Legislative

06 November

Washington election results

wsvma   |   Legislative

While much of our nation’s focus on election day was on the presidential race, the General Election in Washington State included a variety of important local decisions as well. There are almost 4.9 million voters registered in Washington State. On election night over 3.355 million votes were counted for a turnout of 68.64%. As of Friday morning, November 6, 3.795 million or 77.64% of the ballots have been counted. An estimated 235,000 ballots remain to be counted, although this number...

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07 August

Washington Primary Election Results as of Friday, August 7

wsvma   |   Legislative

Washington State held its primary election on Tuesday, August 4. There are 4.6 million registered voters. By Tuesday evening, 1.26 million votes were counted, a turnout of 27.4%. Voter turnout in the primary is expected to be above 40%, and several hundred thousand votes remain to be counted. As of Friday, August 7, 1.7 million ballots have been counted, with approximately 600,000 remaining. The final primary totals will not be known until next week. The results below reflect the count...

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10 July

Tell Congress to act now!

wsvma   |   COVID-19, Legislative, Practice Management

As of July 7, 2020, over 18,500 veterinary practices took Paycheck Protection Loans to support their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the IRS is prohibiting PPP borrowers from claiming federal tax deductions that are normally fully deductible - including some rent and utility payments, and wages and benefits paid to employees - for forgivable expenses paid with PPP funds. If this isn't reversed, veterinary small business owners could face an unanticipated additional tax burden. The IRS action contradicts congressional intent,...

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26 June

State budget takes $8.8 billion hit

wsvma   |   Legislative

Chief Economist Steve Lerch told the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council last week that state revenues are expected to decline by a total of $8.8 billion relative to previous expectations over the next two budget cycles, and echoed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s assertion that a full recovery is unlikely until the public is confident COVID-19 is brought under control. Some lawmakers are proposing a capital gains tax, and are opposed to major cuts in state services that occurred in...

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29 May

New animal anti-cruelty legislation signed into law, takes effect June 11, 2020

wsvma   |   Animal Welfare, Legislative, Professional News

Governor Jay Inslee signed into law Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 6300 that added more teeth to current animal cruelty statutes. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Anne Rivers (R-La Center) and brought forward by Pasado’s Safe Haven included several amendments aimed at doing more to protect animals. Changes to Chapter RCW 16.52 animal cruelty statutes include: Only a licensed veterinarian may devocalize, ear crop or tail dock a dog. Veterinarians must use accepted veterinary surgical protocols and pain management when performing...

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27 March

2020 Legislative session ends on time

wsvma   |   Legislative

The Washington State Legislature adjourned as scheduled on March 12 after a 60-day session.  In the final days prior to adjournment the legislature was able to pass supplemental operating, transportation and capital budgets.  They appropriated $200 million in resources from the state rainy day account for response to the Covid-19 impacts. They also addressed the Boeing WTO issue, by increasing the B&O tax on Boeing to respond to issues presented in the WTO challenge. The Washington State Research Council notes that...

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14 February

Legislation amends last year’s complex B&O tax increase to fund higher education

wsvma   |   Legislative

In 2019, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law a complex plan to tax businesses in order to make higher education more affordable. The legislation that passed increased the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax from 1.5% to 1.8%. But after discovering it might not cover the cost from lowering tuition, and because it would be more difficult to collect, the Legislature last week passed a new bill designed to streamline the three-tier system and set a uniform tax rate for most...

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14 February

State-by-State – Legislative agendas focus on prohibiting procedures, unlicensed activity

wsvma   |   Legislative

Several states are considering prohibitions on declawing, devocalization, ear cropping and tail docking. Arizona's HB 2537, Maryland's HB 445, and West Virginia's HB 2119 would prohibit declawing. New Hampshire's HB 1683 would prohibit declawing, along with ear cropping, tail docking, declaw removal and devocalization. New Jersey's A 1087 and S 920 and Rhode Island's HB 7342 would prohibit declawing while NJ A 1211 would end ear cropping and tail docking. Hawaii's HB 2163 and Washington's HB 2317 and SB 6300...

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17 January

Washington Legislature convenes and includes mandatory suicide prevention training

wsvma   |   Legislative

The Washington State Legislature convened on Monday, January 13 for a 60-day legislative session. By the end of the first week, almost 1,000 bills have been introduced for consideration. The focus of the first three weeks will be consideration of these bills in the policy committees. Included in the introduced bills are: HB 2411 - Suicide prevention training Last month, the WSVMA was contacted by Rep. Tina Orwall (D-33rd) who expressed her concern about the mental wellbeing of veterinarians and voiced her...

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13 December

State by state legislative activities

wsvma   |   Legislative

The State Legislative Update for November 2019 includes select summaries tracked by the AVMA Division of State Advocacy between mid-October and mid-November. For more information on bills and regulations, please see our full listing or contact AVMA. Oregon proposes veterinary telemedicine (VTM) regulations Oregon proposes two regulations that define an exception to a veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR) for the provision of veterinary telemedicine (VTM) and establish minimum standards for the practice of veterinary telemedicine. One of the proposed VTM regulations specifies that VTM...

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