Steve Largent

Former Oklahoma congressman and NFL Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent testified in front of the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee on Wednesday to talk about the growth potential of the wireless industry in Washington state.

Largent is now the president and CEO of CTIA, an advocacy group for wireless companies.

“A lot of people don’t think about this, but our industry accounts for almost three percent of all U.S. employment in the country,” Largent said.

Committee chair Sen. Doug Ericksen, (R-Ferndale) called the work session to look at the “things we can be doing better to encourage job growth” of the wireless industry.

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Gov. Jay Inslee told TVW during an interview this morning he’s “not pleased” that a major gun control bill couldn’t get enough votes to pass, but he hasn’t given up hope.

The bill would have required universal background checks for private gun sales, and lawmakers concluded late Tuesday evening that it didn’t have enough support after spending nearly a full day discussing the issue behind closed doors.

Inslee said he’s planning to make “a few more phone calls” on the issue. He said he believes the measure is an important way to keep guns out of the hands of felons.

“Maybe there will be some options that spring up in the second and third quarters here, we’ll see.  But I continue to believe that this is an important thing for safety in our state and we’ll keep working on it,” Inslee said.

During the interview, Inslee also discussed closing tax loopholes to fund education. The Seattle Times has a recap of that discussion here.

Watch the interview below:

Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require some welfare recipients to undergo drug testing in order to receive benefits.

Under the proposal, applicants would be required to take a drug test before receiving benefits if a state-administered assessment confirms a “reasonable likelihood” that he or she has a substance use disorder.

“The goal is to be able to feed the family and not feed the drug habit,” said Rep. Jan Angel (R-Port Orchard), who is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1190.

People who test positive would have their cash benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program cut up to 40 percent and be required to get into drug treatment programs and stay clean. If a person refuses to comply, their benefits would be completely cut off after four months.

Angel said current TANF rules are confusing, making it easy for people who misuse state benefits to slip through the cracks.

“We have got to get a handle on the system we have. Right now, there is a real lack of clarity,” she said

Similar legislation has been proposed in other states with varying degrees of success. A Florida law that created a drug testing requirement ended up costing the state money after Republican backers touted it as a cost-saving measure. The law was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in October.

Angel said she modeled her bill after legislation passed last year in Utah, where welfare applicants must now take an online drug-screening survey to determine whether they are likely substance abusers.

The bill is not expected to get a hearing in the House, but a companion bill (Senate Bill 5585) is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services and Corrections at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Drivers in Washington may soon be able to proudly show off their allegiance to the Seahawks, Sounders and the gray wolf.

Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to create specialty license plates for the two Seattle sports teams and wolves.

All three plates would cost $40 initially and $30 for a renewal. Additional funds collected from the Seahawks and Sounders plates would go to three organizations – Washington State Mentors, InvestED and the Association of Washington Generals.

The extra revenue collected from the sale of the wolf plates would go to the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s preventative wolf management efforts.

The state currently issues dozens of specialty plates for hobbies, universities and other interests.

The only specialty plate the state has retired is one honoring square dancers.

TVW is live on the air now with election coverage. Watch live on TV, or watch the livestream here. We’ll be scrolling election numbers as soon as they are available.

Our political reporters are interviewing statewide candidates from the Democratic campaign headquarters in Seattle, as well as the Republican headquarters in Bellevue.

On set in Olympia, host Anita Kissée is talking with political consultants Alison Peters and Sally Poliak.

We’re at the Republican convention in Tacoma today live webcasting the event, and interviewing statewide candidates as they come by. Scott Reilly running for Washington State Insurance Commissioner against Democratic incumbent Mike Kriedler. Here’s an interview with Reilly.

TVW’s Jessica Gao and Christina Salerno were at the capitol all day today interviewing lawmakers. While the Senate and House are on break, catch up on all the news right here.

A new budget proposal, if passed by both chambers today, could get the legislature out of Olympia without a special session.  A summary of the proposal is posted here.  It’s an amendment to replace the details of the Senate Republican budget, which was passed last week when three Democrats crossed party lines to support the GOP plan.  I”m still reviewing the plan before heading up to the Capitol Rotunda for our daylong live coverage of sine die, but the proposal includes the controversial deferral of payments to school districts worth $340 million, down from the House Democrats’ original proposal to shift more than $400 million.  It’s something Senate Republicans have opposed, calling it an accounting “gimmick.”  If the House inserts this proposal into the Senate Republican budget today and pass it off their floor, the bill goes back to the Senate and that chamber can give it an up or down vote – the Senate would not be able to amend it.

The Impact’s special coverage of sine die begins at 8:45am with a press panel analysis of the legislative session.  We’re planning to be live with the governor at 9am – stay tuned for her comments on this latest budget proposal.

On The Impact set this morning, I interviewed two key figures in the Republican takeover of the Senate budget — Sens. Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield) and Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup).  Before the taped interview started, we talked about the negotiations process.  While the governor said she’d be pushing until midnight yesterday to hammer out a go-home deal, Zarelli said his last discussion with the governor was at 6 p.m., and he had yet to get a response to engage in formal negotiations with House Democrats, whose version of the budget was voted out of that chamber a week ago.  Kastama said during the interview that he wants the Senate Republican budget to be negotiated with the House Democrats’ budget — regardless of whether his priority reform measures are passed.

The entire episode of The Impact will air on TVW tonight at 7 p.m., unless it’s preempted by live floor action.  We’ll also be based in the Capitol Rotunda tomorrow for a full day of live and taped interviews.

This week’s Inside Olympia is ready to view right now. Enjoy:

Here’s the first part of the budget debate:

And here’s the second part: