Palouse Falls moves closer to becoming state’s waterfall

After well-researched and a passionate testimony from five students from Washtucna, the House Government Operations and Elections Committee helped move Palouse Falls one step closer to becoming Washington’s official waterfall with a do-pass recommendation. The bill has been passed to the Rules Committee, who will have to approve the bill before it is placed in front of the Senate.

On Jan. 29, five students and two teachers from the Washtucna School District traveled to Olympia for the students to testify on House Bill 2119. The bill would designate Palouse Falls as the state waterfall.

Representative Joe Schmick sponsored and introduced the bill, before students Grace Nelson, TJ Harder, Lindsay Knudson, Emma Hulett and John Riser had an opportunity to testify. Each of the students presented on a different aspect of Palouse Falls by giving a historical, archeological and statistical report on the area.

For more information on HB 2119, visit the Washington State Legislature webpage at http://wa.leg.gov. For video of the students’ testimony, search for HB 2119 at http://www.tvw.org.