The Official Blog of Senate DemocratS

WA second state to win health exchange grant

5/16/2012

Washington will receive a $128-million federal grant to develop the state's Health Benefit Exchange, which will help residents find, compare, and enroll in health insurance when national reforms go into effect in 2014. Washington is only the second state in the nation to qualify for the Level II Exchange grant, according to the state Health Care Authority. More...

Unemployment rate falls

5/16/2012

The unemployment rate continued to fall in April, down to 8.1 percent in Washington, the lowest it's been since January 2009. But the numbers behind the drop are contradictory, the state Employment Security Department reported today. More...

Revenue hits targets, economy gives mixed signals

5/14/2012

Revenue collections are meeting expectations, but the economic outlook is mixed in Washington and gets murkier from there, according to the latest update from the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. More...

President Obama supports marriage equality

5/9/2012

Today President Barack Obama said he supports the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry, a position in line with the Legislature's work this year in Washington state.

"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that 'don't ask, don't tell' is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," Obama told ABC News. He also cited what he called a generational shift in views of same-sex couples, his wife Michelle's support and his own Christian faith in discussing his decision. More...

More WA babies born at full term, improving their health

5/9/2012

Washington agencies, hospitals, physicians and expectant mothers have teamed up to deliver a dramatic increase in the number of babies born at full term -- 39 weeks -- instead of earlier in their pregnancies. Driven by new research demonstrating the short and long term hazards of early delivery, the Legislature, state agencies, the Washington State Hospital Association and others worked to rapidly change long-established obstetric practices. More...

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