Concerning biometric identifiers.

Encouraging certificates of restoration of opportunity.

Prohibits certain state, county, and municipal departments, boards, officers, and agencies authorized to assess the qualifications of an applicant for a license, certificate of authority, qualification to engage in the practice of a profession or business, or for admission to an examination to qualify for the license or certificate, from disqualifying a qualified applicant solely based on the applicant's criminal history if the qualified applicant has obtained a certificate of restoration of opportunity and the applicant meets all other statutory and regulatory requirements.

Exempts criminal justice agencies and the Washington state bar association from this act.

Concerning benefit charges of fire protection districts and regional fire protection service authorities.

Regulating the institutions of higher education, including for-profit institutions and private vocational schools, to protect students from unfair business practices.

Creates, within the student achievement council, the office of the ombuds serving students of for-profit degree granting institutions and private vocational schools to provide assistance to students of for-profit postsecondary institutions and private vocational schools.

Requires the council, in coordination with the workforce training and education coordinating board, to appoint an ombuds.

Requires the council, the board, and the department of licensing to work together to design and oversee a study, to be administered by the council, that objectively analyzes and makes recommendations about systemic overlaps and gaps in jurisdiction regarding for-profit degree granting institutions and private vocational schools in the state.

Authorizes the council to deny, revoke, or suspend the authorization of an institution that is found to have engaged in a substantial number of unfair business practices or that has engaged in significant unfair business practices.

Authorizing county legislative authorities to approve certain group B water systems based upon their delivery of water meeting safe drinking water standards.

Authorizes the county legislative authority of a certain county in eastern Washington to: (1) Act to approve the operation of a group B public water system serving less than ten connections if certain conditions are met;

(2) Choose to seek the advice of a local health jurisdiction in determining whether to approve the operation of a group B public water system; and

(3) Approve the operation of the water system.

Requires the county legislative authority to: (1) Upon the request of a local health jurisdiction, provide submitted test results to the local health jurisdiction;

(2) Designate at least one county employee as a point of contact for questions, problems, and other issues relating to group B public water systems;

Concerning the state auditor including allowing for audits to be conducted by a private entity and establishing an appeal process. (REVISED FOR ENGROSSED: Concerning the state auditor including allowing for audits to be conducted by a private entity. )

Authorizes local governments to request a financial audit from a certified public accountant firm in lieu of an audit by the state auditor.

Promoting a sustainable, local renewable energy industry through modifying renewable energy system tax incentives and providing guidance for renewable energy system component recycling.

Concerning cybercrime.

Establishes the Washington cybercrime act.

Increasing access to adequate and appropriate mental health services for children and youth.

Creates the children's mental health work group to identify barriers in accessing mental health services for children and families and to advise the legislature on statewide mental health services for this population.

Requires the state health care authority and the department of social and health services to report to the appropriate legislative committees on the status of access to behavioral health services for children from birth through age seventeen.

Requires the state health care authority to: (1) Expand the partnership access line service by selecting a rural inclusive region of the state to offer an additional level of child mental health care support services for primary care (referred to as the PAL plus pilot program);

(2) For purposes of the PAL plus pilot program, work in collaboration with faculty from the University of Washington working on the integration of mental health and medical care; and

(3) Require universal annual screening and provider payment for depression for children ages thirteen through twenty-one as recommended by the bright futures guidelines of the American academy of pediatrics.

Requires the joint legislative audit and review committee to conduct an inventory of the mental health service models available to students in schools, school districts, and educational service districts.

Modifying the penalty for taxpayers that do not submit an annual survey or report.

Modifies penalties for taxpayers who fail to submit an annual survey or report.

Changes the due date for the report and the survey.

Reducing public health threats that particularly impact highly exposed populations, including children and firefighters, by establishing a process for the department of health to restrict the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals in certain types of consumer products.

Prohibits a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer from manufacturing, selling, or distributing for sale or for use in this state children's products or residential upholstered furniture containing any of the following flame retardants in amounts greater than one thousand parts per million in any product component: (1) TDCPP;

(2) TCEP;

(3) Decabromodiphenyl ether;

(4) HBCD; or

(5) Additive TBBPA.

Authorizes the secretary of the department of health to prohibit, by rule, the manufacture, sale, distribution for sale, or distribution for use in this state of residential upholstered furniture or children's products containing any of the following chemicals used as a flame retardant in any product component in amounts greater than one thousand parts per million: (1) IPTPP;

(2) TBB;

(3) TBPH;

(4) TCPP;

(5) TPP; and

Concerning disclosure of financial, commercial, and proprietary information of employees of private cloud service providers.

Disposing tax foreclosed property to cities for affordable housing purposes.

Requires the county legislative authority to give notice to a city in which any tax foreclosed property is located within at least sixty days of acquiring the property except when a public agency purchases the tax-foreclosed property for public purposes.

Prohibits the county from disposing of the property at public auction or by private negotiation before giving the notice.

Requires the notice to offer the city the opportunity to purchase the property for the original minimum bid.

Requires the city, if it chooses to purchase the property, to: (1) Accept the offer within thirty days of receiving notice;

(2) Provide that the property is suitable and will be used for an affordable housing development; and

Modifying retail sales and use tax exemption criteria for certain clean alternative fuel vehicles.

Specifying the documentation that must be provided to determine when sales tax applies to the sale of a motor vehicle to an enrolled tribal member.

Provides that state sales tax is not imposed on the sale of a motor vehicle if: (1) Delivered in Indian country to a tribe or tribal member; or

Ensuring that restrictions on the use of solid fuel burning devices do not prohibit the installation or replacement of solid fuel burning devices or the use of these devices during temporary outages of other sources of heat.

Authorizes a person to: (1) Install or repair a certified solid fuel burning device, approved by the department of ecology, in a residence or commercial establishment; and

(2) Replace a solid fuel burning device with a certified solid fuel burning device.

Authorizes the burning of wood in a solid fuel burning device, regardless of whether a burn ban has been called, if there is an emergency power outage.

Providing for suicide awareness and prevention education for safer homes.

Creates the safe homes task force to raise public awareness and increase suicide prevention education among new partners who are in key positions to help reduce suicide.

Requires the University of Washington school of social work to administer and staff the task force and convene the initial meeting of the task force.

Requires the department of health to develop and administer a safe homes project for firearms dealers and firearms ranges to encourage voluntary participation in a program to implement suicide awareness and prevention strategies.

Requires the department of fish and wildlife to update the pamphlet to incorporate information on suicide awareness and prevention.

Requires a licensed pharmacist, a person holding a retired active pharmacist license, or certain other professionals holding a retired active license to complete a one-time training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management.

Requires the schools of pharmacy at the University of Washington and Washington State University to convene a work group to jointly develop a curriculum on suicide assessment, treatment, and management for pharmacy students.

Creating an exemption to the definition of substantial development in chapter 90.58 RCW relating to the retrofitting of existing structures to accommodate physical access by individuals with disabilities.

Establishing the joint legislative task force on the use of deadly force in community policing.

Creates the joint legislative task force on the use of deadly force in community policing.

Requires the task force to: (1) Review laws, practices, and training programs regarding the use of deadly force in this state and in other states;

(2) Review current policies, practices, and tools used by or otherwise available to law enforcement as an alternative to lethal uses of force, including tasers and other nonlethal weapons; and

(3) Review proposals and recommend modifications to the standards for justifiable homicide and criminal liability in RCW 9A.16.040 to assure adequate protection for law enforcement and the community.

Ensuring that restrictions on outdoor burning for air quality reasons do not impede measures necessary to ensure forest resiliency to catastrophic fires.

Authorizes the department of natural resources to inspect an area and issue a burning permit for forest resiliency burning, if the burning is unlikely to significantly contribute to a violation of air quality standards.

Authorizes the department of natural resources, authorized employees, or a warden or ranger to refuse, revoke, or postpone the use of permits for forest resiliency burning if: (1) Necessary for the safety of adjacent property; or

(2) Burning poses an unreasonable risk of air pollution.

Making expenditures from the budget stabilization account to make critical investments.

Makes appropriations from the budget stabilization account to make critical investments in the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium.

-- 2016 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 19	First reading, referred to Appropriations (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report).
Feb 22	Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 3:30 PM. (Subject to change)
Feb 23	Scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Appropriations at 3:30 PM. (Subject to change)