Washington state achieves bipartisan support to ban hog-tying by police and address opioid crisis

SEATTLE (AP) — Over a busy, 60-day legislative session, Washington state lawmakers made strides to address the opioid crisis and ban a controversial policing practice with bipartisan support, but fell short in getting some of the most progressive bills across the finish line.

The short session, which marked Jay Inslee’s final one as governor, ended Thursday with over 300 bills heading to the Democratic governor’s desk, 80% of which received bipartisan support, according to Democratic House Speaker Laurie Jinkins. Democrats control the state House by a margin of 58-40 and the Senate by 29-20.

Overshadowing the session were six initiatives, some of which would overturn some of Democrats’ biggest recent wins, including the year-old Climate Commitment Act, which works to cap and reduce pollution. Three initiatives were passed by lawmakers, while the others, including the carbon pricing program, will be considered by voters in November.

Here’s a look at key legislation that passed this session — and some bills that didn’t make it.

CLIMATE CHANGE

At the start of the session, Inslee described climate as the biggest long-term issue he wanted to address over the next two months. Lawmakers had some success, including when it came to the carbon pricing program, which features quarterly auctions in which emission allowances are sold to businesses covered under the act. The Legislature approved a bill expected to merge the state’s carbon market with those in California and Quebec, which also have emission allowance auctions, in an effort to expand the market and make it more stable.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true»