Pair of 46th Legislative District Town Halls set for Saturday, Jan. 12

Rep.  Pollet

Come one, come all! Sen. David Frockt, Rep. Gerry Pollet, and Rep.-elect Jessyn Farrell are looking forward to hearing from their 46th Legislative District neighbors in one or both Town Hall meetings next Saturday morning and afternoon, Jan 12. The three Democratic lawmakers will meet with interested citizens:

• From 10 a.m. to noon in the cafeteria at North Seattle Community College. North Seattle Community College is located at 9600 College Way N., Seattle.

• From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the Upper Level at Third Place Commons in the Town Center at Lake Forest Park. The Town Center is located at 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park.

Rep.-elect Farrell

Frockt, Pollet, and Farrell welcome discussions about these and additional key issues they will join other legislators in facing this year in Olympia:

• Funding our K-12 schools.

• Strengthening access to our colleges and universities.

• Preserving health care for our children, and for our disabled and elderly fellow citizens.

• Developing our transportation options.

Sen. Frockt

For more information, contact either Sen. Frockt at 360-786-7690, or Rep. Pollet at 360-786-7886.

With the new year come new laws

If you’re writing a check, make sure your date ends with a 3 instead of a 2. And if you want to make sure you’re not breaking new state laws, read this handy little summary posted by the Northwest Progressive Institute yesterday.

NPI's post includes a heads-up about changes that went into effect as of 1/1/13, including:

• The minimum wage in Washington is increasing to $9.19 as of today, in accordance with Initiative 688. That’s good news for working men and women whose employers pay them no more than what the law requires (which is not a living wage). Unfortunately, the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 an hour. Washington and Oregon have higher minimum wages, which are also the highest in the country. [Here's an HDC Advance post from last week about the increase in Washington's minimum wage.]
  

• Attention anglers: The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife wants you to know that barbless hooks are now required for salmon, steelhead (the state fish) and cutthroat trout in the mainstem Columbia River above McNary Dam. See F&W’s announcement for more details.

• Mandatory recycling of compact fluorescent bulbs begins today. RCW 70.275.080 prohibits Washingtonians from knowingly placing light bulbs that contain mercury in the trash. CFL bulbs containing mercury must be recycled. No exceptions! Ecology has a web page with more information about properly disposing of CFL bulbs.

For a complete list of bills effective in 2013, click here.

Drunk driving and carbon monoxide laws now in effect

Among the new laws that went into effect on New Year's Day are two laws aimed at saving lives.

The first deals with drunk drivers trying to cheat their ignition interlock devices. All new interlocks will now snap a photo when somebody blows into the tube to test their blood-alcohol level, so cheaters won't be able to get a sober passenger to blow into the tube for them.

The law – House Bill 2443 -- was authored by Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland), the new chair of the House Public Safety Committee.

You can read more about that law here, which also made other reforms to reduce drunk driving.

The second law deals with carbon monoxide poisoning, which can kill people without warning since the gas is odorless and colorless.

The law requires carbon monoxide detectors in homes and hotels, much like they're now required to have smoke detectors.

Related link: KOMO TV story about new laws taking effect Jan. 1.

Read this story in Spanish here.