OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state legislators passed 267 new state laws in the most recent legislative session.

~ Healthcare: expanded practices for nurses

HB 2340 adds a new limit to the public information about nursing assistants disclosed by the Board of Nursing. If a nursing assistant dealing with substance abuse issues was disciplined by the Board of Nursing but undergoes counseling, the board is not permitted to disclose its disciplinary action on its public website.

While HB 2339 took effect June 11, the law includes a clause that practicing nurse anesthetists who did not receive their prescribing authority before July 1 can still administer certain drugs to patients, adding a legal exception that protects nurses from being suddenly cut off from doing their jobs.

Tax Money Spent: On Childcare, Public Health Beginning in 2027, HB 2442 authorizes counties and cities to adopt a 0.01% local sales tax to fund services for children and families, including perinatal support, after-school programs, workforce development and transportation for facilities receiving services.

Housing House Bill 2442, which takes effect Wednesday, gives cities and counties greater fiscal flexibility in how they use local tax revenues to support housing, childcare and public health and other needs.

For instance, “Communities can now use affordable housing sales tax revenue for rental assistance, rehab work on existing units and ongoing operations and maintenance,” Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health said on its website.

~ Speed Zone Camera Fees

While not a state law, drivers in Washington should be aware that first-time tickets for speeding in road work zones will be going up in price.

Fines for first-time traffic infraction offenders who speed through road work areas will go up to $125 starting July 1, as part of WSDOT’s Work Zone Speed Camera Program. Any and all subsequent speeding incidents will result in a $248 fine.

According to WSDOT, the cameras have been used over 900 times at about 50 job sites since the program began April 16, 2025, and about 85,000 work zone speed camera infractions have been issued statewide. 77,000 of those were first-time infractions.

~ Stabilized ambulance fees

Ambulance companies will see less fluctuation in the fees they pay to the state’s treasury, creating a more accurate way of tracking funds in the pool.

In Washington, ambulance companies pay fees into a state treasury called the Ambulance Transport Fund. The fund was established to account for the gap between the cost of providing emergency medical care and state Medicaid reimbursement rates. Now, when those ambulance providers treat a patient, federal Medicaid dollars can be activated to cover the cost of providers’ services, in addition to the money the companies paid into the state fund.

Starting July 1, HB 2531 will freeze the fee rate that ambulance companies pay to the state Ambulance Transport Fund treasury to the rate they paid in July 2025, and will make sure that any funds they are paid back through Medicaid reflect what’s actually available in the fund.

~ PTSD counseling

A new pilot program will provide post-traumatic stress disorder counseling for employees filing worker’s compensation cases. The Department of Labor and Industries program created by SHB 2405 will provide a determined number of counseling sessions before and after claims are closed. 

Source: king5.com, olympian.com, Molly Hetherwick,

Times of crisis are often the times of the most significant innovation. The October 1929 stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression created unparalleled unemployment and economic adversity for every American.

World War I – the “War to End All Wars” – had concluded 12 years earlier, creating nearly five million Veterans. Over 204,000 were disabled by weaponry that had never been seen before this war.

Despite the challenging times facing the country, President Herbert Hoover acted.

On July 21, 1930, Hoover signed Executive Order 5398, consolidating three agencies administering Veterans benefits programs into a single entity called the Veterans Administration. The action changed how the federal government and the public perceived Veterans’ compensation and other benefits. 

Source: Veterans Administration Website

President Barack Obama greets the nation’s oldest living veteran, Emma Didlake, in the Oval Office, July 17, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Read more about Emma Didlake’s meeting with the President here.

1733 – John Winthrop was granted the first honorary Doctor of Law Degree given by Harvard College in Cambridge, MA.

1831 – Belgium became independent as Leopold I was proclaimed King of the Belgians.

1861 – The first major battle of the U.S. Civil War began. It was the Battle of Bull Run at Manassas Junction, VA. The Confederates won the battle.

1925 – The “Monkey Trial” ended in Dayton, TN. John T. Scopes was convicted and fined $100 for violating the state prohibition on teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. The conviction was later overturned on a legal technicality because the judge had set the fine instead of the jury.

1930 – The Veterans Administration of the United States was established. 

1931 – CBS aired the first regularly scheduled program to be simulcast on radio and television. The show featured singer Kate Smith, composer George Gershwin and New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker.

1931 – The Reno Race Track inaugurated the daily double in the U.S.

1940 – Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia were annexed by the Soviet Union.

1944 – American forces landed on Guam during World War II.

1947 – Loren MacIver’s portrait of Emmett Kelly as Willie the Clown appeared on the cover of “LIFE” magazine.

1949 – The U.S. Senate ratified the North Atlantic Treaty.

1954 – The Geneva Conference partitioned Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

1957 – Althea Gibson became the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title when she won the Women’s National clay-court singles competition. 

1958 – The last of “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” programs aired on CBS-TV.

1959 – A U.S. District Court judge in New York City ruled that “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was not a dirty book.

1961 – Captain Virgil “Gus” Grissom became the second American to rocket into a sub-orbital pattern around the Earth. He was flying on the Liberty Bell 7.

1980 – Draft registration began in the United States for 19 and 20-year-old men.

1997 – The U.S.S. Constitution, which defended the United States during the War of 1812, set sail under its own power for the first time in 116 years.

1998 – Chinese gymnast Sang Lan, 17, was paralyzed after a fall while practicing for the women’s vault competition at the Goodwill Games in New York. Spinal surgery 4 days later failed to restore sensation below her upper chest.

2000 – NBC announced that they had found nearly all of Milton Berle’s kinescopes. The filmed recordings of Berle’s early TV shows had been the subject of a $30 million lawsuit filed by Berle the previous May.

2002 – WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S.history.

2004 – White House officials were briefed on the September 11 commission’s final report. The 575-page report concluded that hijackers exploited “deep institutional failings within our government.” The report was released to the public the next day. 

2007 – The seventh and last book of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was released.

2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was the last flight of NASA’s space shuttle program.

Tue, Jul 21, 10:00 AM PDT to Wed, Jul 22, 11:00 PM PDT

What

Hot conditions with high temperatures up to 95 degrees expected and low temperatures from 60 to 65 degrees. This will pose a moderate to major risk of heat-related illness.

Where

Eastern Kitsap County, City of Seattle, Downtown Everett / Marysville Area, Eastside, Foothills and Valleys of Central King County, Foothills and Valleys of Pierce and Southern King Counties, Foothills and Valleys of Snohomish and Northern King Counties, Lowlands of Pierce and Southern King Counties, and Shoreline / Lynnwood / South Everett Area.

When

From 10 AM Tuesday to 11 PM PDT Wednesday.

Impacts

Heat will significantly increase the risk of heat-related illnesses for those who are sensitive to heat, especially those without effective cooling or adequate hydration.

Additional Details

Areas closest to the water will experience cooler daytime high temperatures.

Summary

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. For sheltering information and other human services in your area, dial 2 1 1 during business hours or visit wa211.org anytime.

Issued By

NWS Seattle WA