New laws
Driving and chatting on your cell phone can net you a $124 ticket starting Tuesday if you are not using a hands-free device. This is a secondary offense, meaning you’ll be pulled over only if you are also breaking another law at the same time. The new law takes effect immediately, no grace period and likely no warnings if you are caught.
Condo developers could likely have to pay apartment renters even more to move if a proposed law is approved by Mayor Nickels. City Council voted 8-0 in favor of increasing the amount of relocation assistance that developers pay from $500 to three times the monthly rent, for tenants making 80 percent of local median income or less.
Also starting Tuesday, Washington joins 18 other states in requiring online vendors to collect sales tax, shifting e-commerce from an origin-based to destination-based tax system.
The toll to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will increase $1 to a total of $4 per car, or $2.75 for those who belong to the “Good To Go” program.
As if we weren’t paying enough at the pump, the gas tax is also increasing 1.5 cents per gallon.