Concerning the Olympia and Tumwater school district regionalization factors.

Finds that: (1) The Olympia, Tumwater, and North Thurston school districts are treated differently in the regionalization factors applied to school salaries under changes made to funding in the 2017 session: (a) North Thurston receiving regional adjustments of six percent; and (b) Olympia and Tumwater receiving no adjustment; and

Modifying earned early release provisions.

Concerning determinations of worker benefits and employer obligations based on a worker's status.

Establishes the employee fair classification act.

Clarifies the definition of "employee" for this state and provides a regulatory and benefits structure for nonemployee workers to: (1) Provide businesses the necessary legal clarity they require to thrive as companies and employers; and

(2) Ensure a basic social safety net is available to all workers, regardless of worker status.

Incentivizing the development of commercial office space in cities with a population of greater than thirty-five thousand and located in a county with a population of less than one million five hundred thousand.

Provides an incentive to stimulate commercial office space development in urban centers outside major metropolitan areas.

Provides certain cities with local options to incentivize the development of commercial office space in urban centers with access to transit, transportation systems, and other amenities.

Allows a governing authority of a city to designate a commercial office space development area, and within the area: (1) Adopt a local sales and use tax remittance program to incentivize the development of commercial office space; and

(2) Establish a local property tax reinvestment program to make public improvements that incentivize the development of commercial office space.

Studying state policies and programs that impact the affordability of retail electric bills in Washington state.

Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to conduct a review of state policies and programs that: (1) Have a direct or indirect impact on retail electric bills in the state; and

(2) Regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution sector of the economy.

Requires the committee to consult with the department of commerce, the department of ecology, the Washington State University extension energy office, the utilities and transportation commission, and electric utilities in completing the review.

Regarding career and technical education in alternative learning experience programs.

Transferring the working connections and seasonal child care programs to the department of children, youth, and families.

Limiting overtime for correctional officers.

Concerning the appointment of religious coordinators.

Concerning public employees' retirement system eligible positions, including when an employer must report a retiree to the department of retirement systems.

Revises the definition of "eligible position" for purposes of the public employees' retirement system.

Requires retirement system employers to: (1) Elicit on a written form, from all new employees to an eligible position, as to their having been retired from a certain retirement system; and

Concerning the healthy relationships campaign.

Creates the healthy relationships campaign.

Requires each employer to solicit at least one employee to volunteer to serve as the contact person for the healthy relationships campaign, however, if no employee volunteers, the owner of the business must serve as the contact person.

Requires the employment security department to: (1) Solicit and award a contract for a multimedia presentation on healthy relationships, which must cover how to identify domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of unhealthy relationships;

(2) Provide resources for assistance; and

Concerning delegation of inspection duties.

Concerning service animals.

Penalizes the intentional misrepresentation of a service animal.

Concerning postsecondary institution policy on gift equity packaging.

Exchanging and aligning specific powers, duties, and functions of the superintendent of public instruction and the state board of education.

Providing motor vehicle excise tax relief to low-income senior citizens and disabled individuals.

Concerning Indian health care in Washington state.

Creates the governor's Indian health council to provide the resources necessary to: (1) Implement the national policy of Indian self-determination; and

(2) Assure the highest possible health status for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Requiring minimum liability insurance coverage for certain towing expenses.

Concerning interscholastic activities and basketball tournaments.

Addresses the Washington interscholastic activities association and voluntary nonprofit entities with authority over interschool athletic and extracurricular activities for students.

Requires a voluntary nonprofit entity to submit an annual report to the office of the superintendent of public instruction on student appeal determinations, assets, and financial receipts and disbursements.

Subjects the rules and policies adopted and applied by the entity to annual review and approval of the office.

Deannexing from a park and recreation district.

Concerning employment opportunity training programs in restaurants and grocery stores.

Establishes the employment opportunity act.

Requires the director of the department of labor and industries to establish procedures for the issuance of special training certificates to employers to pay wages to new employees during a training period at seventy-five percent of the state's minimum wage or the federal minimum wage rate, whichever is greater.

Concerning construction defect actions.

Ensuring the passport to college promise program is available to certain populations of foster youth.

Transferring duties of the life sciences discovery fund.

Requires the department of commerce to designate a nonprofit organization to receive funds previously administered by the life sciences discovery fund authority through the life sciences discovery fund.

Requires the designated organization to be established with a primary mission of growing and sustaining the life science ecosystem within the state.

Adjusts the functions of the life sciences discovery fund.

Establishing an equitable debt service repayment plan for the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

Addresses the Tacoma Narrows bridge repayment plan.

Declares an intent, in order to offset the toll rate increases that would otherwise be necessary to meet increases in future debt service payments, to set forth state contributions in the transportation budget for each fiscal biennium through the life of the debt service plan of up to one hundred twenty-five million dollars.

Establishing a special allegation and sentencing enhancement for the use or consumption of heroin in the presence of a person under the age of eighteen.

Delineating charity care and notice requirements without restricting charity care.

Revises the definition of "charity care," for purposes of chapter 70.170 RCW regarding health data and charity care, to include "indigent persons when third-party coverage, if any, has been exhausted."

Regarding prior authorization.

Concerning publicly owned industrial wastewater treatment facilities.

Authorizing an alternative form of regulation of electrical and natural gas companies.

Authorizes the utilities and transportation commission to, under certain conditions, regulate an electrical or gas company by authorizing an alternative form of regulation.

Requires electrical companies, gas companies, and the commission to use the carbon planning adder when evaluating and selecting conservation policies, programs, and targets.

Requires electrical companies to use the carbon planning adder in developing and evaluating integrated resource plans and evaluating and selecting long-term resource options.

Concerning vaccines containing mercury or aluminum.

Prohibits a vaccine with any mercury-containing product in any amount from being purchased, distributed, or administered to any person in this state.

Distributing information about the risks associated with vaccinations.

Requires the department of health to adopt a standard disclaimer form for each vaccine approved by the federal food and drug administration.

Notifying parents and guardians about immunization exemptions.

Requires public and private schools and licensed day care centers to notify parents and guardians of the availability of medical, religious, and philosophical exemptions to vaccinations in the following circumstances: (1) At enrollment or on the student's first day of attendance, whichever is first; and

Addressing joint self-insurance programs for property and liability risks.

Authorizes a qualifying state agency to participate in: (1) A local government joint self-insurance program formed or operating in accordance with chapter 48.62 RCW regarding local government insurance transactions; and

(2) The program to obtain liability insurance coverage.

Penalizing employers who relocate call centers to another country.

Establishes the Washington call center jobs act.

Requires an employer that intends to relocate a call center, or one or more facilities or operating units within a call center, to a foreign country to notify the commissioner of the employment security department at least one hundred twenty days before the relocation.

Requires the commissioner to compile a semiannual list of employers that have notified him or her and: (1) Post the list on the department's web site; and

(2) Distribute the list to state agencies.

Creating a task force on marijuana odor.

Creates a task force on marijuana odor and requires the task force to review the following issues: Methods to mitigate, mask, conceal, or otherwise address marijuana odors and emissions; and the potentially harmful impact of the odors and emissions on people in close proximity to a marijuana production or processing facility.

Expires June 30, 2019.

-- 2018 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 17	First reading, referred to Commerce & Gaming (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report).