Allowing certain adult family homes to increase capacity to eight beds.

Authorizes an adult family home to provide services to up to eight adults upon approval from the department of social and health services.

Requires an applicant requesting to increase bed capacity to seven or eight beds to successfully demonstrate the following to the department: (1) Financial solvency and management experience for the home under its ownership;

(2) The ability to meet other relevant safety, health, and operating standards pertaining to the operation of an eight-bed home, including the ability to meet the needs of all current and prospective residents; and

(3) How to mitigate the potential impact of vehicular traffic related to the operation of the home.

Protecting consumers from charges for out-of-network health care services.

Establishes the balance billing protection act.

Finds that consumers receive surprise bills or balance bills for services provided at out-of-network facilities or by out-of-network health care providers at in-network facilities.

Declares an intent to: (1) Ban balance billing of consumers enrolled in fully insured, regulated insurance plans and plans offered to public employees under state health care authority provisions for certain services;

(2) Provide self-funded group health plans with an option to elect to be subject to the provisions of this act;

(3) Remove consumers from balance billing disputes and require that out-of-network providers and carriers negotiate out-of-network payments in good faith under the terms of this act; and

Modifying certain common school provisions.

Revises criteria for the second grade reading assessment with regard to: (1) Comprehension skills of students at the beginning of second grade; and

(2) Reading passages used in the assessment meeting specific criteria and being administered according to the publisher's guidelines.

Requires the superintendent of public instruction to provide districts with funds to purchase assessment materials and professional learning for educators needed to implement the district's reading assessment system.

Concerning photographs, microphotographs, and electronic images from traffic safety cameras and toll systems.

Creating the universal worker protections act.

Concerning consumer debt.

Revising economic assistance programs by updating standards of need, revising outcome measures and data collected, and reducing barriers to participation.

Revises provisions relating to the temporary assistance for needy families program, the pregnant women assistance program, and state family assistance.

Requires the department of social and health services to: (1) Submit to the office of financial management, the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight task force, and the legislature, a revised comprehensive study of living costs, that must include recommendations for temporary assistance for needy families grant standards as a percentage of need;

(2) Every four years, adjust the estimated base costs to a consumer for household budget items used in the study, in addition to annual adjustments for inflation;

(3) Every ten years, submit a redesigned and updated comprehensive study to the office of financial management, the legislative-executive WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight task force, and the legislature; and

(4) When completing each ten-year redesign, adjust study parameters, including cost categories and geographic boundaries, as necessary.

Changing the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss to the Washington center for deaf and hard of hearing youth.

Changes the name of the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss to the Washington center for deaf and hard of hearing youth.

Requiring traumatic brain injury screenings for children entering the foster care system.

Requires a child entering the foster care system to have a screening for identification of a traumatic brain injury.

Concerning the authority of the community economic revitalization board with respect to loans and grants to political subdivisions and federally recognized Indian tribes for broadband.

Authorizes the community economic revitalization board to make broadband loans and grants to local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes for financing the cost to build infrastructure to provide high-speed, open-access broadband service for economic or community development.

Requires a responsible local government official or a federally recognized Indian tribe to: (1) Be present during board deliberations and provide requested information; and

(2) Demonstrate to the board that no other timely source of funding is available to it at costs reasonably similar to financing available from the board.

-- 2019 REGULAR SESSION --
Jan 25	First reading, referred to Innovation, Technology & Economic Development.