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Camden: A few of the ‘good little bills’ that the governor signed

By Jim Camden

Published: March 28, 2018, 6:01am

It is a rare day during a legislative session when a lawmaker doesn’t describe a bill he or she has sponsored as “a good little bill.” This is to put at ease the majority of legislators in the committee hearing or on the chamber floor who haven’t read the bill, as if to say, “Nothing to see here folks, just move it along.”

In the weeks after the session, all of those good little bills — and the big ones — that managed to wend their way through the process wind up in a stack on a massive conference table for Gov. Jay Inslee to sign with a bit of fanfare.

Supporters get ushered into the governor’s conference room and arranged around the chair where the chief executive sits. A few pleasantries are exchanged with lawmakers, some of whom had almost nothing good to say about the governor during the session. A brief synopsis prepared by staff is read by Inslee. With a flourish of the pen, he affixes his signature. An admonition is made to smile for the camera, followed by a couple of flashes. Pens all around. Supporters are ushered out the far door while the next bill’s fans come in the one near the governor’s seat.

We’re only able to highlight a few in the next day’s paper because space is limited. Here’s a few more good little bills that are going to become law:

• Dreamers: While Congress and the Trump administration continue to fight over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Washington state will allow Dreamers to qualify for the College Bound Scholarship program and renew their Opportunity Scholarships. That will continue even if DACA is terminated, suspended or modified.

• School curriculum: Washington is going to develop a more complete civics program, making each high school offer a stand-alone class by the 2020-21 school year, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction office is taking over the Washington History Day Program from the Historical Society. Speaking of history, Washington students are going to get better instruction in Native American culture in their Pacific Northwest history courses.

• For-profit colleges: The state will crack down on unfair trade practices by for-profit colleges and private vocational schools, looking for misleading endorsements, the sale of student loans that financially benefit the institution or the use of U.S. military logos in ads. The schools will also have to report performance data and the Student Achievement Council will set up a system for students to file complaints.

• Stem cell therapies: Doctors who perform therapies that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration will have to tell patients the therapy isn’t approved and obtain a written informed consent first.

• Grandparent visitation rights: The rights of grandparents and other relatives to visit children after the parents divorce has been in question for 13 years because of a state Supreme Court ruling that said the fit parent awarded custody has the right to control visitation. The Legislature approved a process that allows a grandparent or other relative to request a court order for visitation if there’s a substantial relationship and denying visitation risks harm to the child. The definition of relative is pretty broad, but it doesn’t include a person whose parental rights have been terminated or relinquished.

• Bone marrow donors: People who renew or apply for a driver’s license will soon be getting written material about bone marrow donations. It’s a first-in-the-nation bill for Washington.

• Write-in candidates: A person running a write-in campaign for an elective office must file a declaration of candidacy before the close of balloting on Election Day for those votes to be tabulated. Under current law, a write-in candidate must pay the standard fee of 1 percent of the annual salary when filing that declaration. Starting in June, they’ll be able to skip the fee if they file more than 18 days before the election. After that, they’ll owe the fee.

This is just a sampling of the bills signed last week. To get the rundown on all the bills signed, go to the governor’s website, www.governor.wa.gov, and click on Bill Action.

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