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J ANUARY 22, 2014
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXVI, N O .16
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Scrutiny
Of Care
Centers
KING
DAY
HB 2165 requires
facility reviews in
child death cases
By Donna Gordon Blankinship
Associated Press
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Fai Mathews holds up signs during a
rally at Westlake Park after the 32nd
Annual Martin Luther King Jr.
Celebration march. More then a 1000
people attended workshops, a rally
and the march. This year’s theme was
Rise Up! Restore the Dream. Longtime
chair of the Martin Luther King Jr.
Celebration
Committee,
Larry
Gossett, who is stepping down after
this year, was honored at the rally with
speeches by newly elected Mayor Ed
Murray, King County Executive Dow
Constantine and US Congressman
Adam Smith.
Stalled Bill May Impact Elections
Immigrants’ rights could create wedge issue for November
By Manuel Valdes
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) _ The state
House’s swift move to advance
an immigrants’ rights bill on the
first day of this year’s legisla-
tive session could create a
wedge issue that might affect
the results of the November
elections, some political experts
said.
Lawmakers in the House on
Monday approved with strong
bipartisan support a proposal
that expands state financial aid
for college students in the coun-
try without legal status. The
measure, however, is likely
going nowhere in the Senate
because Majority Leader Rod-
ney Tom, the Democrat leading
the predominantly Republican
Majority Coalition Caucus, said
his caucus has other priorities to
focus on during the 60-day ses-
sion.
``I’m looking for more dollars
for state need grants, but not
expanding the pool (of eligible
student applicants) at this
time,’’ said Sen. Barbara Bailey,
INDEX
News .....................2,3,6
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................4
A&E ..........................2,8
Bids/Classifieds.........6,7
Republican chairwoman of the
Senate education committee.
Spokespeople for Republicans
in the House and Senate said
their caucuses don’t have immi-
gration-related bills they are
putting forward this year.
Inaction this session on bills
important to immigrants and
minorities, such as the so-called
Washington Dream Act, could
become an election issue in
November, when 24 spots in the
Senate are contested. Ten of
those Senate seats are expected
to be challenged vigorously by
both parties. Roughly half a
dozen of those seats are in sub-
urbs in the greater Puget Sound
area, including Tom’s.
``It’s an issue that can dramat-
ically affect the swing races in
suburban districts,’’ said Chris
Vance, a Republican political
consultant who has worked with
immigrant-rights groups, like
OneAmerica.
Following a year where Con-
gress failed to reform the
nation’s immigration laws, the
Washington Dream Act is a pri-
See BILL on page 3
SEATTLE (AP) Lawmakers are consid-
ering a bill that would require formal inves-
tigations at child care centers when a death
occurs, even if the child appears to have
died from natural causes.
The proposal is named for a 5-month-old
girl who died last year while napping in a
Seattle home day care center where another
death occurred in similar circumstances
more than a decade earlier.
Eve Uphold’s parents, who have since
moved away from Washington, testified last
week before the House Early Learning and
Human Services Committee.
Kyle Uphold said they were told in May
2013 their daughter died from Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS.
When they conducted their own investiga-
tion, they discovered the day care center in
a North Seattle neighborhood had been cited
by the state for safety violations. They also
learned another baby had died there years
earlier. Their own child had been left unat-
tended for about an hour in a waterproof
portable crib with a loose cover.
Parents who brought their children to the
center, which closed after Eve died and it
lost its state license, should have been told
about the previous problems to prevent
something like this from happening, Aman-
da Uphold said on Thursday.
Committee chairwomen Rep. Ruth Kagi,
D-Seattle, promised the Upholds, ``We real-
ly do want to learn from Eve’s death.’’
House Bill 2165 would require the
Department of Early Learning to conduct a
child-fatality review for any death in a
licensed child care center, a licensed child
care home, or an Early Childhood Educa-
tion and Assistance Program.
The bill was passed out of the House com-
mittee on Monday. It will be reviewed by a
budget committee before it can go before
the full House and then potentially move on
See CHILD on page 3
Gov. Inslee’s Big Ideas Face Big Hurdles
Observers say it’s possible none of his priorities will be successful
By Mike Baker
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee has some big ideas that face
some big hurdles in the state Legislature.
If the Democratic governor has his way,
lawmakers will work over the next several
weeks to increase the minimum wage, raise
the state gas tax, provide financial aid to
students living in the country illegally and
add more funding to public schools.
But it’s possible none of those things will
happen.
Leaders in the state Senate—largely
Republicans, but also some Democrats—
have balked at Inslee’s proposals, which he
laid out this week in an address before the
Legislature at the start of a 60-day lawmak-
ing session. Here’s a look at some of
Inslee’s ideas and how they’ve been
received by lawmakers:
Minimum Wage
Inslee proposed this week to increase
Washington’s minimum wage from $9.32
an hour — already the nation’s highest state
standard —to somewhere between $10.82
See INSLEE on page 3