Concerning a tax levied and collected on the retail sale of wireless devices used to access the internet.

Imposes a tax of forty cents on each retail sale of wireless devices used to access the internet.

Updating health benefit exchange statutes.

Modernizes state health benefit exchange statutes by: (1) Aligning statutes with current practice; and

Providing for the coordination of continuity of operations efforts for elections.

Establishing regional school safety centers in educational service districts.

Allows private schools to participate in annual school safety summits held by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the school safety advisory committee.

Requires the summit participants to: (1) Review various proposed and implemented models for regionalizing school safety planning, including proposals to establish regional safety centers;

(2) Review the 2017 report on funding for safety and security in schools prepared by the state institute for public policy; and

Establishing compassionate care renewals for medical marijuana qualifying patients.

Requiring the liquor and cannabis board to study home delivery of medical marijuana.

Promoting renewable natural gas.

Requires the Washington State University extension energy program and the department of commerce, in consultation with the utilities and transportation commission, to submit, by September 1, 2018, recommendations to the governor's office and the legislative energy committees on how to promote sustainable development of renewable natural gas in the state.

Requires the department of commerce to: (1) In consultation with the department of ecology, the utilities and transportation commission, and the department of health, explore development of voluntary gas quality standards for the injection of renewable natural gas into the natural gas pipeline system; and

(2) Consult industry groups and identify industry best practices.

Provides a sales and use tax exemption for equipment necessary to process biogas from a landfill into marketable coproducts.

Regarding the transitional bilingual instruction program.

Declares an intent to determine: (1) The qualifications of school staff currently providing supplemental instruction to English learners;

(2) The number of vacant positions for school staff with training on working with English learners; and

(3) Whether programs and processes are in place to prepare enough qualified staff to meet the 2019-2020 school year deadline.

Concerning the efficient deployment of small cell network infrastructure.

Studying the feasibility of a statewide infrastructure authority.

Creates a joint select committee on infrastructure and requires the committee to complete a study to identify integrated infrastructure needs across the state, including needs related to fiber broadband, high-speed rail, long haul air cargo, and other related issues.

Concerning electronic ballot return.

Requires a signed declaration, for ballots returned electronically by a voter who is not an overseas or service voter, to be received no later than the day before the county canvassing board certifies the election or primary results.

Requires the county auditor to: (1) Before certification of the election for ballots returned electronically, conduct an audit of those ballots if at least forty of the ballots are returned by 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election;

(2) Upon providing notice to each voter, randomly select twenty-five percent of the voters and include in their notice a request for the voter to return his or her original ballot along with the signed declaration; and

Concerning the use of antifouling paints on recreational water vessels.

Exempting certain mobile food units from state and local regulations pertaining to commissaries or servicing areas.

Promoting preapprenticeship opportunities for high school students.

Requires the office of the superintendent of public instruction to: (1) In consultation with the state board for community and technical colleges and the Washington state apprenticeship and training council, examine opportunities for promoting recognized preapprenticeship and registered youth apprenticeship opportunities for high school students; and

Concerning high school and beyond plans.

Requires the high school and beyond plan to: (1) Be provided to students' parents or guardians in their native language if that language is one of the two most frequently spoken non-English languages of students in the district;

(2) At a minimum, include identification of dual credit programs and the opportunities they create for students, including career and technical education programs, running start programs, and college in the high school programs and information about the college bound scholarship program; and

(3) Include information about options for satisfying state and local graduation requirements and aligning with the student's secondary and postsecondary goals.

Concerning medical certificate requirements for applicants and holders of commercial drivers' licenses and commercial learners' permits.

Modifies the uniform commercial driver's license act with regard to: Medical certificate requirements for applicants and holders; traffic infractions for licensees while being downgraded for not maintaining a current medical certificate; excepted or nonexcepted intrastate and excepted or nonexcepted interstate; and revision of the definition of "nonexcepted intrastate" and "excepted intrastate," relating to obtaining a certificate and wishing to maintain a CDL or CLP but not operate a commercial motor vehicle without changing his or her self-certification type.

Concerning paraeducators.

Modifies provisions relating to paraeducators.

Makes appropriations, for fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, and ending June 30, 2020, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction who, in consultation with the paraeducator board, must: (1) Procure or develop professional development for paraeducator subject matter certificates, in English language learner and special education, and the advanced paraeducator certificate; and

Clarifying hours and wages for education employee compensation claims.

Eliminating certain tax preferences not being used and recommended for repeal as determined by the joint legislative audit and review committee.

Concerning veterans' assistance levies.

Addresses the veterans' assistance levy.

Requires the levy to be imposed by the legislative authority of the county as: (1) A separate levy, independent of the regular property tax levy; or

(2) Part of its levy authorized in RCW 84.52.043 (1) (b).

States that if the consolidated tax levy rate still exceeds certain limitations, the certified property tax levy rates authorized for veterans' assistance must be reduced on a pro rata basis or eliminated.

Modifying the learning assistance program.

Restores flexibility to the use of learning assistance program funds and requires school districts to budget and expend learning assistance program funds at both the district and school levels in a manner consistent with the Washington integrated student supports protocol.

Requires monitoring of school district learning assistance programs to ensure fidelity in implementing best practices in a manner consistent with the Washington integrated student supports protocol.

Concerning diaper changing stations at restaurants.

Concerning child care for student parents in public institutions of higher education.

Declares an intent to: (1) Improve access and completion rates of student parents enrolled in community and technical colleges by reducing existing restrictions to subsidized child care; and

(2) Address the teacher shortage by allowing students receiving working connections child care program benefits to pursue certificates and degrees in teaching, paraeducation, and early childhood education, without losing their working connections child care program benefits.

Requires the department of early learning and the department of children, youth, and families, in consultation with the state board for community and technical colleges and the student achievement council, to revise rules: (1) That require applicants or consumers who are full-time students and who are not WorkFirst participants to work at least an average of twenty or more hours per week, or at least an average of sixteen hours or more per week in a federal or state work-study program, as a condition of receiving working connections child care program benefits;

(2) Applicable to full-time students enrolled in community or technical or tribal colleges, to eliminate the work requirement as a condition of receiving working connections child care program benefits; and

Concerning spirits retail licenses.

Prohibits the state liquor and cannabis board from denying a spirits retail license to an applicant that is not a contract liquor store or operating rights holder because there is a spirits retail license holder in the trade area that the applicant proposes to serve if: (1) The applicant's location is within a rural county; and

Concerning efficiency updates for capital budget appropriations allocated for public art.

Requires at least eighty-five percent of the money spent by the state arts commission during each biennium, for certain purposes, to be expended solely for direct acquisition of works of art.

Authorizes the state arts commission to use up to two hundred thousand dollars to conserve or maintain existing pieces in the state art collection.

Authorizes, for projects funded in the capital budget, state agencies and institutions of higher education, working with the state arts commission, to expend up to ten percent of the projected art allocation for a project during the design phase in order to select an artist and design art to be integrated in the building design.

Transferring nine hundred ninety-five million eight hundred two thousand dollars from the budget stabilization account to the state general fund to offset the revenue impact of reducing the combined rate for state property tax levies to 2.365 dollars per thousand dollars of assessed value for taxes levied for collection in calendar year 2019 and to two dollars and thirty cents per thousand dollars of assessed value for taxes levied for collection in calendar year 2020.

Updating Washington's architect registration law to increase reciprocity and align the law with national standards.

Increases reciprocity and aligns the state's architect registration law with national standards.

-- 2018 REGULAR SESSION --
Feb 20	First reading, referred to Business & Financial Services (Not Officially read and referred until adoption of Introduction report).