'It's about remembering the past.' WA law aims to close gaps in preventative HIV treatment access
One of the bills taking effect in the new year aims to speed access to HIV therapies for patients in Washington state.
The law ensures patients get access to time-sensitive medications when they go to the emergency room, sponsors said.
The treatments are known as PEP — post-exposure prophylaxis.
They’re meant to prevent people who’ve been exposed to HIV from contracting the virus, and they’re at their most effective when taken as soon as possible after exposure to HIV.
“Literally every hour that passes after someone's been exposed, the efficacy of PEP declines," State Senator Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, said. "So we want to get folks access as quickly as possible.”
Liias co-chairs the LGBTQ caucus and was the lead sponsor of the legislation.
The state has done a good job of stepping up its response to the virus, he said, but quick and easy access to prevention therapies are a gap that this bill can help fill.
"This impacts some really vulnerable populations, people who have experienced sexual assault or sexual violence, folks who are a part of the criminal justice system, folks who use drugs," he said. "It's some of our most marginalized populations."
By the start of January, hospitals must have policies to provide a full course of PEP medications to patients who may have been exposed to HIV.
"I feel like it's part of our continuing obligation to those that preceded us to do everything we can to eradicate this disease," Liias told SPR News.
"It's about health equity, and it's about remembering the past and what the LGBTQ community has come through and survived."
Higher rates in 2025 and 2026 for Avista customers
Avista customers in Washington will pay more both for electricity and natural gas over the next two years.
The state Utilities and Transportation Commission on Friday approved rate increases for electricity, 2% at the end of 2024 and 7 1/2% near the end of 2025. Prices for natural gas service will increase by about 11% at the end of 2024 and 2.8% percent at the end of 2025.
The commission says it has also agreed to allow Avista in increase its basic monthly charge by a dollar.
Read more about the rate increases here.
Avian flu found in another animal species in Washington
Bird flu has turned up in Washington chickens, seals and skunks. Now it has struck one of the state’s largest predators. Two mountain lions died in recent weeks on the Olympic peninsula. Both tested positive for highly-pathogenic avian flu, perhaps picked up from infected prey animals.
Katie Haman, a veterinarian with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, says the big cats are so elusive, it’s difficult to know how widespread the threat is.
"If we find one or two sick individuals, how many more are out there that are sick and/or dying, that we don’t find? And that’s an impossible question to answer," she said.
Haman says she and her partners at the conservation group Panthera are planning to gather blood samples from healthy mountain lions. They hope to see how many have had past infections.
An estimated 2,000 to 4,000 mountain lions live in Washington.
Calls for more civic education in schools in Washington
Washington high school students must take a civic education class before they graduate. But some believe that’s not enough.
Rep. Mary Dye (R-Pomeroy) wants students to get more grounding in how and why government works in the U.S. During a recent meeting of the state’s Joint Select Committee on Civic Health, Dye said students need more than just one class. She says students need consistent instruction so they understand its importance and don’t quickly forget the concepts they learn.
“Where and how does the educational system get kids informed enough to be solid, functioning citizens in a free society?” she asked.
State School Superintendent Chris Reykdal said districts make the choices as to when and how much information students receive. He said many districts insert civics in social studies classes over a period of years, but admitted many students who take the class quickly forget what they learn.
“I am all in on something that ups the game in social studies, particularly in elementary school to complement our standalone civics course. I am challenging you, as I do my colleagues around the country now that I serve on a national board, to be thinking differently about how we challenge industry and our regulatory environment about this social media world ‘cause it is dominating what we do in formal instruction,” he said.
Reykdal says there’s no state civics test and no requirement that districts report how well students do in those classes.
Reporting contributed by Owen Henderson, Gabriel Spitzer and Doug Nadvornick.