The bill would be an expansion of a 2020 state law limiting the use of noncompete agreements to employees making above about $120,000 a year.

The latest U.S. Census data shows Washington’s poverty rate declined slightly overall, but the wage gap continues to grow, leaving experts concerned about rising inequality in the state.

Dr. Saravanan Kasturi, medical director of Northwest Endovascular Surgery in Richland, said private practices like his are struggling in part because Medicare reimbursements have not kept up with the cost of providing services, resulting in a loss of many procedures and patients having to instead visit hospitals. 

The program will provide qualifying states with at least $100 million per year for five years but Washington is slated to lose between $30 billion and $50 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next 10 years, leading to the closure of 14 rural hospitals. The application for the Rural Health Transformation Program is due Nov. 5 with awards expected by the end of the year. 

The draft plans were obtained by the news organization ProPublica and have not yet been formally proposed. But they include adding time limits on living in public housing and work requirements to receive the assistance. 

As federal Medicaid cuts loom, consumer advocates are celebrating Washington’s new bill limiting hospital prices for state and public school employees. 

Washington is one of five states most dependent on H-2A workers in the country -- whose numbers have ballooned in the last decade to about 33,000. 

Previously, penalties for violations were as low as $500, which is insignificant for large companies. Under the new law fines for unreasonable delays in benefits will be increased and employers can lose their self-insurance certification if they violate the law too many times.

Many of Washington's undocumented immigrants work in agriculture and the report showed losing just 5% of the workers would severely affect the state's food production, leading to higher prices.

Proposed legislation in Olympia aims to ease the burden of child care costs for Washington families by allowing businesses to help their employees pay for it. If put into law, businesses could reduce the amount they spend on business and occupation taxes by the amount they pay for child care assistance to workers.