Concerning certain notice sent by registered tow truck operators.

Allowing sales of growlers of wine.

Allows the sale of growlers of wine, except for fortified wine.

Increasing the rate of sales and use tax that may be imposed by certain transportation benefit districts.

Concerning persons with a disability present at the scene of an accident.

Establishes the Travis alert act.

Requires the department of health, in collaboration with certain entities to: (1) Review existing local training programs and training programs being used in other states; and

(2) Design a statewide training program to familiarize fire department and emergency medical service personnel with techniques, procedures, and protocols for best handling situations in which persons with disabilities are present at the scene of an emergency.

Requires the criminal justice training commission, in consultation with the Washington state patrol and other stakeholders, to examine existing training programs and curricula related to law enforcement officers responding to an emergency where a person with a disability may be present.

Concerning the authority of the public safety review panel.

Finds that: (1) Persons subject to commitment following a determination of not guilty by reason of insanity present unique diagnostic, treatment, supervisory, and public safety challenges that differ substantially from other groups subject to civil commitment; and

(2) A centralized, quasi-judicial administrative review board with specialized expertise in the unique nature of this population and their public safety challenges will enhance both patient care and public safety.

Concerning sexual assault protection orders.

Concerning the rights and obligations associated with incapacitated persons and other vulnerable adults.

Prohibits a guardian or limited guardian from restricting an incapacitated person's or other vulnerable adult's right to communicate, visit, interact, or otherwise associate with persons of the incapacitated person's or vulnerable adult's choosing.

Requires a guardian or limited guardian of an incapacitated person to inform certain persons, within five days, after the incapacitated person: (1) Makes a change in residence;

(2) Has been admitted to a medical facility for acute care;

(3) Has been treated in an emergency room setting or kept for hospital observation; or

(4) Dies.

Concerning metropolitan park districts.

Adding authority to the department of agriculture to regulate sanitary processing of marijuana-infused edibles.

Requires the department of agriculture to regulate marijuana-infused edible processing the same as other food processing under the state food processing act.

Criminalizing damaging, destroying, tampering, or removing ballot return boxes or contents.

Concerning elections in port districts that are coextensive with a county having a population of over one-half million.

Equalizing differences in the distillery and winery industries by authorizing certain private label spirits.

Concerning taxes on in-state broadcasters.

Making a technical correction in Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill No. 6057 from 2015 to provide that the business and occupation tax rate for newspapers takes effect as of July 1, 2015.

Allowing special parking privileges for certain organizations that dispatch taxicab vehicles or vehicles for hire that transport persons with disabilities.

Authorizes a company, that dispatches taxicab vehicles or vehicles for hire, to apply for special parking privileges for vehicles equipped with wheelchair accessible lifts or ramps to transport persons with disabilities and are regularly dispatched and used in the transport of those persons.

Concerning the retirement age for state guard members.

Improving the business climate in this state by simplifying the administration of municipal general business licenses.

Requires a city, that requires a general business license of a person that engages in business activities within that city, to partner with the department of revenue to have the license issued, and renewed if the city requires renewal, through the business licensing service.

Requires the department of revenue to phase in the issuance and renewal of general business licenses of cities that required a general business license and are not already partnering with the department.

Requires cities, working through the association of Washington cities, to form a model ordinance development committee made up of a representative sampling of cities that impose a general business license requirement.

Providing cities and counties flexibility with existing resources.

Making provisions to commemorate the centennial of national women's suffrage.

Requires the Washington women's history consortium to: (1) Provide leadership for a 2020 statewide commemoration of the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (women's right to vote);

(2) Begin preparations for the statewide commemoration;

(3) Create and distribute a portfolio of public humanities programs to engage the citizens with important aspects of the women's right to vote movement;

(4) Encourage private organizations and local governments to organize and participate in activities; and

Addressing the budgeting process for core state services for children.

Requires the state institute for public policy, in consultation with the department of social and health services, to develop a single validated tool to assess the care needs of foster children.

Requires the department of social and health services, once the validated tool is available for use on a statewide basis, to: (1) Use the tool for assessing the care needs of foster children, including whether the department should provide foster children with behavioral rehabilitation services; and

(2) Notify the caseload forecast council, the office of financial management, and the appropriate fiscal committees of the legislature when it begins statewide use of the validated tool.

Requires foster care, adoption support and related services, and child protective services to: (1) Be included in the forecast of the caseload forecast council; and

Providing higher education support for gold star families.

Addressing homelessness in wildfire areas.

Completing a study of the comparative constitutional and statutory obligations and revenue capacity of various local government entities.

Concerning state funding for indigent criminal defense services provided at the county and city level.

Providing for the use of independent mediators to address adverse child care licensing decisions.

Requires the department of early learning to: (1) Contract with independent mediators that may be used by applicants or licensees who receive a denial, modification, suspension, or revocation of a license from the department; and

(2) Include the following in a written notice for the denial of an application or the revocation, suspension, or modification of a license: A description of the appeal process and the option to engage in mediation.

Collecting data on hunger in Washington state.

Requires the department of health to: (1) Conduct research on food insecurity in the state; and

Modifying the lodging excise tax to remove the exemption for premises with fewer than sixty lodging units and to tax certain vacation rentals, short-term home-sharing arrangements, and other compensated use or occupancy of dwellings.

Concerning midwifery and doula services for incarcerated women.

Requires jails and the department of corrections to make reasonable accommodations for the provision of available doula services to inmates who are pregnant or who have given birth in the last six weeks.

-- 2017 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 7	First reading, referred to Health Care & Wellness (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report).
Feb 8	Scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM. (Subject to change)