Pandemic still backdrop as WA lawmakers start new session

By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The 2022 legislative session in Washington state will look much like the one a year ago: a limited number of lawmakers on site at the Capitol, and committee hearings being fully remote due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For those working on campus during the 60-day legislative session that starts Monday, testing, masking and distancing protocols will be in place. In the House, only lawmakers who have provided verification of their vaccination _ including a booster _ will be among the five total legislators on the floor. In the Senate, 15 lawmakers _ eight Democrats and seven Republicans _ will be allowed regardless of vaccination status, but must provide a same-day negative test. All committee hearings, in both chambers, will be held remotely, with public participation.