The TNT’s Lexie Krell wrote about the bill in today’s paper. It’s the product of a compromise between two House members, a Democrat who was adopted as a baby and a Republican birth mother who gave her child up for adoption as a teenager.
Tacoma Rep. Connie Ladenburg‘s bill putting restrictions on defense attorneys’ access to pornographic images that are evidence in a case passed the House unanimously today and moves to the Senate.
A committee change to the bill requires that a defendant who is acting as his own lawyer must be supervised by someone appointed by the court when viewing child pornography.
That’s what a judge ordered in the case of a Lake Tapps man allowed to view pornography in the Pierce County jail; this would write that into the law.
Ladenburg and county prosecutors are seeking to make sure defense …
The Senate is tackling economic development today during its weekend work.
There are several bills on the docket that were highlighted last week by Senate Democrats as ways to promote job creation. For example, the Senate just passed a bill by Sen. Tracey Eide that would set up new state oversight of local governments’ permitting processes. It calls on the state Office of Regulatory Assistance to certify a permit process as “streamlined,” a designation that would move the local government to the front of the line when it applies for infrastructure funding.
This morning the Senate has already passed …
The quarterly Caseload Forecast Council’s report released Friday showed fewer children in Washington’s public schools and other smaller caseloads that brought good news for state budget writers.
Preliminary estimates are that smaller caseloads translate into $157 million in lower costs for the state over in the next 16 months, and Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director says the good news may actually top $200 million.
That is still a fraction of the $1.5 billion budget gap lawmakers are hoping to close in a legislative session that ends March 8. But the caseloads report comes as at …
The former Pennsylvania senator will hold several events, one public, when he visits Washington state on Monday.
Andrea Innes, a state committeewoman from Pierce County, said the state party has notified party officials that Rick Santorum will lead a rally at 7 p.m. at the Washington History Museum in downtown Tacoma beginning at 7 p.m.
Beforehand he will have a closed meeting with state party officials including members of the state committee, Innes said. The even is free and open to the public.
Santorum will also be in Olympia earlier Monday but none of those events will be open to …
The state Senate approved Thursday evening a bill that would allow families to stop autopsies based on religious objections.
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, authored the bill in response to a court fight waged between the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office and the family of a New York man who died on Mount Rainier in December. The man, Brian Grobois, was an Orthodox Jew and his family argued an autopsy would run counter to his religious beliefs despite the insistence of Dr. Thomas Clark, the county’s chief medical examinier, that the examination was necessary and he had the legal authority …
For the third day in a row, lawmakers expect to negotiate in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office today in hopes of reaching a deal on teacher evaluations.
One lawmaker from each caucus is meeting with Gregoire: Republicans Rep. Bruce Dammeier and Sen. Steve Litzow, and Democrats Rep. Kristine Lytton and Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe.
Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown was optimistic Thursday the talks would lead to Senate floor action by the weekend. And the governor’s spokeswoman said ”progress was made.” But Dammeier, of Puyallup, said a solution is a “long ways” away.
A bill making Washington the seventh state to recognize same-sex marriages will be signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in an 11:30 a.m. ceremony in the State Reception Center, her office says. A referendum seeking to repeal it can’t be far behind.
TVW is expected to cover the signing and stream it live. The Reception Room is on the third floor of the Legislative Building in Olympia.
The Democrat-controlled state House voted 55 to 43 on Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 6239.
The Senate voted 28-to-21 a week ago taking in the first of three major steps to making it …