Tuesday: Federal & State Gun Regs, SVB Local Effects & Providence Suffers Huge Loss
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Tuesday: Federal & State Gun Regs, SVB Local Effects & Providence Suffers Huge Loss
Biden enacts gun regs while WA gun regs see mixed results; Providence posts catastrophic losses, Halftime report from WA Legislature + Regional news & Media clips
Biden strengthens gun background checks
WA Gun Bills See Mixed Results as Session Reaches Halfway
How it plays in the 425: Locally, legislation (HB 1240) banning numerous guns conforming to the term ‘assault weapons’ cleared the WA House last week but appears unlikely to move through the Senate. However, a bill that clears the way for shooting victims to sue manufacturers remains on pace to receive a floor vote. Next item has more. While PNW gun enthusiasts may be dodging the bullet on 1240, today President Joe Biden signed an executive order ‘increasing the number of background checks to buy guns, promoting more secure firearms storage and ensuring U.S. law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer’. The Democratic president was in CA to address latest efforts to curb gun violence in speech from Monterey Park, CA, where in January, a gunman stormed a dance hall in the community near Los Angeles and shot 20 people, killing 11.
Continue reading at The Associated Press.
Providence reports $1.7B in losses for ‘22
CEO Out, Renton Campus Posted for Sale, Locations in Danger of Closure
How it affects 425: In Washington, hospital leaders have sounded the alarm on a worsening financial situation for months, they now expect many hospitals will have to cut services to stave off closure. At Providence, the hospital system has responded by laying off an undisclosed number of executives and selling its Renton office campus for $84 million. Last week, Providence Swedish CEO Dr. Guy Hudson announced plans to leave the provider in the fall. Per last week's report, Providence Swedish had a negative cash balance of $54 million.
PSBizJournal link.
WA lawmakers pass housing, firearm bills ahead of cutoff, leave rent control, recycling bills behind
Washington lawmakers are getting back into the swing of working on legislation in committees following a key cutoff deadline. Legislative leaders are celebrating bipartisan progress on bills to increase the supply of housing and support workforce development, particularly among nurses. House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) said she’s pleased with how the week and a half of full time floor action went, highlighting the high number of bills passed — many with bipartisan support. “One of the things I asked at the beginning of the session – I asked my caucus – was to focus on common ground,” Jinkins said.
Continue reading at KNKX. (NW News)
REGIONAL NEWS
State Senate OKs bill to change police pursuit law - Associated Press
Chart: Daylight increasing quickly as WA inches toward spring. - Olympian
Skagit County considering settlement of opioid lawsuit - Skagit Valley Herald
Editorial: Women Must Be Own First Responders (Redmond Stalker) - J425
Silicon Valley Bank x Pacific Northwest
Silicon Valley Bank collapse had implications for several Spokane companies
Despite rescue, Seattle startups and banks face SVB blowback
J425 Media Filter
Our Winters are Warming, Despite This Year’s Cold Spell - Axios
J425 take: Here, coming off the coldest February in 78 years – and using a line chart that reveals that the Winter 1970 was six degrees warmer than Winter 2023 – Axios leads with the deduction that our Winters are warming, pointing to a .8 degree increase in average temperature. This clicks-by-conflict headline from the Seattle Axios outlet continues a media tendency of forcing simplistic temperature constructs down our collective throats in support of facile arguments. Macro trends shouldn’t be tracked on micro scoreboards. Enjoy the weather info, rely on more complex data analysis for broader inferences.
THEY SAID IT - Olympia Version
“We reduced sentencing for people that do the most heinous crimes… and… ironically, we reversed a few decades of enhancing penalties for people that use firearms.”
J.T. Wilcox, House Minority Leader
"There is certainly among Democrats – and probably broader than that – just unanimous opinion that a fundamental flaw in our state's tax code is that it is regressive."
Andy Billig, Senate Majority Leader, on proposed wealth tax measure
Broadcast Clips
KING 5 TV (NBC)In Session: police pursuit, gun bills survive cutoff deadlineWashington House committee considers harsher penalties for sexually abusive jail guards under ‘Kimberly Bender’s law’Hazing was the ‘breaking point’ for WSU freshman who died by suicide, parents sayWhere Washington stands on making Daylight Saving Time permanent
KIRO 7 TV (CBS)Senators Cantwell and Murray announce over $8.75 million for Bellingham, Pullman, Spokane airportsWashington DOH to end free at-home COVID testing program in May
KOMO 4 TV (ABC)Washington law enforcement seek solutions to address uptick in child fentanyl overdoses
KNKX Public RadioThe job market slowed last month, but it’s still too hot to ease inflation fearsWA lawmakers pass housing, firearm bills ahead of cutoff, leave rent control, recycling bills behind (Jinkins, Fitzgibbon, Billig)
KUOW Public RadioWhich WA bills survived this week’s legislative deadline?Week in Review: police pursuits, “pink tax,” and housing
KXLY (ABC)WA lawmakers passed a bill eliminating Daylight Saving Time, but why hasn’t it gone into effect? (Riccelli)
NW Public RadioStockpile of Boeing 737 MAX jets assures Moses Lake years of work