Addressing the siting of schools and school facilities.

Provides that the growth management act does not prohibit: (1) A county, planning under RCW 36.70A.040, from authorizing the extension of public facilities and utilities to serve a school sited in a rural area as long as certain conditions are met; or

(2) The expansion of an existing school in the rural area or the placement of portable classrooms at an existing school in the rural area.

Allows a county to authorize the siting, in a rural area, of a school that serves students from an urban area under certain circumstances.

Requires a school district within a county that chooses to site schools, as mentioned above, to participate in the county's periodic updates required by RCW 36.70A.130(1)(b).

Concerning tribal consultation regarding hunting rights and activities.

Authorizes the governing body of a federally recognized tribe to request a consultation with the governor and the fish and wildlife commission regarding a specific fish and wildlife department policy, rule, or action that affects tribal hunting activities.

Requires the governor to convene a meeting within thirty days of receiving the request.

Concerning passenger-carrying vehicles for railroad employees.

Requires the utilities and transportation commission to: (1) Regulate persons providing contract railroad crew transportation and contract crew hauling vehicles with respect to the safety of equipment, driver qualifications, permitting, insurance, and safety of operations;

(2) Adopt rules, require reports, and establish mandatory reporting of compliance regarding contract crew hauling vehicles;

(3) Conduct at least one unannounced inspection of contract crew hauling vehicles in use by a person contracting with the railroad company every two years by inspecting at least a sampling of vehicles as part of each inspection conducted;

(4) Investigate safety complaints related to contract crew hauling transportation;

(5) Compile data regarding reported safety complaints, accidents, regulatory violations and fines, and corrective actions taken by the commission involving passenger-carrying vehicles; and

(6) Develop an inspection program for contract crew hauling vehicles.

Authorizes the chief of the state patrol, upon request, to assist the commission in the inspections.

Requires the department of licensing to: (1) Issue a course completion certificate upon successful completion of a sixteen-hour safety course; and

(2) Charge a reasonable fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars for issuance of the completion certificate.

Requiring establishment of a systemwide policy for granting credit for AP exams.

Concerning restrictions on prescriptions for opioid drugs.

Requires a practitioner, before prescribing an opioid drug, to complete, on a one-time basis, continuing education regarding best practices in the prescribing of opioid drugs.

Modifying the infraction of and penalties for distracted driving.

Addresses traffic infractions for the crimes of distracted driving and driving dangerously distracted.

Revises distracted driving provisions with regard to portable electronic devices which are defined as a device that is capable of wireless communication or electronic data retrieval and is not manufactured primarily for hands-free use in a motor vehicle.

Exempting from public disclosure certain information regarding reports on wolf depredations.

Exempts the following from public disclosure under the public records act: (1) Damage prevention cooperative agreements and nonlethal preventative measures deployed to minimize wolf interactions with pets and livestock; and

(2) A reported depredation by wolves on pets or livestock.

Requires the public records exemptions accountability committee to prepare and submit a report to the legislature that includes recommendations on whether the exemptions mentioned above should be continued or allowed to expire.

Creating uniformity in driver training education provided by school districts and commercial driver training schools.

Requires driver training education curriculum to be developed and maintained jointly by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the department of licensing.

Provides the department of licensing with resources and authority to audit driver training education courses, in consultation with the superintendent of public instruction for driver training education courses offered by school districts.

Establishing the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight task force.

Creates the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight task force to, among other responsibilities: (1) Reduce the overall percentage of people living below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level;

(2) Prevent and address adverse childhood experiences and the trauma of children who are living in poverty; and

(3) Direct the department of social and health services to develop a five-year plan and a ten-year plan to address intergenerational poverty.

Creates the intergenerational poverty advisory committee to assist the task force.

Authorizes the department of social and health services to establish and maintain a system to track intergenerational poverty.

Concerning rail dependent uses for purposes of the growth management act and related development regulations.

Authorizes the following counties and each of the cities in the counties to adopt development regulations to assure that agriculture, forest, and mineral resource lands adjacent to short line railroads may be developed for freight rail dependent uses: (1) Counties located to the east of the crest of the Cascade mountains that have a population of at least two hundred forty thousand; and

(2) Counties located to the west of the crest of the Cascade mountains that have a population of at least two hundred forty thousand and a border that touches another state.

Requires development regulations related to the development of agriculture, forest, and mineral resource lands adjacent to short line railroads for freight rail dependent uses to require buffers sufficient to prevent encroachment on or impacts to the adjacent resource lands.

Authorizes the transportation element, for the following counties and each of the cities in the counties, to include development of freight rail dependent uses on land adjacent to a short line railroad: (1) Counties located to the east of the crest of the Cascade mountains that have a population of at least two hundred forty thousand; and

(2) Counties located to the west of the crest of the Cascade mountains that have a population of at least two hundred forty thousand and a border that touches another state.

Continuing the work of the Washington food policy forum.

Establishes the Washington food policy forum, as a public-private partnership, and requires the forum to: (1) Increase the direct marketing sales of local farm products;

(2) Reduce food insecurity in the state;

(3) Identify opportunities to improve coordination between local food policy councils and state and federal agencies; and

(4) Identify rules and regulations impeding the viability of small acreage agriculture.

Gives responsibility to the directors of the state conservation commission and the department of agriculture for appointing participating members of the forum.

Expires July 1, 2019.

Concerning nursing staffing practices at hospitals.

Establishes the Washington state patient safety act.

Requires the department of health to: (1) Upon receipt of a complaint, investigate the complaint and, if it determines that there has been a violation, require the hospital to submit a corrective plan of action; and

(2) Maintain, for public inspection, records of civil penalties, administrative actions, or license suspensions or revocations imposed on hospitals.

Requires a hospital to submit a staffing plan to the department of health, implement the staffing plan, and assign nursing personnel to each patient care unit in accordance with the plan.

Requires a nurse staffing committee, in the development of an annual patient care unit and shift-based nurse staffing plan, to include: (1) The availability of other personnel supporting nursing services on the unit; and

Revising resource limitations for public assistance.

Revises the definition of "resource" for purposes of eligibility requirements for an exemption of a resource in order to qualify for public assistance.

Creating a leasehold excise tax exemption for certain leasehold interests in facilities owned or used by schools, colleges, or universities.

Provides a leasehold excise tax exemption for leasehold interests in facilities owned or used by a community college or technical college, and the leasehold interest provides: (1) Food services for students, faculty, and staff;

(2) The operation of a bookstore on campus; or

Providing a referral resource for those seeking information and assistance for immigration and citizenship related matters.

Requires the human rights commission, in consultation with relevant state agencies, and individuals or groups having experience and knowledge of immigration law and the provision of immigration and citizenship related assistance, including those with experience providing culturally appropriate services to populations that have traditionally been underserved or unserved, to establish a toll-free telephone hotline and a web site to refer callers and users to sources of information and assistance for victims of hate crimes or harassment due to their actual or perceived immigration, national origin, or citizenship related status.

Exempts the following personal information from public inspection and copying under the public records act: Information revealing the identity of a person or entity requesting information or assistance via the hotline or web site.

-- 2017 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 14	Public hearing in the House Committee on Judiciary at 10:00 AM.
Feb 16	JUDI - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.
	Minority; do not pass.
	Executive action taken in the House Committee on Judiciary at 1:00 PM.
Feb 17	Referred to Rules 2 Review.
Feb 24	Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
Mar 7	1st substitute bill substituted.
	Floor amendment(s) adopted.
	Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
	Third reading, passed; yeas, 67; nays, 30; absent, 0; excused, 1.