The Washington Legislative session began Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 with:

• Medicine stewardship HB 1047 – was heard Tues. Jan. 24 in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 8am
• Paint stewardship HB 1376 – was heard Thurs. Jan. 26 in the House Committee on Environment at 8am

Medicine Stewardship

Bill status: HB 1047 protecting the public's health by creating a system for safe and secure collection and disposal of unwanted medications would require medicine manufacturers to create, fund, and operate a statewide collection and disposal program for unused medicines. The bill was heard in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness Jan. 24, 2017 – watch video of the hearing and read more about medicine stewardship in Washington.

Paint Stewardship

Bill status: HB 1376 concerning paint stewardship was heard in the House Committee on Environment on Jan. 26, 2017.
The bill is supported by the American Coatings Association and is similar to legislation considered in 2015-16 and 2013-14 which did not pass. CEO of Miller Paint, Steve Dearborn, testifying in support of a previous version of this bill, indicated his intention to open a paint processing facility in Washington if the bill passes, to recycle unused paint from the stewardship program and create up to 30 jobs.
Paint stewardship legislation has passed in 8 other states and the District of Columbia and Washington is the only state on the West Coast without a paint stewardship program.

Watch video of the hearing, read more about paint stewardship in Washington and find tools for local governments to use in support of the bill.