Northwest briefly

Legislative bills near deadlines

A long list of bills pending in the Legislature are nearing action deadlines in Olympia.

According to legislative rules, today is the deadline for policy bills to move out of committee in the state Senate. And Tuesday is the same deadline in the state House of Representatives.

February 16 is the last day for committees to take action on any bills in their house of origin, either letting them “die” in committee or approving them.

March 5 is the last day for committees to act on bills from the other chamber. March 11 is scheduled to be the last day of the session.

Bellevue: Rail in wetland suggested

Bellevue’s City Council suggests running light rail through Lake Washington’s largest remaining wetland.

The council last week asked Sound Transit to study an East Link light-rail route that would cut through 320-acre Mercer Slough Nature Park. Supporters say the route would be less disruptive than running the line alongside homes and businesses.

But environmental groups say such a proposal would have trouble winning approval from key regulators. The federal Clean Water Act would require Sound Transit to show there is no reasonable alternative to going through the slough.

Even John Chelminiak, a councilman who voted to request the study, says the federal wetlands issue might make it a very short study. He’d be surprised if it proved to be a good route for the rail line.

Seattle: Mayor stalls request for job cuts

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn says he’s delaying his call for department heads to identify 200 senior positions that could be eliminated.

McGinn initially asked for the positions to be identified by late February. But in an e-mail on Saturday, he told city employees that he would instead ask departments to look for potential cuts later this year as they develop next year’s budget.

Last year there were 983 senior positions in the city government — 327 more than there were in 2002.

Associated Press