skip navigation
Share this:


MRSC Insight Blog


Posts for Paul Sullivan

Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan Retires

Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan Retires

Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan is retiring after more than 30 years at MRSC. 

Read more

More Employees Will Soon Be Eligible for Overtime Pay

More Employees Will Soon Be Eligible for Overtime Pay

There have been changes at both the federal and the state level to determine when workers are eligible for overtime pay. As a result, employers may find many more employees eligible for overtime once these changes go into effect. 

Read more

Please Stop: Handling Public Requests

Please Stop: Handling Public Requests

Municipal employees sometimes must deal with a variety of requests, and some can be quite challenging. This article looks at what local governments can and cannot broadly do in terms of responding to large public records requests and complaints.  

Read more

Long-Term Care Trust Act Brings Services and Support to Washington Residents

Long-Term Care Trust Act Brings Services and Support to Washington Residents

The newly created Long-Term Care Trust Act will offer an employee-financed program to provide payment or partial payment for long-term services and support to qualified Washington residents who have paid into the program and need assistance. 

Read more

Warning: Summer Heat, Enclosed Pets, and Animal Fighting

Warning: Summer Heat, Enclosed Pets, and Animal Fighting

With its long days and hot temperatures, summer is a great time to remember that pets should not be left unattended in enclosed vehicles. This blog post also reviews 2019 legislation prohibiting animal fighting.

Read more

Pop Quiz: Family Leave and Sick Leave Edition

Pop Quiz: Family Leave and Sick Leave Edition

Take a short quiz to test your understanding of the Paid Family Leave and Sick Leave for employees.

Read more

Oh Boy! A Gift!

Oh Boy! A Gift!

With the holidays just around the corner, Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan explores the rules surrounding municipal gift "giving" and "receiving." 

Read more

An Inquiry Response Sampler

An Inquiry Response Sampler

This blog post is a grab bag of questions posed to MRSC's consultants through our Ask MRSC service. Covering broad but common local government concerns, the questions (and answers) should interest all our readers.

Read more

New Legislation Targeting Firearms

New Legislation Targeting Firearms

In this blog post, MRSC Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan offers an overview of a number of bills the 2018 Washington State Legislature adopted relating to firearms regulation. 

Read more

Action Outside a Public Meeting, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Action Outside a Public Meeting, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

This blog reviews some of the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and what can go wrong if those requirements are not met (Hint:a lot). 

Read more

A Grab Bag of Ask MRSC Questions

A Grab Bag of Ask MRSC Questions

This blog post offers several examples of questions MRSC's legal and policy experts get from local government staff and elected officials. 

Read more

My Can of Coke Costs What?!!!

My Can of Coke Costs What?!!!

Since January 1, 2018, Seattle residents and visitors have found that drinking sweetened drinks cost a little bit more. Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan looks at the city's new sweetened beverage tax, one that is projected to raise almost $15 million in 2018. 

Read more

Year-End Personnel Topics Pop Quiz

Year-End Personnel Topics Pop Quiz

Take a short quiz to test your memory of some common, personnel-related legal issues as well as new employment laws that came in to or remained in effect in 2017.

Read more

Contracting – Some General Principles for Counties

Contracting – Some General Principles for Counties

This blog article discusses how counties can contract for goods and services, including the role that elected officials other than county commissioners may play in the process.

Read more

Municipal Giving and Receiving

Municipal Giving and Receiving

The holiday season is approaching. What are the rules surrounding municipal gift "giving" and "receiving?" Consultant Paul Sullivan explores the rules and offers some advice. 

Read more

Legislature Enacts Paid Family Leave

Legislature Enacts Paid Family Leave

The state legislature has adopted a bill that provides most employees in Washington State with paid leave to care for their health conditions, the health condition of a family member, or for the birth or placement of an adopted or foster child. This post summarizes the new legislation and some of the differences between it and the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Read more

Paid Sick Leave Starts January 1

Paid Sick Leave Starts January 1

Starting January 1, 2018, all employers in the state, including all local government agencies, must provide paid sick leave for their employees. In this blog post, MRSC Legal Consultant Paul Sullivan responds to some possible questions about the new paid sick leave requirements.

Read more

New Law on Restraining Dogs

New Law on Restraining Dogs

In this blog post, Paul Sullivan provides an overview of a new law adopted by the legislature that regulates the tethering of dogs. The new law goes into effect on July 23, 2017. 

Read more

Paid Sick Leave and Initiative 1433

Paid Sick Leave and Initiative 1433

Initiative 1433, approved by the voters in November 2016, sets the minimum wage for most employees (currently $11.00 per hour). But the initiative does more than that. Starting January 1, 2018, every employer in the state, including local governments, will be required to provide its employees with paid sick leave. This blog post will explore how this new requirement will affect local governments in Washington State. 

Read more

New Rule Requires Notice When Transporting Oil

New Rule Requires Notice When Transporting Oil

The Department of Ecology (DOE) recently adopted a new regulation, chapter 173-185 WAC, requiring that the DOE receive advance notification when crude oil is moved to certain facilities in the state by railroad car, as well as biannual reports from the owners of certain oil transmission pipelines regarding the volume of crude oil transported through their pipelines. Local governments can, upon request, get this information from the DOE.

Read more

LOAD MORE