Rep. Liz Berry: There’s a solution in the WA Legislature for our growing trash problem
In Washington, more than 50% of consumer paper and packaging is going to landfills or incineration each year. That adds up to $104 million worth of valuable materials that could be collected and remade into new products. Washington’s recycling rates have been on the decline for the last decade. Our cities and our residents are shouldering increasing costs for recycling, with increases of up to 30% over the past seven years. Sadly, this means many locations have cut back services. That’s why the WRAP Act (House Bill 1131) must make its way to the governor’s desk. The bill will modernize the way our state manages recycling, putting costs of the system onto producers of packaging and paper and significantly increasing our recycling rate. Continue reading at Seattle Times. (Ellen M. Banner)

Washington, Bob Ferguson lead lawsuit against Biden administration demanding increased access to abortion drug
Eastern Washington will be one of the settings for a legal showdown that will determine the future of access to a drug used to cause an abortion within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Attorney General Bob Ferguson, along with officials in 10 other states, filed a complaint Thursday against the Biden administration, demanding that it abandon certain restrictions to prescribe one of two drugs taken to cause an abortion. The filing came just ahead of an anticipated ruling by a federal judge in Texas on a request to ban the drug. The complaint was filed in Eastern Washington because of its location between the West Side, where abortion services are more plentiful, and Idaho, which has a state ban on most abortions that went into place after the Supreme Court ruling. The attorney’s office has asked for a preliminary injunction preventing mifepristone from being taken off the market or anything else that could “cause the drug to become less available.” The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Chief Judge Stanley Bastian, with a hearing scheduled for late March in Yakima. Continue reading at Spokesman Review. (Taylor Tjomsland)

New Washington legislation aims to stabilize rent as housing crisis worsens
Rent stabilization bills introduced in the Washington Legislature are seeking to curb the affordable housing crisis across the state. House Bill 1124 would require landlords to give six months notice of, “significant rent increases” and would also limit late fees on rent. Finally, the bill would also allow tenants to cancel their lease without penalties. The Washington Chamber of Commerce released an annual report in 2019 that found Washington state has the fifth-highest prevalence of homelessness in the nation. In an earlier report, the Washington Chamber of Commerce also found increasing rents leads to increased homelessness. House Bill 1389 seeks to limit rent increases to 3 to 7% for every 12-month period. Rent increases would also have to be tied to the rate of inflation. The bill provides exemptions for newly constructed buildings, and landlords would be allowed to bank rent increases for the future. House Bill 1388 would provide tenants an avenue for challenging excessive rent increases that would result in displacement. Continue reading at NW Public Radio.