Petitioning for the creation of a new state in eastern Washington.

Asking Congress to call a limited convention, authorized under Article V of the United States Constitution, for the purpose of proposing a free and fair elections amendment to that Constitution.

Applying to Congress for a convention to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution related to a balanced federal budget.

Applies to congress for a convention to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution related to a balanced federal budget.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 23	First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations.

by Representatives Young, Shea, and Walsh

Requiring a balanced budget.

Proposes an amendment to the state Constitution requiring a balanced budget.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 25	First reading, referred to Appropriations.

by Representatives Macri, Mosbrucker, Peterson, Doglio, Ryu, Orwall, Pellicciotti, Fey, Sells, Goodman, Shewmake, Wylie, Fitzgibbon, Kilduff, Senn, Appleton, Chapman, Rude, Lovick, Ortiz-Self, Paul, Springer, Slatter, Callan, Walen, Gregerson, Dolan, Irwin, Ramos, Thai, Pettigrew, Valdez, Bergquist, MacEwen, Robinson, Smith, Steele, Stokesbary, Van Werven, Gildon, Barkis, Griffey, Dufault, Stanford, Ormsby, Kirby, Maycumber, Tharinger, Cody, Eslick, Hudgins, Sutherland, Jinkins, Lekanoff, Pollet, Stonier, Frame, Davis, Leavitt, Dent, Dye, Graham, Reeves, Sullivan, and Riccelli

Adopting the code of conduct of the Washington state legislature.

Adopts the code of conduct of the Washington state legislature.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 24	Read first time, rules suspended, and placed on second reading calendar.
	Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
	Third reading, adopted; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0.
-- IN THE SENATE --
	Read first time, rules suspended, and placed on second reading calendar.

by Senators Keiser, King, Van De Wege, and Conway

Concerning unemployment benefit eligibility for apprentices.

Concerning child relocation by a person with joint decision-making authority and equal residential time.

Providing a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees' retirement system plan 1 and the teachers' retirement system plan 1.

Concerning health care provider and health care facility whistleblower protections.

Improving tax and licensing laws administered by the department of revenue, but not including changes to tax laws that are estimated to affect state or local tax collections as reflected in any fiscal note prepared and approved under the process established in chapter 43.88A RCW.

Concerning safe egress from adult family homes.

Requires adult family homes to house nonambulatory residents on a level with safe egress to a public right-of-way.

Expanding the definition of fish habitat enhancement projects.

Concerning nondiscrimination in access to organ transplants.

Prohibits a covered entity from the following, solely on the basis of a qualified individual's mental or physical disability: (1) Deeming an individual ineligible to receive an anatomical gift or organ transplant;

(2) Denying medical or related organ transplantation services;

(3) Refusing to refer the individual to a transplant center or other related specialist for the purpose of evaluation or receipt of an organ transplant;

(4) Refusing to place an individual on an organ transplant waiting list; or

Providing small winery tax relief.

Providing that scan-down allowances on food and beverages intended for human and pet consumption are bona fide discounts for purposes of the business and occupation tax.

Concerning the creation of the insurance fraud surcharge account.

Provides that the annual cost of operating the insurance fraud program is charged to all organizations as an insurance fraud surcharge.

Requires each class of organization to contribute a sufficient amount to the insurance commissioner's fraud account to pay the reasonable costs of the program, including overhead.

Prohibits the insurance fraud surcharge from exceeding one-eighth of one percent of receipts; the minimum insurance fraud surcharge is one hundred dollars.

Concerning the ability of business and nonprofit entities to obtain a marijuana license.

Establishing a systemwide credit policy regarding advanced placement, international baccalaureate, and Cambridge international exams.

Requires the student achievement council to: (1) Establish an evidence-based systemwide policy for granting undergraduate course credits to students who have earned a certain score; and

Concerning physician assistants.

Modernizes the practice of physician assistants in order to: (1) Increase access to care;

(2) Reduce barriers to employment of physician assistants; and

(3) Optimize the manner in which physician assistants deliver quality medical care.

Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation fuels.

Supports the deployment of clean transportation fuel technologies through a carefully designed program that reduces the carbon intensity of fuel used in the state, in order to: (1) Reduce levels of conventional air pollutants from diesel and gasoline that are harmful to public health;

(2) Reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation fuels, which are the state's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions; and

(3) Create jobs and spur economic development based on innovative clean fuel technologies.

Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to: (1) Analyze, by December 1, 2027, the impacts of the initial five years of clean fuels program implementation; and

Concerning the pipeline for paraeducators conditional scholarship program.

Requires paraeducators without a college degree to have at least one year of classroom experience, instead of three years, to participate in the pipeline for paraeducators conditional scholarship program. Candidates enrolled in the program should complete their associate of arts degree at a community and technical college in four years or less, instead of two years.

Modifying the maximum amount of leave school employees may accumulate.

Creating the Washington Indian health improvement act.

Establishes the Washington Indian health improvement act.

Creates the governor's Indian health advisory council and directs the council to: (1) Adopt the biennial Indian health improvement advisory plan;

(2) Address policies or actions that have tribal implications that are not able to be resolved or addressed at the agency level; and

(3) Provide oversight of certain service organizations or entities to address their impacts on services to American Indians and Alaska Natives and relationships with Indian health care providers.

Creates the reinvestment committee of the council and requires the committee, with assistance from the state health care authority, the American Indian health commission for Washington state, and other member entities of the advisory council, to prepare a biennial Indian health improvement advisory plan.

Creating a self-exclusion program for persons with a gambling problem or gambling disorder.

Requires the gambling commission, the horse racing commission, and the state lottery commission to jointly develop problem gambling and gambling disorder informational signs that include a toll-free hotline number for individuals with a gambling problem or gambling disorder.

Requires the gambling commission to establish a statewide self-exclusion program for all licensees that will allow a person to voluntarily exclude themself from gambling at certain gambling establishments.

Prohibits a person who is registered with the program from participating in gambling activities associated with the program and requires the person to forfeit money and things of value obtained by or owed to the person by the establishment as a result of prohibited wagers or gambling activities.

Requires the forfeited money and things of value to be distributed to the problem gambling account and/or certain charitable or nonprofit organizations.

Authorizing military surplus vehicles to operate on public highways.

Permits military surplus vehicles that are in good operating order to travel on the state's public highways in limited circumstances.

Concerning local government procurement modernization and efficiency.

Authorizes a county to procure public works with a unit priced contract for the purpose of completing anticipated types of work based on hourly rates or unit pricing for one or more categories of work or trades.

Providing an adjustment of vehicle service fees.

Increases the following service fees that are collected by the department of licensing, county auditors or other agents, and subagents: (1) Twenty-four dollars for changes in a certificate of title or ownership for nontitled vehicles and for verification of record and preparation of an affidavit of lost title; and

Concerning the distribution of monetary penalties to local courts and state agencies paid for failure to comply with discover pass requirements.

Requires a county treasurer to remit, to the state treasurer, seventy-five percent of the money received from penalties with regard to the display of a discover pass, vehicle access pass, or day-use permit.

Expanding access to pharmacy services.

Requires a retail community pharmacy that requests to enter into a contractual agreement to join a retail pharmacy network to be considered part of a pharmacy benefit manager's retail pharmacy network for purposes of an enrollee's or dependent's right to choose where to purchase covered prescription drugs if certain conditions are met.

Regulating pharmacy benefit managers.

Requires a pharmacy benefit manager to: (1) Discharge his or her fiduciary duty to a health carrier client under the provisions of state and federal law;

(2) Perform its duties with care, skill, prudence, diligence, and professionalism;

(3) Notify a health carrier client of an activity, policy, or practice of the manager that presents a conflict of interest with the imposed duties; and

Creating the Washington rural development and opportunity zone act.

Establishes the Washington rural development and opportunity zone act.

Requires the department of commerce to accept applications for approval as a rural development and opportunity zone fund.

Establishes an insurance premium tax credit and a business and occupation tax credit.

Creates the rural development and opportunity zone account.

Establishing minimum density standards around regional transit.

Prohibits a regional transit authority from approving or adopting a final alignment, or selecting a preferred alternative, for a light rail station proposed to be funded in the regional transit system plan approved by voters in 2016, unless the city or county in which a proposed station is to be located has adopted the minimum density standards below.

Concerning maternal mortality reviews.

Changes the composition and duties of the maternal mortality review panel.

Authorizes the department of health to request and receive data for specific maternal deaths from the department of children, youth, and families and its licensees and providers.

Requires hospitals and licensed birth centers to make an effort to report deaths that occur during pregnancy or within forty-two days of the end of pregnancy to the local coroner or medical examiner.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from hydrofluorocarbons.

Phases out the use of hydrofluorocarbons in various applications in the state, in a manner similar to the regulations that were adopted by the environmental protection agency, and that have been or will be adopted in several other states around the country.

Requires the department of ecology, in consultation with the department of commerce and the utilities and transportation commission, to complete a study addressing how to: (1) Increase the use of refrigerants with a low global warming potential in mobile sources, utility equipment, and consumer appliances; and

(2) Reduce other uses of hydrofluorocarbons.

Requires the department of enterprise services to establish purchasing and procurement policies that provide a preference for products that: (1) Are not restricted;

(2) Do not contain hydrofluorocarbons;

(3) Are not designed to function only in conjunction with hydrofluorocarbons; and

Concerning dual credit programs.

Revises certain common school provisions regarding dual credit programs.

Concerning veterans' mental health services at institutions of higher education.

Including referred and diverted youth in establishing community juvenile accountability program guidelines.

Revises the juvenile justice act of 1977.

Includes a referred youth in establishing guidelines for a community juvenile accountability program.

Requires the department of children, youth, and families to: (1) Provide an annual report to the appropriate legislative committees that includes a county by county description of the youth served by the funded programs; and

(2) Implement a stop loss policy when allocating funding.

Allowing retirees who retired under alternate early retirement factors enacted in chapter 491, Laws of 2007, to use postretirement options prior to reaching age sixty-five.

Concerning community facilities needed to ensure a continuum of care for behavioral health patients.

Requires the secretary of the department of health to: (1) License or certify intensive behavioral health treatment facilities and mental health drop-in centers that meet state minimum standards; and

(2) Establish rules working with the state health care authority and the department of social and health services to create standards for licensure or certification of intensive behavioral health treatment facilities and mental health drop-in centers.

Requires the state health care authority and certain entities to: (1) Work with willing community hospitals and evaluation and treatment facilities to assess their capacity to become licensed or certified to provide long-term mental health placements; and

Concerning fully implementing behavioral health integration for January 1, 2020, by removing behavioral health organizations from law; clarifying the roles and responsibilities among the health care authority, department of social and health services, and department of health, and the roles and responsibilities of behavioral health administrative services organizations and medicaid managed care organizations; and making technical corrections related to the behavioral health system.

Changes the name of the community mental health services act to the community behavioral health services act.

Providing postsecondary education opportunities to enhance public safety.

Authorizes postsecondary education degree opportunities and training of incarcerated adults through the community and technical colleges and the department of corrections.

Restricting possession of weapons in certain locations.

Prohibits a person from carrying or possessing the following weapons on licensed child care center premises, child care center-provided transportation, or areas of facilities while being used exclusively by a child care center: A firearm; any other dangerous weapon; an air gun, air pistol, or air rifle; a portable device manufactured to function as a weapon that is commonly known as a stun gun, including a projectile stun gun; or a device, object, or instrument that is used or intended to be used as a weapon with the intent to injure a person by an electric shock, charge, or impulse.

Expanding membership of the department of children, youth, and families oversight board to include two youth under the age of twenty-five.

Concerning child care access.

Establishes the Washington child care access now act.

Creates the child care access work group and requires the work group to: (1) Develop a regional mechanism to measure the cost of quality that can be used to determine child care subsidy rates;

(2) Consider how the measure of area median income could be used in place of federal poverty level when determining eligibility for child care subsidy;

(3) Evaluate recommendations from the department of children, youth, and families' technical work group on compensation to achieve pay parity with K-12 teachers by January 1, 2025; and

(4) Develop a phased implementation plan for policy changes to the working connections child care program.

Expanding eligibility to the early childhood education and assistance program.

Requires the department of children, youth, and families to: (1) Establish a pilot project to implement a state-funded birth to three early childhood education and assistance program to eligible children who are under thirty-six months old;

(2) Offer home visiting services that the child or family are eligible for under the particular home visiting service's statutory eligibility requirements; and

(3) Select up to ten pilot project locations during the first year of the project, with an attempt to select a combination of rural, urban, and suburban locations.

Concerning the H-2A temporary agricultural program.

Declares it to be in the public interest to clarify the state's role in the H-2A temporary agricultural program to provide: (1) Adequate protection for foreign and domestic workers; and

(2) Education and outreach opportunities to help growers maintain the stable workforce they need.

Creates the office of H-2A compliance and farm labor within the employment security department.

Requires an employer to submit an H-2A application to the department and pay a fee for each H-2A application submitted to the department.

Requires the commissioner of the employment security department to appoint an advisory committee to review issues and topics of interest related to this act.

Concerning confidentiality of employment security department records and data.

Concerning the housing element of comprehensive plans required under the growth management act.

Extending rental vouchers for eligible offenders.

Concerning the administration of marijuana to students for medical purposes.

Requires a school district to permit a student who meets certain requirements to consume marijuana concentrates for medical purposes on school grounds, aboard a school bus, or while attending a school-sponsored event.

Concerning the state board of registration for professional engineers and land surveyors.

Providing timely competency evaluations and restoration services to persons suffering from behavioral health disorders within the framework of the forensic mental health care system consistent with the requirements agreed to in the Trueblood settlement agreement.

Recognizes that: (1) There has been a nationwide increase of individuals with behavioral health disorders in the criminal justice system; and

(2) Reforms must be made to behavioral health systems and services to meet the increasing demands.

Authorizes a court to appoint an impartial forensic navigator approved by the department of social and health services to assist individuals who are referred for competency evaluation or restoration to navigate the forensic legal process and access available behavioral health resources.

Requires the forensic navigator to: (1) Investigate and collect relevant information about an individual and report the information to the court;

(2) Meet with, interview, or observe the individual; and

(3) Monitor court orders for compliance and bring to the court's attention any change in circumstances.

Requires the court, when ordering a defendant to undergo outpatient restoration, to set appropriate conditions of release and enforce those conditions.

Concerning the temporary sale of liquor at special events.

Concerning electronic prescriptions.

Requires prescription medications to be electronically communicated to a pharmacy of a patient's choice using a specific method for electronic prescribing.

Extending the dairy milk assessment fee to June 30, 2025.

Concerning career and technical education in alternative learning experience programs.

Concerning paid family and medical leave.

Concerning superior court judges.

Concerning the definition of hydraulic project in relation to the hydraulic project approval permits.

Modifying dates related to the application due date for health sciences and services authorities and their sales and use tax authority.

Concerning the administration of irrigation districts.

Clarifying the definition of a geriatric behavioral health worker for individuals with a bachelor's or master's degree in social work, behavioral health, or other related areas.

Revises the definition of "geriatric behavioral health worker," for purposes of chapter 74.42 RCW (nursing homes--resident care, operating standards), to include a person with a bachelor's or master's degree in social work, behavioral health, or other related areas.

Exempting United States food and drug administration nonpublic information from disclosure under the state public disclosure act.

Requiring the use of American or recycled steel products on certain public works.

Requires public works contracts to include a provision requiring that all steel products used or supplied in the performance of the contract and in any related subcontract must be: (1) Produced in the United States, at a facility regulated by the United States environmental protection agency; or

Naming of subcontractors by prime contract bidders on public works contracts.

Expanding access to building trades apprenticeships.

Requires the Marysville school district to collaborate with Everett Community College, Arlington school district, other local school districts, local labor unions, and local industry groups to develop the regional apprenticeship pathways program.

Requires the program to: (1) Establish an education-based apprenticeship preparation program that prepares individuals for registered apprenticeships in the building trades; and

Concerning nonresident pharmacies.

Requires a nonresident pharmacy, for initial licensure and license renewal by the department of health, to submit a copy of an inspection report: (1) Conducted by an inspection program approved by the pharmacy quality assurance commission as having substantially equivalent standards to those of the commission; and

Joining the nurse licensure compact.

Establishes the interstate nurse licensure compact of 2019.

Creates and establishes a joint public entity known as the interstate commission of nurse licensure compact administrators which is an instrumentality of the party states.

Requires the nursing care quality assurance commission to: (1) Obtain fingerprints from each applicant for a multistate license and submit them through the Washington state patrol to the federal bureau of investigation for criminal background checks; and

Concerning the sharing of information between participants in multidisciplinary coordination of child sexual abuse investigations.

Addresses multidisciplinary child protection teams and involvement of agencies and counties in the investigation of child sexual abuse, online sexual exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation of minors, child fatality, child physical abuse, and criminal child neglect cases.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 21	First reading, referred to Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation.

by Senators Brown, Becker, Fortunato, Schoesler, Warnick, Braun, and Wilson, L.

Authorizing a tax court.

Proposes an amendment to the state Constitution authorizing a tax court.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 25	First reading, referred to Law & Justice.