As I mentioned last week, Wednesday, March 14, marked a major cutoff in the Legislature. I thought I’d give you a quick update on some of the bills the Senate was able to pass before that deadline.

Spokane bills

• Lance Morehouse Junior. Senate Bill 5467 is named in honor of Spokane’s Lance Morehouse Junior, who died last year of complications from injuries he suffered 17 years before after falling in the Spokane River. The bill would expand and make permanent state programs that help families buy medical equipment, hire therapists, modify homes and bring in caregivers to allow families an occasional break. It passed unanimously.
• Wood burning. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly adopted requirements for air particulates may cause many cities – including Spokane – to become out of compliance with air quality standards. I’m sponsoring SB 5745, which would temporarily allow Spokane to find other methods to achieve EPA requirements. It, too, passed unanimously. While if signed into law it is likely to result in more “no burn” days, the aim of the bill is to avoid “non-attainment” status – which could put our region’s federal highway funding at risk. We cannot put our region’s roads in peril.

Family and medical leave

The United States is one of the only industrialized countries in the world that does not offer paid family leave to those needing to care for a newborn or an ailing family member.

Washington state took a step toward changing that last week when the Senate passed a bill that would allow a benefit of up to $250 a week for a maximum of five weeks. The program would be funded by a premium of 2 cents per hour paid by employee starting Jan. 1, 2009.

I can’t think of a more family-friendly policy than this bill (SB 5659), and I hope the House is receptive to passing it.

Same-day voter registration

As elections approach, many people begin to take a greater interest and decide they want to vote, but are disenfranchised if they have missed the registration deadline. But voters shouldn't be disenfranchised simply because they miss the registration deadline.

To remedy this, we passed a bill (SB 5561) to extend voter registration up to and on election day under certain conditions.

Major milestones so far

I’m pleased with all that Senate Democrats have accomplished so far this session. While most of these bills still need to be passed by the House, our headway on progressive issues is tough to argue against. As of today we have passed bills that would establish:

• all-day kindergarten (SB 5828);
• basic education funding formula (SB 5627);
• climate change (SB 6001);
• comprehensive health care reform (SB 5930);
• covering 38,000 more kids with health insurance (SB 5093, which the governor has signed into law);
• domestic partnerships (SB 5336);
• economic development commission (SB 5995);
• family medical leave (SB 5659);
• Homeowners’ Bill of Rights (SB 5550);
• Innovation Partnership Zones (SB 5090);
• Insurance Fair Conduct Act (SB 5726);
• Local Infrastructure Financing Tool (SB 5111);
• math and science assessment reform (SB 6023);
• medically accurate sex education (SB 5297);
• offender re-entry (SB 5070);
• Puget Sound partnership (SB 5372);
• same-day voter registration (SB 5561);
• studying the underground economy (SB 5926); and
• vocational rehabilitation (SB 5920).

Stay tuned for next week’s edition.

Sincerely,
Lisa

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