Monday: The House Judiciary committee voted the same-sex marriage legislation out of committee. A Senate committee heard a bill that would tighten up ethical rules for public employees, prompted by a case last year of an ethics claim against a Department of Corrections administrator who worked on behalf of nonprofit groups on state time. And a bipartisan group of 42 Washington state lawmakers sent a letter to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration asking for marijuana to be reclassified so it can be prescribed as a medicine by doctors and filled in pharmacies..

Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.

Tuesday: The House Labor committee on heard five bills related to the minimum wage, including one that would lower the base wage of tipped employees and another that would pay a lower “training wage.” The Senate Higher Education committee considered a bill that would prohibit state money from going to college athletics. And a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked that the state fund K-12 education separately from the rest of the budget.

Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.

Wednesday: In a late night floor session, the state Senate voted 28-21 to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. We have full video and a photo gallery from the event. On the show, we covered the redistricting plan as it took a first big step forward, and legislation that would allow schools to have classes separated by gender.

Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.

Thursday: House Republicans offered details on a plan that would create a separate K-12 education budget. Also, lawmakers considered stricter rules for spraying pesticides on farmland.

Watch Thursday’s Legislative Review.

Friday: Today is the cutoff day for non-budget policy bills to be considered in committee. Catch tonight’s half-hour edition of Legislative Review recapping the week’s events at 6:30 and 11 p.m. on TVW.

Tags: education, same-sex marriage

Today the Senate Government Operations committee heard a bill aiming to tighten up ethic law in public service. Sen. Mike Carrell introduced this legislation in response to a case last year of an ethics claim against a Department of Corrections administrator who worked on behalf of nonprofit groups on state time.

The Department of Corrections investigated reports that Belinda Stewart, the communications and outreach coordinator for the department, was using state time and resources to do her work with nonprofit organizations. While the state Executive Ethics Board determined that there was “reasonable cause” to believe Stewart violated ethics laws, the DOC concluded that Stewart’s actions were not in the wrong because her work benefited the agency.

“It simply doesn’t matter if somebody is doing things that benefit the department if in fact they’re using state resources, cars, time, employees, to run a nonprofit corporation,” Carrell said at the public hearing.

The bill says that while agencies can help with ethics investigations, they must be overseen by ethics board staff. It also requires that investigators must reveal whether they have a personal conflict of interest with the case. If they do, they can’t continue with the investigation. The bill would also require every state officer to attend an ethics training within a month of being hired, and at least every two years after that point.

Carrell said this bill is aimed at executives — not “line workers” — and said the bill would help fight against favoritism that can occur when ethics complaints against higher-ups are investigated by fellow executives.

The committee took no action on the bill.

A hearing on abolishing the death penalty in the Senate on Wednesday got off to a heated start when Sen. Pam Roach interrupted the proceedings, saying “no one is representing the dead victims” because no one had signed in to testify against the bill.

“Where is the debate? Where is the opinion? This is a very important issue, and we only have one opinion at this hearing,” said Roach, who is a vocal supporter of the death penalty.

“No people have signed in on the con side. I can’t help that,” said committee chair Sen. Adam Kline.

Sen. Roach then called for a vote after only two people had testified. Kline allowed those signed in to testify to continue speaking.

The prime sponsor of the bill, Sen. Debbie Regala, has a personal tie to the legislation – her brother-in-law was murdered in 1980. But it is also a matter of cost. Regala said the death penalty is six times more expensive than life without parole. Often, capital punishment trials cost an excess of $2 million, she said.

“That’s money that could be used in so many more productive, positive ways in our state,” Regala said.

Click through to watch video of the entire hearing.

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Tags: death penalty

A bill that would abolish the death penalty in Washington state is set to receive a public hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon.

Washington is one of 35 states that has capital punishment. The state’s current death penalty law was enacted in 1981; most recently, Cal Coburn Brown was executed by lethal injection in September 2010 for the rape and murder of a Seattle-area woman in 1991.

Rachel La Corte of the AP has a more detailed story about the issue. We’ll be following today’s hearing for the blog and tonight’s edition of Legislative Review.

Tags: death penalty

Today, two lawmakers from different ends of the political spectrum made statements announcing that they will vote in favor of same-sex marriage in Washington.

Sen. Jim Kastama held a press conference today in which he said he will vote in support of same-sex marriage, and that he believes this legislation should pass without a ballot amendment. He said with the struggles of the economy and government, marriage can provide a “true safety net.”

“In 2012, I believe we have reached the point where society is ready to recognize and support same-sex couples who seek the bonds, benefits and security of marriage. They too, deserve this ‘safety net.’”

Kastama said this was a hard decision to make, saying that “Unlike some of my colleagues in liberal districts, I will not return home to cheers and handshakes.”

He said if the legislature is able to address this difficult issue, there will be no excuse for tackling other challenges.

Rep. Glenn Anderson also issued a statement announcing his support for gay marriage. In a lengthy statement, Anderson says that he thinks same-sex marriage meets the federal constitution test for equal protection and that he will vote in favor of the same-sex marriage bill in the House.

He uses three criteria to evaluate same-sex marriage:

1. The historical purpose of civil marriage
2. The historical religious doctrines on traditional marriage
3. The federal judicial record for determining equal protection under the law in the 14th Amendment the U.S. Constitution

Anderson said the distinction between civil and religious marriage has been long settled, and that “civil same-sex marriage does not undermine the right of individuals to freely choose association with religious organizations that seek to encourage traditional marriage values with which they agree. Neither does it obstruct the ability to practice the values of religious marriage, either individually or with like-minded persons.”

He also said that there is sufficient physiological research and historical records to show that homosexuality is a normal expression of biology.

Anderson cited the Code of Hammurabi, Council of Trent, and the Emperors Theodosius and Justinian to back up his claims about civil and religious marriage.

Tags: Anderson, Kastama

Despite the heavy snow blanketing Olympia, several people made the trek this morning to testify at a public hearing about medical marijuana in the Senate. Up for discussion was a bill that seeks to give cities and counties more control over how they can regulate medical marijuana. The bill would also create a voluntary registry for patients and providers.

Bill sponsor Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles said the state’s current rules are “a bit of a mess for the cities, towns and counties because there’s a lot of ambiguity.” The bill aims to fix that by allowing non-profit medical marijuana co-ops to operate in counties with populations greater than 200,000 people — such as King or Pierce County –  unless the counties chose to ban them.

For more rural counties with populations below that threshold, co-ops would be banned unless the county specifically chooses to opt-in and allow them. Local governments would have control over creating their own requirements and regulations for the medical marijuana co-ops within their communities.

Several people said at the hearing that the bill was a good step, but imperfect. Candace Bock of the Association of Washington Cities said that while “there are good things about the bill,” some cities were concerned that if they would not be able to ban a medical marijuana garden if they are part of a county that does allow it.

But the issue that drew the most debate was about the voluntary registry. One medical marijuana patient and advocate said he was afraid that a voluntary registry would become a “de facto arrest list” for the federal government to go after medical marijuana users, since it is still illegal under federal law.

You can watch the full video of the hearing here.

Tags: medical marijuana

Toys and products like car seats that made with toxic chemicals can cause children to develop serious health problems — including cancer, diabetes and brain damage — according to medical professionals who spoke in support of the Toxics-Free Kid’s Act (SB 6120) at a hearing in the Senate Environment Committee today.

“We’re far from the reality of a safe environment for children,” said Karen Bowman of the Washington State Nursing Association, who urged the committee to pass the bill requiring manufacturers to replace certain chemicals with safer alternatives. The chemicals in question include TRIS (a flame retardant found in things like car seats and baby carriers), formaldehyde and antimony.

Several industry representatives who spoke at the hearing said that their products are safe, and are already heavily regulated by the federal government. Furthermore, they called the bill “premature,” saying that a law passed by the Legislature four years ago called The Children’s Safe Products Act hasn’t even been fully implemented yet.

“We’d like to see the original law come to fruition before expanding it,” said Melissa Gombosky of the Personal Care Products Council. She said that allowable levels of formaldehyde are already safe, and in fact, are lower than those allowed by the European Union.

The House has a hearing at 1:30 p.m. today on the same issue, which will be broadcast live on TVW.

Tags: chemicals, children, toxic, toys

Tomorrow, a bill that would provide for religious objection to an autopsy is scheduled for a hearing. I’ll be covering this hearing for TVW tomorrow. Today, I spoke with the bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Adam Kline about this bill and a bill related to fraud punishment that he is behind.

Q: What prompted you to take up the issue of religious objection to autopsy? 

Kline: Well, the issue was brought to us actually. A tourist a few months ago, in the fall was climbing Mount Rainier. The gentleman … died on Mount Ranier. Could have been any number of causes, people die on Mount Rainier with amazing frequency. … An orthodox rabbi suggested to the King County [medical examiner] that respect should be given to the fact that the orthodox follow the Jewish tradition of burying the dead with dignity and quickly … that’s tradition, and it does have a basis in the Torah. I understand that there are various religious traditions have this, it’s not just Jews; there are others… I believe Muslims believe the same way. I respect that, but at the same time we have to balance that with the authority, not just of the medical examiner, but of the prosecutor. … Whenever there is any death at all, law enforcement understands that most deaths are not foul-play, but we have to look. There has to be some examination … you have to look. In the vast majority of cases, there is no foul-play, but you can’t bury the body until you make that inquiry. 

Q: Would this bill allow any family with a religious objection to forgo autopsy in any circumstance? Or would some suspicious deaths merit an autopsy no matter what? 

Kline: Those are two extremes. For the first one, the answer is obviously no. You don’t just dictate because of your own religious beliefs or even the beliefs of the diseased … it simply asks the prosecutor to balance religious considerations with law enforcement considerations. And by the way, the court is given that jurisdiction if the two parties disagree. There has to be a compelling necessity [to require an autopsy]. That phrase means there has to be some law enforcement interest that has not been resolved

Q: How open do you think lawmakers will be to this bill?

Kline: I don’t know. I’ve got to confess, this is not a bill on which I’ve counted noses.  The reason is, I think there will be a willingness to accept this. It won’t affect this balance of two interests, both of which are important to all legislators … [who] understand the need to accept and balance needs from religious organizations and religious bodies with those of law enforcement.

Q: Any other bills you’re sponsoring to keep an eye on?

Kline: 5310. Fraud, waste, and abuse. Everyone’s against it. What this bill does is it allows the Attorney General to be better equipped in recouping losses the state has incurred by fraud, by cheaters. People who have cheated the state. The AG has been ill-equipped to chase them and collect their money. This bill increases the AG’s ability to do that. Let me give you an example … many states and the federal government have laws that if you report fraud that has already been perpetrated against the public, if you give all the facts that allow the US attorney or in some states the Attorney General the information from which to sue the fraudulent party … a bounty hunter reports that information, the Attorney General sues, and the bounty hunter is given a very small portion of the proceeds. It encourages people to come forward. Anyone can be a bounty hunter …  and that includes the perpetrator of the fraud … even the guy who was a participant in the fraud, he’d get a reduced amount, but he’d at least get an amount that would make it worthwhile to come forward. 

Tags: Attorney General, autopsy, fraud, jewish, religion

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate is announcing a package of bills to combat human trafficking. Sen Jeanne Kohl-Welles said she and others have been working on the issue for a decade. She said at first, many people reacted with disbelief — no one wanted to recognize that trafficking occurred in the U.S. or this state, she said. She said today’s bills “recognize that we’ve come a long way but we still have a long way to go.”

“We have a significant package of anti-trafficking legislation to introduce today,” said Sen. Karen Fraser.  “Some people would say the term trafficking is a polite term for what is going on. The real term is slavery,” she said. Her bill in the package would allow a minor to petition the court to have a prostitution conviction taken off their record if the minor was forced into prostitution.

“We were the first state to do anything about this,” Kohl-Welles said. She said her bill would seek to ensure that teens aren’t being sold into sex slavery via escort service advertising. She said the bill would create a new crime — advertising the sexual abuse of a minor.

Sen. Adam Kline said his bill would subject pimps to civil penalties of up to $250,000 plus attorney’s fees if they were found to have participated in human trafficking. Sen. Karen Keiser said her bill would create oversight for foot masseuses. She said currently, there is no registration or licensing process for foot masseuses or reflexologists — and that’s created a loophole that human traffickers exploit. “This is unfortunately how human trafficking has flourished in this sector,” she said. “All of us who have noticed the store fronts opening up in our communities have wondered about these businesses,” she said. Her bill would allow the Department of Health to inspect those facilities.

Sen. Val Stevens said the human trafficking issue was first brought to her by former Congresswoman Linda Smith. She said pimps often hang out at bus stops, where runaway teens can be found. They then befriend the teens and transition them into a life of sex slavery.  “This is unacceptable and we are going after them,” she said.

Tags: human trafficking

The Senate has introduced the gay marriage bill requested by Gov. Chris Gregoire — it’s not yet online, but will be soon right here. So far, they have 23 sponsors, just two votes short of passing.

The AP reported earlier this week that the Senate was close to having the votes. Since that article was published, Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe announced her support, bringing the total to 23.

Tags: Gov. Chris Gregoire, same-sex marriage, Senate