In The News

The boom of health care mergers and acquisitions in Washington state has offered a way for many smaller, financially struggling hospitals and clinics to stay afloat, industry leaders say. But when those larger health systems start to make cuts they think are necessary, is patient access to care really being protected? A bill gaining momentum in the state Legislature aims to ...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A new bill may soon make it illegal for Washington school districts to ban books with content based on certain populations. The Senate passed House Bill 2331 on Thursday, Feb. 22. It was passed 29-20, along party lines with Democrats voting for the bill and Republicans against.

Efforts to ban books across the country reached an all-time high in 2022, according to the American Library Association. Now, some Washington lawmakers are trying to prevent more bans here. HB 2331 would essentially prohibit Washington schools from banning books solely because they were written by or about members of marginalized groups, like people of color and the LGBTQ community.

Eight health care systems own more than 90% of the hospital beds in Washington. And one health care system owns 100% of the hospital beds in six counties. Right now, Democratic lawmakers in Olympia are pushing for legislation to ensure hospital mergers don’t limit patient access to abortions, gender-affirming care or medically assisted suicide.

A bill being debated in the legislature would pause hospital system consolidation to preserve patient access to specific forms of care. Opponents argue, “God Bless mergers.” Kate found out she was pregnant in August of 2019 — just a few months after her father had passed away unexpectedly. She and her husband hadn’t been trying to conceive, but once the shock wore ...

I’ll always remember the way it felt to hear that “advice” from a political operative as I considered running for office. I was furious. Not just for myself, but for the more than 400,000 LGBTQ+ people in Washington State. Were we all “too much”? Was it too much for us to expect a representative democracy? That interaction lit a fire under me. I ...

A Narrows Bridge without toll booths? It’s a long shot, but it could happen, if the state Legislature accepts a proposal by state Sen. Emily Randall and three other Democrats that would use the state’s operating funds to pay off the remaining debt on the bridge — and jettison tolls forever. The bill would transfer $772 million from the state’s ...

“The bridge is an incredibly important connection,” said State Senator Emily Randall, a democrat from Bremerton. A roughly $1.4 billion project, Randall said commuters have only paid about $700 million so far. “The Tacoma Narrows Bridge continues to be the only projects that’s entirely financed by users,” Randall said. So, she is introducing a bill to take about $772 million from the general ...

Tolls would be entirely removed from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in a year and a half if a bill pre-filed Monday morning is passed by the Washington State Legislature. The 2022 short session will run 60 days from Jan. 10 to March 10. Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, is proposing in Senate Bill 5488 that $772 million ...