Concentrated sodium nitrite sales restricted in WA House bill
The Washington Senate has voted to restrict the sale of a substance that some young people are using to end their lives.
The bill affects the sale and shipment of sodium nitrite in concentrations of 10-percent or more.
The main sponsor, Tacoma Democrat Yasmin Trudeau, said she was motivated by the story of a constituent whose son received a package from Amazon that included a sodium nitrite product. He used it to commit suicide.
"There is a growing number of our adolescents and young people, Mr. President, that are talking to each other about ways to end their live," Trudeau said. "This product in this concentration is only used for that very one purpose and that is to end human life."
The bill passed unanimously and now goes to the Washington House of Representatives.
ID lawmakers move to make sugary foods ineligible for SNAP
The Idaho House wants to ban candy and soda from the list of eligible foods that can be purchased with federal food benefits.
Lawmakers there passed House Bill 109 Monday morning with just a few votes to spare.
Rep. Jordan Redman (R-Coeur d’Alene), the bill’s main sponsor, said taxpayer dollars should not subsidize unhealthy foods.
Critics of the bill have said its definitions for candy and soda are too broad, potentially blocking SNAP enrollees from buying healthy protein bars or other nutritious foods.
The proposal defines soda as any nonalcoholic beverage that has artificial or natural sweeteners, excluding milk, dairy substitutes and juice made from more than 50% fruit and/or vegetables.
Candy includes any “preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings.” Items containing more than 10% flour by weight or those needing refrigeration would be exempt.
Lobbying groups for grocery stores and other retailers previously testified the measure would be extremely difficult to comply with given those definitions.
“If it’s too difficult, they’re not required to accept SNAP. They don’t have to be involved in the program,” Redman said.
Debate lasted only a few minutes, with House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) standing as the only vocal opponent.
In addition to potentially banning SNAP dollars from buying healthy protein bars, Rubel worries the bill would create food deserts if grocery stores in small towns don’t want to make these changes.
“If we put this incredibly vague and unadministerable definition in front of them, we will simply see grocery stores not accepting this and low-income families unable to get food at all,” she said.
“I don’t think they’re going to pass on a $113 billion budget because they’re having difficulty figuring out which foods should fall under [the bill’s definitions],” Redman rebutted.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Curly hair care training requirements would increase under WA bill
Lawmakers in Washington’s House yesterday voted to require hair dressers to get more specialized training so they can serve customers with textured hair.
Kennewick Republican Representative April Connors said this issue became real for her as she learned how to work with her Haitian daughter’s curly hair.
"I watched numerous YouTube videos and learned how to braid, learned how to care for her hair," she said. "It’s hard and when you live in eastern Washington and there are not very many opportunities, I have one person that helped with my daughter’s hair in the Tri-Cities the whole time we lived there."
Sponsors say five states have similar requirements and that it’s a matter of fairness for people with different hair textures.
The bill was approved by a 92-5 vote and now moves to the state Senate.
Senate bill passages increase as legislative session continues
Monday kicked off of a busy week at the Washington Legislature in Olympia.
The first two months of the session have been devoted to hearing and vetting legislation. This week, bills that have crossed the initial hurdle of being passed out of committees will face the next test. They’ll be debated and voted on by the full House and Senate.
Several bills were approved Monday, including one that requires health providers to prescribe to their female customers 12-month supplies of contraceptive drugs, not just month-by-month.
"Frequent trips to the pharmacy isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a real barrier for people," Democrat Emily Alvarado of West Seattle, who sponsored the bill, said. "It’s a barrier for women in rural communities. It’s a barrier for people without reliable transportation or for those who have concerns about privacy going to the pharmacy.”
The bill was approved 46-to-3 and now heads to the House of Representatives.
The Senate unanimously approved a bill that imposes penalties on those who interfere with people’s ability to get to and worship at places like churches, synagogues and mosques.
It also applies to people who make noises that interfere with activities inside places of worship.
The penalties start with a day in jail and $250 fines for first offenses and increase for future offenses.
By a 44-5 vote, the Senate also approved a bill declaring that bail bond agents who help federal authorities enforce civil immigration warrants are acting unprofessionally.
That behavior includes sharing a person’s confidential immigration status with outside agencies.
It also includes using misleading attire and words to try to convince someone they are federal immigration agents.
Those accused are subject to investigations by the state Department of Licensing and subject to fines and loss of their professional licenses.
Under a bill passed by the Senate, Washington would anoint the Columbia Plateau cactus as the official state cactus.
The plant is found in dry sagebrush areas in eastern and central Washington, along with western Idaho and northeastern Oregon.
'Sanctuary city' suit now includes Seattle
Seattle is joining a lawsuit against the Trump administration for threatening to withhold federal funds from cities and counties that have so-called “sanctuary” policies.
Seattle is considered a “sanctuary” or “welcoming” city because police officers and other city employees don’t ask people about their immigration status unless there’s a legal obligation to do so.
"It’s not against the law to be a welcoming city," Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said. "We are not trying to be difficult. We are not trying to do something unlawful. We are just saying, “This is local control and this is how we choose to operate.”
The lawsuit comes in response to an executive order Trump issued hours after he took office.
It instructs federal agencies to withhold funds from jurisdictions that have policies that quote “interfere with the enforcement of federal law.”
Seattle successfully sued against a similar order during Trump’s first term.
Proponents of “sanctuary” policies say they build trust and make it more likely that immigrants will cooperate with local law enforcement
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Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick and James Dawson.