OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Legislature is scheduled to wrap up business Sunday as the legislative session comes to an end with some bills making it and some not, but the only requirement for legislators is to pass a two-year budget.
Democrats control the majority here but the House in the Senate and the governor's office, so they're the ones who have more reason to celebrate.
The seventh time proved to be the charm for those pushing for a ban on guns defined as assault weapons. Past attempts at a ban on the sale or manufacture of more than 60 different kinds of guns repeatedly failed here in Olympia in recent years. But this year, Democrats had enough support to get that bill passed. Gun rights advocates call the ban unconstitutional and you can expect a lawsuit to challenge it shortly after the governor signs it into law.
Legislators also passed a bill requiring gun owners to take and pass a safety course. On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill to abolish the death penalty in the state of Washington, lots of folks are celebrating that the state hasn't put anyone to death since 2010.
The State Supreme Court invalidated the law back in 2018, finding that it was racially biased, but legislators wanted to remove it from the books and they did thanks to the support of the Seattle King County NAACP, and its president Gerald Hankerson. Hankerson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he was a teenager. He spent more than 20 years in prison, but after witnesses to his crime changed their stories. He was released in 2009.
Study after study revealed how people of color are most likely to get the death penalty than other people and to finally remove that noose from around my neck that substantial particular hand wash state
The state's housing crisis got a lot of attention this year and more bills ended up getting passed to help with affordable and low-income housing. Adding more homes for those who are experiencing homelessness is one of the few issues that Democrats and Republicans could agree on and could work together on.
Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck said the housing bills that passed are some of the most important pieces of legislation this session. He said new laws to prohibit cities from having only Single Family Zone neighborhoods will allow for more duplexes and triplexes quadplexes, which will help get more people off the streets and will lower the price of real estate. He said the high cost of living has hurt the state
The legislature passes hundreds of bills every year and they don't all deal with the multibillion-dollar budget. Some are just important little pet projects and others are a big deal to certain constituents.
That was the case of little Hugo Esther. He is the youngest and potentially the most influential lobbyist we saw in this session. Doctors diagnosed Hugo with mild to moderate hearing loss when he was three. But his family said he has done well in school because of his hearing aids, although insurance companies don't have to cover the costs of those and they can run tens of thousands of dollars.
So, Hugo's parents contacted their legislators to make insurance companies cover up to $5,000 for hearing aids. That bill passed and is now awaiting the governor's signature.
The state is finally going to get its own official dinosaur a fourth-grade class made the request of lawmakers back in 2019. And well it took a few years, but this year the bill to make the Suciasaurus rex the official dinosaur passed.
Also, the legislature is going to be a little more transparent, at least the legislative building that is. On Friday, we learned that the old skylights that used to be above the chambers of the House and the Senate will be restored. They were part of the original plans when the Capitol was built in the 1920s but in the 1970s they were covered up with metal due to safety and concerns about leaks. The backers of that bill say those skylights should be back in place by 2028 which is the Capitol building's 100th anniversary.