Week in Review for Washington Legislative Bills

— from Office of the Governor —

The governor’s 100 percent clean energy bill is now ready for a vote in both chambers after it moved through fiscal committee earlier this week. The bill continues to gain public awareness. College students organized a tour to travel the state and gather support for the 100 percent clean electricity proposal.  

In a Senate committee, stakeholders came out in support of the governor’s career-connected learning proposal. The bill would increase apprenticeships, paid internships and other work-based experiences.

Another priority for the governor is making sure Washingtonians have an option for high-quality health insurance coverage through a public healthcare option bill. The effort to provide this healthcare moved into the finance portion of the bill process this week.

Two of Inslee’s proposed bills about integrating behavioral health, one that would provide better service integration and the other that would give people with mental illness more timely care, are scheduled for public hearings. A bill that would create a University of Washington teaching hospital dedicated to behavioral health also moved onto the next legislative step this week. The governor made the UW announcement when he rolled out his budget and policy proposals in December. The hospital would provide patients with a unique model of clinical care, complete with features such as an inpatient facility and tele-psychiatry care.

A bill that would improve treatment for opioid use disorder had a public hearing this week in a Senate committee. The proposed treatment model for opioids is based on successes in other states. 

All three governor’s request bills to protect the Southern Resident orca were passed out of policy committee and have moved to the next step in the legislative process. You can visit the governor’s website for an overview of his various orca recovery proposals to the Legislature and the work from the Orca Taskforce.