Washington’s fast-approaching 2022 legislative session has hit a bit of a snag with the rampant Omicron variant.

The chief clerk of the House has announced that his chamber will hold its floor sessions remotely for the first two weeks of the session.

Only five lawmakers who are vaccinated, boosted, and masked, along with critical staff, will be allowed in the House chamber during the restrictions.

These policies will be reassessed every two weeks.

The Senate is looking into either a hybrid or fully remote sessions, though no final decision has been made.

Republican Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen has passed away.

Ericksen was in El Salvador when he contracted COVID-19 and was flown out to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for treatment.

Whatcom County Council will fill the vacancy in the 42^nd Legislative District from a list of candidates proposed by the local Republican party.

A recall has been declared for Kshama Sawant, a Seattle, Washington District 3 City Councilmember.

Sawant has been accused of misusing city funds for electioneering purposes, disregarding COVID-19 regulations, and misuse of her official position.

Sawant challenged the recall in superior court, but the Washington Supreme Court allowed the recall to continue.

The recall is set to take place on December 7.

Seattle’s mayoral race, a hotly contested race between current and former Seattle City Council presidents, ended in a landslide victory for Bruce Harrell with 65% of the votes.

The election, a race between progressive and moderate Democrats, was affected by the progressive agenda of defunding the police and addressing homelessness.

The incumbent Jenny Durkan and progressive candidate Lorena Gonzalez both took political hits over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and BLM protests.

Durkan did not seek reelection. Bruce Harrell is Seattle’s First Asian American Mayor.

Washington Lawmakers adjourned sine die after the Democratic-led Legislature passed many progressive initiatives during the 105-day session.

Police reform, climate change, and a $59 billion two-year spending plan were among the highlights of the session.

A bill to require 24-hour reporting of grassroots lobbying expenditures did not pass.

City Council approved an ordinance requiring additional transparency and disclosures by paid lobbyists and indirect lobbying campaigns.

The vote was 8-1.

This new legislation adds the concept of indirect lobbying to the city’s lobbying regulations, which has been part of Washington state law since 1973.

Indirect lobbying requirements will now apply to lobbyists, those who hire them, or organizations taking out ads to influence members of the public, and encourage members of the public to lobby their elected officials on legislation.

Individuals behind a group will now be required to identify themselves, their contractors, and donors for contributions of $25 or more.

The group will also be required to describe its purpose and record spending in monthly reports.

If approved by the Mayor, the rules will become effective in 180 days.

The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote Monday afternoon on a new ordinance.

The ordinance’s rules are meant to shine a light on groups spending money to build public pressure on Seattle politicians.

Recommended in January by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, the rules would apply to groups spending at least $750 in a month or $1,500 in three months on presenting a program to the public to affect legislation.

The individuals behind a group would need to identify themselves, their contractors, and donors for contributions of $25 or more.

The group also would be required to describe its purpose and record spending on monthly reports.

Gov. Jay Inslee secured a third term on November 3 in the state of Washington.

He won with a total of 1,964,141 to Loren Culp’s 1,338,491.

This is the third term for the Democratic Governor.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to Seattle’s first-in-the-nation democracy voucher program for public financing of political campaigns.

The court denied the challenge brought by two local property owners arguing the program violated the First Amendment by forcing them, through their tax dollars, to support candidates they don’t like.

In 2015, Seattle voters decided to tax themselves $3 million a year in order to receive four $25 vouchers they can donate to participating candidates in city elections.

The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the voucher program last year.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill concerning certification of the level of foreign national ownership for corporations participating in state elections.

Senate Bill 6152 requires a certification from each corporation making a contribution to the candidate, political committee, or incidental committee stating the corporation’s ownership comprises less than 50% foreign nationals.

The bill becomes effective June 11, 2020.

The 2020 session of the Washington State Legislature adjourned sine die on March 12 after 60 days in session.

Lawmakers’ final hours of work were overshadowed by the continued onslaught of COVID-19 news in the state.

This prompted passage of a supplemental state budget doubling funding from $100 million to $200 million for the COVID-19 response.

Lawmakers noted the sense of urgency to finish their work quickly due to growing concerns about the spread of the virus.

During the session, legislators passed a bill concerning certification of the level of foreign national ownership for corporations participating in state elections.

Senate Bill 6152 requires a certification from each corporation making a contribution to the candidate, political committee, or incidental committee.

The certification must state the corporation’s ownership is comprised of less than 50% of foreign nationals.

Legislators also passed a procurement bill providing for accountability and transparency in government contracting.

House Bill 1521 requires evaluation of contract performance.

The evaluation assess whether decisions to contract out government services to the private sector are achieving their stated objectives.

In addition, the bill intends to ensure public contractors given access to state resources are held to ethical standards consistent with public values.

Gov. Jay Inslee has 20 days to act on the bills.

Washington lawmakers have reintroduced a bill to impose a two year cooling off period to slow a revolving door of state officials and employees becoming lobbyists when they leave state employment.

House Bill 1067 is intended to reduce the perception of lobbyist impropriety.

The House Committee on State Government and Tribal Relations passed the bill out of committee.

The bill needs to pass the Rules Committee before getting a vote of the full House.

The State Government and Tribal Relations Committee passed the legislation during the last session, but the bill stalled.

The legislation would apply to state officers and employees who are employed by the state on or after July 1, 2021.

A companion bill, Senate Bill 5033, is moving through the Senate and passed to the Rules Committee.

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed two bills banning most political spending by foreign-influenced corporations and clamping down on political advertising.

These bills are part of the Clean Campaigns Act, a three-bill package introduced in August of last year.

The first bill prevents corporations with a single foreign national investor holding at least 1% ownership, or two or more holding at least 5% ownership from contributing directly to Seattle candidates, political races, or through PACs.

Companies that have a non-U.S. investor making decisions on its U.S. political activities will also be prevented from political spending.

The measure closes a loophole because foreign individuals and foreign-based entities already are barred from making contributions in U.S. elections.

The second bill adds transparency to the political advertising realm.

It requires any paid advertisement regarding a political matter of local importance to follow stricter reporting guidelines and to retain and provide records about these advertisements.

The third bill, which would place a cap on Super PAC contributions, remains in the Select Committee on Campaign Finance Reform for further discussions.

At a joint meeting of the councils from Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan counties, Alex Ramel was selected to replace Rep. Jeff Morris in the 40th Legislative District.

Rep. Morris resigned from the Washington legislature to take a position with Schneider Electric.

Ramel was sworn in on the same day Rep. Morris officially resigned.