle Times) TRANSPORTATION Washington Legislature 2021: a chance of fuel taxes ahead (The Seattle Times) Powering electric buses comes with special challenge: Which batteries do you buy? (KNKX Radio) Pandemic stats: More traffic and fewer trail users as transit use also changed, though not always as expected (The Spokesman-Review) TRIBAL ISSUES Quinault Tribe recall 29 tons of Dungeness crab due to toxin (AP/The Seattle Times) For tribes, climate change fight is about saving culture (The Everett Herald) EDITORIAL: To honor Hank Adams, we must all honor the promises of tribal treaties (The Olympian) WILDFIRE PREVENTION & RESPONSE Despite what the logging industry says, cutting down trees isn’t stopping catastrophic wildfires (Northwest Public Broadcasting) WILDLIFE OPINION: Navy captain: Growlers do not pose significant noise threat to southern resident orcas (Matt Arny, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island/The Seattle Times)
