Here is a sampling of events that took place around the Legislature this week:
- A report from the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday showed that compensation for some state employees could separate them further from people who do similar jobs in the private sector. The report assumes state workers will receive small salary increases for the upcoming biennium but little else. Gov. Gary Locke has proposed no cost-of-living increases for state employees until 2005 at the earliest, and many leading lawmakers have signed on to the idea.
- Education groups warned a Senate committee Tuesday that work to reach education standards in math, reading and writing is pushing aside arts, music and physical education programs at public schools. Schools' efforts to design curricula in a way that helps students do well on the WASL means there's little time for traditional electives.
Education advocacy groups favored tests for the arts and physical education to ensure they'll continue to be available in a meaningful way.
- The Washington Public Employees Association threatened to sue the Department of Ecology to make the department hire more minorities. Department of Ecology officials say they're doing the best they can to hire minorities for jobs in skilled areas where the candidate pool has been poor. The Department of Personnel released a study earlier this year faulting Ecology for not hiring minorities as middle managers.
- A bill sponsored by Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, to reduce the threat of mercury pollution unanimously passed the House Wednesday, 97-0. House Bill 1002 bans the sale of mercury-containing devices such as thermometers and auto switches, prohibits schools from buying mercury compounds, and initiates a state public education program on the safe disposal of mercury products.
- A proposed ban on smoking in public places made its debut in the House Health Care Committee Thursday. House Bill 1868 has sparked controversy among some restaurant owners who say the ban would deter customers who smoke from frequenting their establishments. The bill's supporters claim that restaurants in California have experienced increased earnings since that state adopted its smoking ban in 1998. The bill's sponsors expect the committee to send the bill to the floor of the Democrat-controlled House.
The Olympian Online
On the Web