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Articles written by Sean Harding


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  • Bill to allow PUDs to sell renewable hydrogen unanimously passes Washington State Senate

    Sean Harding, WNPA Olympia News Bureau|Updated Feb 27, 2019

    OLYMPIA – A bipartisan bill to enable public utility districts to sell and distribute hydrogen fuel and sponsored by 33 senators — well over half the state Senate — unanimously passed the chamber and is now in the House of Representatives for consideration. Senate Bill 5588 would authorize public utility districts to sell renewable hydrogen to consumers via pipeline or shippable pressurized containers. “If you take H2O and you separate the ‘O,’ you end up with H2, which is hydrogen,” said Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatc...

  • Lawmakers propose lowering B&O tax for some rural manufacturers

    Sean Harding, WNPA Olympia News Bureau|Updated Feb 6, 2019

    A bipartisan bill introduced in the Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee would reduce the business and occupation tax for manufacturers and publishers of printed materials and periodicals, excluding newspapers. It would also extend the preferential B&O tax rate for timber and woods products. The B&O tax is Washington state’s major business tax, according to committee documents. The tax is imposed against a company’s gross income and does not deduct the cost of doing business. “As folks know … the dra...

  • Bill in state legislature would increase fines for texting motorists in school zones

    Sean Harding, WNPA Olympia News Bureau|Updated Jan 30, 2019

    A proposed bill would double the fine for motorists caught using a cellphone in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone to up to $234 per infraction, or up to $468 for repeat offenders. Washington’s first law to address texting-while-driving went into effect two years ago, which also prohibited eating and applying makeup. “One of the primary crosswalks I sit at is Mill Creek Elementary,” said Christine White, a patrol officer with the Mill Creek Police Department. “I have seen people on their cell phones talking...