In the News

OLYMPIA — Hospital executives and nurse union leaders achieved detente late last month in their years-long battle on staffing levels. They only had a handshake, not a deal. Agreement required several more days of negotiations between the two groups and a handful of state senators, drafting every word in a bill prescribing procedures for drafting, deploying and enforcing of staffing plans.

OLYMPIA, March 6, 2023 — Welcome to the Monday edition. Hope you had a nice weekend. We start this week with a historic event, then turn our attention to a critical deadline. This morning, Sauli Niinistö, president of the Republic of Finland, addressed a joint session of the House and Senate. He just might be the first foreign head of state to ...

“It’s very frustrating. These schools are doing everything we wanted them to do, but they can’t get the funding,” said Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah. He is sponsoring a bill that would provide charters with more money for tutoring, English language learners, highly capable and special needs students, and transportation. But Washington’s constitution says only schools governed by a ...

Fearing a repeat of the deadly heat, Knowles approached Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, and asked for a legislative fix. Senate Bill 5147 seeks to provide small grants for adult family home operators to purchase air conditioning, and eventually require new facilities to be equipped with cooling units. Assisted-living facilities are required to have cooling systems capable of keeping ...

In context of a proposed $70 billion state budget, $24 million isn’t that much money. But state Sen. Mark Mullet, an influential figure in writing the capital budget, said the path might be more difficult than the numbers imply. “I would say it is a heavy political lift, and the main reason is, it’s not in the governor’s budget. That is ...

Per the OIC's request, some of the comments were included in a separate third-party report released in January that described a lack of accountability as a feature of the culture at the OIC. A top state legislative leader told Law360 the report was damning. "The state of Washington needs a functioning Office of the Insurance Commissioner," Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, told ...

Senate Bill 5498 would establish the Nurse Loan Repayment Assistance Program under the Washington Health Corps for nurses at participating employers. Participating employers would include hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, ambulatory surgical facilities, and various health centers. Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) said there is a major workforce challenge in the healthcare space when it comes to ...

OLYMPIA, Feb. 1, 2023 — It’s Wednesday. Welcome to a new month. And a new era. Sign-ups begin today for the Working Families Tax Credit that will steer refunds of up to $1,200 to low-income individuals and families if they meet certain eligibility requirements.

Many things are needed to sustain local news outlets in Washington state. That includes extending and expanding a business and occupation tax break the Legislature created to save jobs in the essential local news industry. This is straightforward, relatively low cost and has strong public support, as evidenced by public comments last week in Olympia and earlier hearings. Legislators ...

“Is the bill dead or alive?” asked Brandi Kruse on KIRO Newsradio. “It’s been a frustrating process. Let’s leave it at that,” replied Mullet. “I think the Governor has put a lot of political capital into trying to keep any bills that would limit his emergency power authority from gaining traction during the legislative session. Not just this one, the same ...