This bill would exempt certain election security information from disclosure under the Public Records Act that requires all state and local governmental entities to make public records available to the public. The bill would exempt:
• continuity of operations plans for elections.
• security audits.
• security risk assessments.
• security test results that relate to physical security or cybersecurity of election operations or infrastructure
Proponents said the bill is needed to keep critical election security information from people who might seek to harm elections. Opponents voiced concern that it would reduce government transparency and erode public trust in the election process.
The bill was sent to the Senate State Government and Elections Committee for further consideration.
This bill would require student health plans to provide coverage for the abortion of a pregnancy. Under current law, health plans that provide coverage for maternity care or services must also provide coverage to permit abortions. Student health plans are generally exempt from this requirement.
The bill would extend the requirement to cover abortions to student health plans deemed by the Insurance Commissioner to have a short-term limited purpose or duration, or to be guaranteed renewable while the covered person is enrolled as a regular full-time undergraduate or graduate student at an accredited higher education institution.
The bill was sent to the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee for further consideration.
This bill would ban open-carry of weapons within 250 feet of permitted public demonstrations and at the state capitol. Current Washington law affirms citizen rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to openly carry firearms, except in certain locations such as courthouses and jails.
Proponents said the bill would not infringe on those rights, because it only adds the Capitol to the list of places where open-carry of firearms is prohibited. Opponents argued that the bill would take away legal gun owners’ ability to protect themselves if they feel unsafe at or near a public demonstration. They also said the language in the bill is too vague, making it difficult to enforce.
The bill is on its way to the House for further consideration.
This bill would greatly expand the Washington state Criminal Justice Training Commission’s (CJTC) authority and capability to investigate police misconduct and revoke or suspend a police officer’s professional certification. It would increase the number of reasons for which officers could lose their badge, adding use of force in violation of law or department policy to those reasons.
Under the bill, the CJTC would be allowed to add investigators to pursue more cases against officers, and to suspend an officer for a broader range of alleged misconduct. The CJTC, and other boards and panels that review misconduct cases would be made up by a majority of civilians unaffiliated with law enforcement. The CJTC would also be authorized to begin decertification processes against officers accused of wrongdoing without waiting for a local sheriff or police chief to discipline such officers.
Proponents said the bill’s intent is to restore public confidence that law enforcement officers, who are given the power of a badge and a gun to enforce the law, are appropriately exercising those powers.
Opponents said the bill would give the state too much control over local police decisions, and demonstrate a lack of support for law enforcement officers who put their lives in danger to protect the public.
The bill is headed to the House for further consideration.
The legislature in 2005 established the Office of Civil Legal Aid (OCLA) as an independent judicial branch agency to administer and oversee state funds appropriated by the legislature for the provision of civil legal aid services to eligible low-income people in Washington. This law imposed a number of restrictions, including that moneys distributed to qualified legal aid programs by the OCLA may not be used directly or indirectly for representation of individuals who are in the United States without legal authority.
This bill would remove this prohibition, and make legal aid funds provided by taxpayers available for representation of undocumented persons.
Current Washington law allows adolescents to make health care decisions on their own behalf at age 13 related to behavioral health treatment, at age 14 related to testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and allows decisions related to personal reproductive health care, including abortions, to be made at any age. This bill would clarify language to affirm that a person is presumed to have the capacity to make health care decisions under current laws, unless subject to a guardianship that includes health care decision making. A proposed amendment that would remove the capacity of a minor to provide informed consent for abortion services was rejected by voice vote.
This bill would require health care professionals to complete health equity education training at least once every four years. It would require these courses to teach skills that enable a health care professional to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities, varying in race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, religion, age, ability, and socioeconomic status.
During the public hearing on the measure, proponents said the bill is needed, because the health system is not equitable. They said that health professionals should be aware of their own biases, and learn to be more sensitive to the health needs of different communities. No testimony in opposition to the bill was offered. Proposed amendments to allow health care professionals to opt out and to limit the cost of such courses were rejected by voice vote.
This bill would change regulatory requirements relating to background checks and training for long-term care workers in the event of a pandemic, natural disaster, or other declared state of emergency.
It would permit a long-term care worker who has not been disqualified by the state background check to continue to work and have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, pending completion of the FBI fingerprint check. The current requirement that the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) check a long-term care worker against the National Sex Offender Registry would be eliminated
If a pandemic, natural disaster, or other declared state of emergency impacts the ability of long-term care workers to complete required training, the bill would enable the DSHS to adopt rules allowing the workers additional time to complete the training.
Proponents of the bills said that long-term care facilities were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The facilities, therefore, could not operate as usual. This caused challenges relating to training, staff retention, inspections, and background checks. They said this bill would provide long-term care facilities with the flexibility they need to meet the needs of residents.
Opponents of the bill said that a large proportion of COVID-19 infections and deaths are linked to nursing homes. They said that this exposes deficiencies in the staffing and design of these facilities, and that there is need for reform across the system. This bill is not the solution, they said.
This bill would require law enforcement agencies to report to prosecuting authorities an officer's misconduct affecting credibility or any act of an officer that may potentially support a defendant’s not-guilty plea. It would also requires law enforcement agencies, prior to hiring an officer with previous law enforcement experience, to inquire whether the officer has ever been subject to removal procedures.
Supporters of the bill said it is about whether you can rely on an officer for the truth. The bill would create best standards and online training opportunities, and would require law enforcement agencies to inquire about this issue before hiring.
Opponents said the bill does not go far enough. They said a better approach would be to create a working group to report back, so that the legislature could put these standards in statute. They pointed out that there is a lack of uniformity on how potential impeachment disclosure is handled in counties across the state.
This bill would authorize the State Auditor to review a deadly force investigation to determine whether those involved complied with all applicable rules and procedures. It would also authorize the State Auditor, upon request by the Criminal Justice Training Commission, to review a law enforcement agency to ensure compliance with all applicable rules and procedures governing the training and certification of the agency's peace officers.
Proponents of the bill said that audits of deadly force investigations would ensure quality, objective, non-biased investigations. The purpose of auditing deadly force investigations would be to review whether the relevant statutory and administrative rules are being followed. Audits would not be used to judge the decisions made at the end of investigations, they said.
Opponents of the bill said that the intent of the bill is good, but the scope of the proposed audits should be clarified and narrowed. They said a deadly force investigation audit should only review whether the investigation was conducted in compliance with the relevant statutory and administrative rules, not all rules and procedures generally.
This bill would provide unemployment insurance tax relief by not charging rate increases to employers for unemployment benefits during a public health emergency for high-risk individuals unable to work from home and shared work benefits paid or reimbursed by the federal government.
For workers, the bill would expand eligibility for those in high-risk households and waive the waiting period when federally reimbursed. It would also increase the minimum benefit from 15 to 20 percent of the average weekly wage and limit benefits to a person's weekly wage.
This bill would distribute $2.2 billion in federal COVID relief funds made available to the state. It includes $668 million for school funding, and $618 for a Public Health Response account for programs such as COVID testing and contact tracing. A further $68 million is earmarked for vaccine distribution and administration.
The bill would also provide $365 million for housing and rental assistance, and $240 million in grants for Washington’s small businesses. Also, $65 million would be allocated for the Washington Immigrant Relief fund, and $50 million in financial help for child care providers.
The bill would expand eligibility for the Graduated Reentry Program in the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) that allows incarcerated persons to serve part of their sentence in the community rather than in prison.
Under current law, which was created in 2018, individuals must have served at least 12 months in confinement at a state prison before becoming eligible to serve up to the last six months of their sentence in the community with electronic home monitoring under the jurisdiction of the DOC.
SB 5121 would reduce the required confinement time a person must serve in prison before eligibility for the reentry program to six months for most offenders who are not under a deportation order or civil commitment. It would further reduce the required confinement time to four months for those who are not currently serving a sentence for a sex, violent, or crime-against-a-person offense. The bill would also allow eligible inmates to serve the entire remaining term of their sentence at home, with electronic monitoring supervised by the DOC.
This bill would add equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism to existing cultural competency standards and training for school board directors, district staff, and school staff. It would direct school districts to prioritize one of three professional learning days to focus first on these topics. The curriculum would require each of Washington 295 school districts to adopt the training. None of the bill’s proposed mandates would apply to private schools, homeschooling or non-public online education programs.
Amendments to make such training voluntary and to expand it beyond race to students with disabilities failed by voice vote.
This bill would provide unemployment insurance tax relief by not charging rate increases to employers for unemployment benefits during a public health emergency for high-risk individuals unable to work from home and shared work benefits paid or reimbursed by the federal government.
For workers, the bill would expand eligibility for those in high-risk households and waive the waiting period when federally reimbursed. It would also increase the minimum benefit from 15 to 20 percent of the average weekly wage and limit benefits to a person's weekly wage.
This bill would authorize the State Board of Education to permit public and private schools to grant individual student emergency waivers from credit and subject area graduation requirements, graduation pathway requirements, or both, due to a significant disruption from a local, state, or national emergency. Students in the graduating class of 2020 and subsequent classes would be eligible for the emergency waiver program.
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Contact my lawmakers
Rep. Gerry Pollet (Seattle), District 46. (360) 786-7886. gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov
Rep. Javier Valdez (Seattle), District 46. (360) 786 - 7818 . javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov
Sen. David Frockt (Seattle), District 46. (360) 786-7690. david.frockt@leg.wa.gov
