Washington House Democrats

Weekly Update from the Dome:

With less than 40 days until we adjourn, the House reached another major deadline. March 14^th was the last day bills without a fiscal impact could be moved out of the House.  After several long nights and weekend sessions, we approved numerous bills that address the values and priorities of Washington’s people.  

The House has focused on access to affordable health care, building jobs in Washington, and creating a high-quality education system. I am pleased we passed legislation that addresses these priorities. I have discussed many of these issues in previous updates but I think it is worth noting the progress we’ve made this session. 

• Early Learning is the key to continued success.  The House Education budget proposal calls for full-day kindergarten and an opportunity for 2,000 more kids to participate in preschool programs.

• HB 1573 – is a comprehensive drop-out prevention program that works with schools, families, and communities to identify students at risk of leaving school.

• HB 1096 – Opportunity Grants will increase access to higher education, particularly in high-demand fields. Students would receive funding to cover tuition, books and fees when enrolling in the identified high demand programs.

• HJR 4204 – Simple-majority approval of school district levies. As you know, school districts must work to win school levy elections by a sixty percent majority. This bill would allow the voters to decide if they want to change this practice to a simple 50 percent election.

• HB 1303 – Clean Air/Clean Fuels. This win-win bill promotes cleaner air, clean energy and a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels. By encouraging the use of biofuels and other renewable energies, Washington’s farmers will have a growing market for fuel crops.

• HB 1374 – We created the Puget Sound Partnership to better focus our efforts to clean up Puget Sound.  By pooling resources amongst several different groups and agencies, we can better share information, develop target deadlines for progress, provide better accountability, and reach our goal of cleaning up the Sound by 2020.

• HB 1460 – We make sure more people have access to mental health by eliminating exemptions for employers with fewer than 50 workers. We also require all individual and small group health insurance plans to carry mental health coverage. Discriminatory limits on treatment days, doctor visits and coverage for catastrophic expenses are also banned.

• HB 1902 –Provides a tax cut for agriculture by exempting the Sales and Use Tax on some farm machinery and equipment repairs.

• HB 1458 – By reforming the Eminent Domain law, we require government entities to give property owners 15 days notice, through certified mail, if their private property is being considered for condemnation.