Legislative Update from Olympia

Dear Neighbor,

Greetings from Olympia!

I wanted to give you a legislative update as last Wednesday marked the “house of origin” cutoff for this session, where a bill must have passed out of the body in which it was introduced to still be considered “alive” this session. The exception to this rule are those bills that provide a source of revenue for our state budgets.

Most of the time, you hear about bad bills that the legislature is passing. Today I wanted to give you an update on some worthwhile bills that made it out of the Senate Chamber before cutoff.

Three of my bills that passed:

SB 5641 – Is aimed at helping juveniles stay out of trouble, yet still contains strong disciplinary requirements. This piece of legislation was requested by the Cheney Youth Court and would give the youth court jurisdiction consistent with the ages of those commonly coming before the court. A youth court will create consequences for bad behavior while keeping kids out of the juvenile justice system. Currently, there is a greater than 80 percent success rate in preventing recidivism in youth courts. These courts help our youth avoid the criminal justice system.  

SB 5640 – Would bring our electronic records authentication out of the 1990s and into the 21st century.  This bill would authorize an electronic records notary public to perform a notary act with a remotely located individual. It would also authorize the Department of Licensing to adopt rules governing standards for communication technologies and identity proofing.  As we move more toward a paperless society, the ability to certify a document or witness attestation becomes even more important.  This legislation starts the process to provide such assurances.

SB 5355 – Would ensure that no police officer having served a full career is left behind without a pension due to a technicality having occurred 50 years ago. This bill provides pension access to one retired police officer who did not receive a pension after 20 years of service.

Other good bills:

SB 5428 – Would require institutions of higher learning to employ at least one full-time mental health counselor who is has had training and experience working with active duty military and veterans. This is a great way for us to take care of veterans’ unique needs in higher education.

SB 5755 – Would increase tuition waiver credits to that child, spouse or domestic partner of an eligible military veteran or National Guard member who became disabled, a prisoner of war, missing in action of lost their life while serving our country.

SB 5175 – Would increase firefighter safety.   Instead of figuring out how to care for injured firefighters, we are developing and adopting those best and safest practices that help to prevent injury.