Patty In The News

A group of Lake Washington High School seniors say it’s time to put opioid overdose medications like Narcan in every school to protect students amid the growing opioid epidemic. Their efforts began in September 2023, when their AP government class was tasked with creating a bill. The Capitol Classroom project, designed to give students a hands-on experience with Washington’s legislative process, ...

This week’s election in Clark County was simple and straightforward. Unlike comprehensive November elections, voters were asked to decide no more than two issues on their ballots. But even as the votes are being counted on a variety of tax and spending measures in the region, lawmakers can take steps to simplify and clarify future general elections. They can do away ...

A state work group wants to prevent vehicles that are lived in from being towed and increase the chances that homeless people in Washington can recover vehicles and belongings that are towed. The recommendations, which the state’s Senate Housing Committee heard last week, come more than a year after a state Supreme Court ruling that carved out ...

SEATTLE — A host of Washington state's top elected officials, including Gov. Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, pledged Tuesday to fight for reproductive rights amid the very real possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized abortion. A leaked draft of a decision from the Supreme ...

The Washington Legislature is using one of the largest infusions of federal money in state history to invest in a wide spectrum of attempts to reduce homelessness. Supported largely by surplus revenue, fewer debts and leftover federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, the extra money meant Democrats could be ambitious in their spending to address some of the state’s hot-button ...

Lawmakers will consider multiple proposals this session to restrict access to guns in Washington. A Senate committee on Monday heard proposals involving gun rights, including one that would ban the manufacture, possession and sale of any assault weapons, and one that would allow local governments to ban open carry at public meetings or in their facilities. The sponsor of both ...

For years, white-collar employees at Amazon.com Inc. have accused the company of using opaque “rank-and-yank” performance reviews to periodically cull its workforce. Now a proposed law in Amazon’s home state of Washington could make it harder for companies to terminate workers without explaining why. Employees in Washington currently have a right to their personnel records, but the existing law doesn’t clearly specify what needs to ...

In discussions on tackling the issues of homelessness, some have academic cred and political cred … and some have street cred. The problem is significant, both in size and in urgency. The City of Bellingham estimates that approximately 750 people are experiencing homelessness in Whatcom County on any given night. Experts say that although lack of affordable housing isn’t ...

For more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington renters who have been unable to pay their rent have at least been safe from being evicted. As of this writing, bills for that unpaid rent will come due July 1 for tens of thousands of Washingtonians. However, changes to Washington’s landlord-tenant law have created new protections to help people ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gun owners can no longer display guns at the state Capitol in Olympia or near demonstrations anywhere in the state. Calling it “common sense” legislation, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Washington, signed the bill Wednesday afternoon. It became effective immediately. The law prohibits the open carry of firearms within 250 feet of permitted demonstrations and on the Capitol grounds in ...