Check out our hourlong special edition of Legislative Review. It recaps the year in legislative news, covering everything from the budget to same-sex marriage to marijuana.
Why haven’t lawmakers been able to agree on a budget deal this special session? Host Austin Jenkins talks to Sen. Doug Ericksen (R) and Rep. Chris Reykdal (D) about the budget, as well as policy experts from think tanks on this week’s edition of Inside Olympia.
On this week’s edition of Inside Olympia, host Austin Jenkins talks with Dan Newhouse, director of the state’s Ag Department, Rep. Brian Blake and Sen. Mark Schoesler about agriculture, immigration and genetically modified food.
Tags: Agriculture
Jessica Gao, host of The Impact, interviewed state Attorney General Rob McKenna today about the lawsuit challenging the federal health care overhaul. The Republican gubernatorial candidate joined 25 other attorneys general in the lawsuit, and says he’s opposed to the law’s mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance.
This morning, protesters gathered outside of McKenna’s office and demanded that he drop out of the lawsuit, which is currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Below is a short clip from the interview where McKenna offers his response to the protesters, saying they must be “perfectly content” with allowing the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether or not they have health insurance. Under the law, Americans must be covered by a basic health insurance plan or pay a tax penalty starting in 2014.
The full interview will air Wednesday at 7 & 10 p.m.
Tags: healthcare, McKenna
Host Austin Jenkins interviews Rogers Weed, Director of the state Department of Commerce, and other experts on efforts to attract business to Washington.
Tags: Inside Olympia
Host Jessica Gao takes a look at the liquor privatization initiative, and gets an update on the budget negotiations from Gov. Gregoire’s budget writer Marty Brown.
Tags: The Impact
Senators Karen Keiser, D-Kent, and Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, talk with host Austin Jenkins about this year’s biggest healthcare issues — from medicaid fraud to abortion insurance coverage. New episodes air Thursdays at 7 & 10 p.m.
Tags: healthcare
Senate floor
Legislators and lobbyists converse on Sine Die
People mill about the hallways while the legislature is on break
Tags: Photo Gallery, sine die
Monday: A bill we’ve covered before aimed at reducing Medicaid fraud by rewarding whistleblowers was heard in the House Ways and Means committee. The bill would create a civil liability for defrauding Medicaid and would protect whistleblowers. In addition, the bill would create an account to fund fraud protection services. A bill that passed on the Senate floor would create a committee to serve as a liaison between the state supreme court and the legislature. This joint legislative committee would make sure efforts to fund education are in line with the supreme court’s McCleary decision earlier this year. You can watch our coverage of these stories on Monday’s edition of Legislative Review.
Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.
Tuesday: Senate Democrats released their proposed supplemental budget. Their approach cuts fewer programs than the House budget, but also leaves less money in the state reserve fund. Like the House Democrats proposed supplemental budget, it would delay some school payments into the next budget cycle. The House passed a bill that would raise the price of the Discover Pass and would make other adjustments including allowing the passes to be purchased at wholesale by grocers and other retailers. The House also debated amendments to their supplemental operating budget. The Senate heard their proposed supplemental budget in a committee meeting Tuesday night.
Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.
Wednesday: Labor statistics came out on Wednesday, reporting that the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent, down from December’s 8.6 percent. Freshmen lawmakers in the House held a press conference to introduce several proposals aimed at reforming the state’s tax code. Proposals included ending the sales-tax exemption for out-of-state residents who shop in Washington state and a five percent capital gains tax. Wednesday night, the House passed their supplemental budget as well as the teacher evaluation bill.
Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.
Thursday: The Senate passed the affordable care act bill on Thursday. This bill aligns the state with federal healthcare reform legislation and would create a healthcare marketplace in Washington. On our show, we covered a bill that would reduce the bonuses the state awards teachers for attaining national board certification. Also on Legislative Review — coverage of Senate floor debate, including a bill that would give local governments the power to exempt low-income housing from impact fees.
Watch Thursday’s Legislative Review.
Friday: U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks said he’s “changing gears” and announced his retirement on Friday. Check out Friday’s edition of Legislative Review for more of the week’s top news.
Friday’s edition of Legislative Review is a half-hour wrap up of the week’s top headlines. It airs at 6:30 and 11 p.m.
Monday: The Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee considered a controversial bill aimed at putting the Affordable Care Act into place — including implementing the healthcare exchange. On the show, we also looked at a bill that would make truck drivers who work at the state’s ports regular employees, rather than independent contractors. Dozens of truckers attended the hearing in support of the bill, saying they don’t have health insurance and often work in unsafe conditions.
Watch Monday’s Legislative Review.
Tuesday: House Democrats released a proposed supplemental budget that aims to close the budget gap though a combination of cuts, delaying some school payments into the next budget cycle, and asking local governments to pay more for services. More than 100 people testified later that afternoon about the budget proposal. Also, the Senate released its supplemental transportation budget.
Watch Tuesday’s Legislative Review.
Wednesday: On the show, we took a look at two bills spurred by high-profile crimes in Pierce County. In late 2009, Maurice Clemmons, who was out on bail, shot and killed four Lakewood police officers. One bill would make a number of administrative changes to the bail bond system: It would require bail bond agents to undergo a criminal background check. It would also add some additional sideboards to the bail bonds industry. Another bill would prohibit defense attorneys and defendants from viewing child pornography that’s part of the evidence in a criminal case. It stems from a case in Tacoma in which a man accused of sexually abusing dozens of boys acted as his own defense attorney — and was then able to watch hours of videos of the abuse without supervision.
Watch Wednesday’s Legislative Review.
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