Capitol Buzz: Washington state lawmakers propose a $2.2 billion COVID-19 package supporting renters, vaccinations, businesses; LeVine leaves ESD fraud mess for role in Biden’s administration

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & LABOR

• 7 more Seattle-area restaurants and bars announce permanent closures (The Seattle Times)
• Ephrata bistro owner reflects on ongoing closure; will the Legislature step in? (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Analyst: Boeing may boost 767 production in Everett after landing KC-46 tanker orders (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Whistleblower concerned that ‘potential defects’ remain in 737 MAX (MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Paid leave is a pandemic godsend for Washington workers. Don’t mess with success (The News Tribune)

CONGRESS

• Newhouse: Impeachment vote was the right thing for the country (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Can Republican Reps. Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler survive their Trump impeachment votes? (The Seattle Times)
• Murray, Cantwell ask Biden to approve wildfire aid for Malden, Pine City; McMorris Rodgers sends separate letter (The Spokesman-Review)
• Republican Senators criticize Biden action on Keystone XL Pipeline (Pacific Northwest Ag Network)
• House sending Trump impeachment to Senate, GOP opposes trial (AP/The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Section 230: Friend, not foe, of free speech (James D. Long, associate professor of political science and co-founder of the Political Economy Forum at the University of Washington, and Victor Menaldo, political science professor and co-founder of the Political Economy Forum at the University of Washington/The Seattle Times)

CORONAVIRUS

• All Washington regions to stay in Phase 1 for another week. Here’s where each region stands (Seattle P-I)
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee receives COVID-19 vaccine (KCPQ TV)
• ‘Do not waste doses.’ Leftover Covid-19 vaccine injected into non-priority arms (KUOW Radio)
• First cases of UK COVID-19 variant found in Washington (MyNorthwest)
• Health official: Expect new variant COVID-19 strains to become ‘widespread’ in King County (Seattle P-I)
• Many of the earliest COVID ‘long-haulers’ still suffer; Seattle researchers are trying to figure out why (The Seattle Times)
• COVID-19 spikes fourfold among Washington’s Latinos, and it’s reaching almost every corner of the population (The Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Ready for vaccination? Have patience (Yakima Herald-Republic)

COURTS (STATE)

• Bremerton Navy vet files lawsuit to reopen closed state Capitol to the public (Kitsap Sun)

CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Aftershocks rock Tacoma after police officer drives through crowd (The News Tribune)
• Protesters swarm Tacoma streets over police driving vehicle through crowd at street race (The News Tribune)
• Seattle police detail challenges in stopping protesters from destroying property (MyNorthwest)
• SPD announces new policy of arresting, prosecuting protesters who vandalize (MyNorthwest)
• Sheriff’s drug investigators did not go ‘rogue’ despite writing fake reports, review finds (The News Tribune)
• Green River Killer: Youngest victim of serial killer identified (KCPQ TV)
• Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich files complaint against Washington State over rejection of training proposal (The Spokesman-Review)
• COLUMN: Seattle Council, activists pretend Antifa riot didn’t happen (Jason Rantz/MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Keep up tough conversations to enact police reforms (The Seattle Times)

EDUCATION & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Failing grades up 600% at Garfield High: Should letter grades be handed out during COVID? (MyNorthwest)
• Why did Inslee and DOH ease guidance for reopening schools in Washington state? (The Seattle Times)
• Distance learning has many Clark County students not making the grade (The Columbian)
• Legislators in Washington state sink their teeth into pandemic-era issues for schools (The Seattle Times)
• Kraft reintroduces school choice bill; says parents know best (The Reflector)
• EDITORIAL: Pause in standardized testing is an opportunity to rethink approach (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
• EDITORIAL: Extend window of opportunity for new public charter schools (The Seattle Times)

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• Q&A: Rep. Alex Ybarra breaks down the “Public Broadband Act” (Washington State Wire)

ENVIRONMENT

• A renewed plan for climate protection emerges in Washington state (Crosscut)

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT & THE WHITE HOUSE

• What a Biden administration might mean for Washington, from immigration and environment to COVID-19 (The Seattle Times)
• Millions of stimulus payments were mailed as prepaid debit cards. Some say they look like scams. (The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: I’m looking forward to a new era with President Biden (William ‘Stacey’ Cowles/The Spokesman-Review)
• EDITORIAL: Inauguration offers new hope, as Biden and Harris call for collective problem-solving (The Olympian)

HIGHER EDUCATION

• WSU Regents begin discussions about possibly creating chancellor post for Pullman campus (KQQQ Radio)

HOUSING

• Why the pandemic has Puget Sound residents leaving cities for the suburbs (MyNorthwest)
• King County judge to decide whether to strike down Seattle renter protections (The Seattle Times)
• Gov. Inslee’s repeal of the State Building Code Council’s code extensions could increase home prices, according to BIA (The Reflector)

IMMIGRATION

• ICE protesters march through Seattle (KIRO TV)
• OPINION: Stop cruel immigration detention: Close the Northwest Processing Center (Thomas Antkowiak, professor of law, Seattle University School of Law, and Alejandra Gonza, human rights attorney and executive director of Global Rights Advocacy/The Seattle Times)

LEGISLATURE

• Washington state lawmakers propose a $2.2 billion COVID-19 package supporting renters, vaccinations, businesses (The Seattle Times)
• ‘Our work is not finished’: Washington lawmakers propose $2.2 billion for early action COVID-19 relief (The Spokesman-Review)
• Remote testimony issues, virtual session prompt concerns about access (Lens)
• WA Legislature debates cost and value of launching Equity Office (Crosscut)
• Formerly incarcerated Washington lawmaker leads drive to restore felons’ voting rights (The Olympian)
• State Senate bill would give tenants right to counsel and stop no-cause evictions (The News Tribune)
• House passes legislation on transparency, business tax exemptions (Columbia Basin Herald)
• Numbers reveal overwhelming statewide support, including Wenatchee Valley Chamber, for Senate Bill 5114 (KPQ Radio)
• Rude sponsors bill for unaffiliated voters (KWHT)
• State Rep. Abbarno bill would invest in rural infrastructure projects (The Daily Chronicle)
• BLOG: New attempt at 51st state has about as much chance as old one (Jim Camden/The Spokesman-Review)
• COLUMN: WA Rep: ‘Our waters are dangerous,’ wants licenses for kayaks, paddleboards (Dori Monson/MyNorthwest)
• COLUMN: $2.2B COVID conversation begins; a road feud may be easing (Jerry Cornfield/The Everett Herald)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Protestors break into Bellingham City Hall, mayor rushed out for safety (KIRO TV)
• Seattle city council introduces COVID-19 hazard pay legislation for grocery store workers (KOMO TV)

MARIJUANA

• Growing pot at home could become legal in Washington state (Crosscut)

MEDIA

• Larry King, broadcasting giant for half-century, dies at 87 (MyNorthwest)
• The Divide: The press and President Biden (KCPQ TV)

MENTAL HEALTH

• Experts suggest adding ‘fake commute’ to work-from-home routine (KOMO TV)

MILITARY & VETERANS

• Stealth Navy SEAL training in 28 Washington state parks? Commission scheduled to vote on proposal (The Seattle Times)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• Judge orders Selah to turn over email in lawsuit alleging open meetings act violation (Yakima Herald-Republic)

OTHER STATES

• Oregon finds third case of highly contagious coronavirus variant (The Oregonian)
• California discovers homegrown coronavirus strain that spreads even faster than any other (The Los Angeles Times/The Oregonian)

POLITICS

CONGRESS

• Six Republican party chairmen calling for Rep. Newhouse to resign after voting ‘yes’ to impeach Trump (KHQ TV)

ELECTIONS

• Yakima County moving ballot boxes outdoors to make voting easier in certain cities (Yakima Herald-Republic)

LOCAL

• Colleen Echohawk joins race for Seattle mayor (Crosscut)

STATEWIDE OFFICE

• Sec of State Kim Wyman: ‘I am not planning to leave the Republican party’ (MyNorthwest)
• ‘I refuse to live in fear’: Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman reflects on threats and rebuilding trust in elections (The Spokesman-Review)

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Skagit area banks see less demand for new small-business PPP loans (The Skagit Valley Herald)

SECURITY

• EDITORIAL: Tax dollars well spent protecting state Capitol — and democracy (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)

STATE GOVERNMENT

• Suzi LeVine, head of Washington state’s unemployment agency, to take job in Biden administration (The Seattle Times)
• LeVine leaves ESD fraud mess for role in Biden’s administration (Puget Sound Business Journal)

TAXES

• WA Rep: Democrats’ gas taxes could be ‘rammed through this year’ (MyNorthwest)
• EDITORIAL: Proposed 18-cent gas tax hike worth considering (The Columbian)

TRANSPORTATION

• Washington House transportation proposal hefty at $25.8 billion, but needed for multimodal improvements (The Spokesman-Review)
• Sea-Tac passenger traffic in 2020 fell to 26-year low (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Hate hearing train horns in Bellingham and Whatcom? There may be some relief in sight (The Bellingham Herald)
• Initial stabilization of West Seattle Bridge complete (KING TV)
• Community Transit’s new CEO looks beyond the pandemic (The Everett Herald)

WILDLIFE

• OPINION: The return of the spotted-owl wars? (Susan Jane Brown, attorney and wildlands program director at the Western Environmental Law Center/The Seattle Times)
• OPINION: Hunting is under attack in Washington (Kim Thorburn is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioner/The Spokesman-Review)