1.23.17 

Suggested lead:  Washington's outdated and underenforced cellphones-in-the-car law could soon become one of the strongest in the nation. Dan Frizzell has that story.

Wrap (:70 total): Two days after women staged the largest single-day protest in American history, lawmakers in Olympia have introduced a bill that could help Washington women narrow or close the gender-pay gap.  It doesn’t mandate equal pay for equal work.  Instead, the Equal Pay Opportunity Act would outlaw a surprisingly common business practice of forbidding employees to discuss their pay with colleagues . . . and effectively preventing women from learning whether their pay is on par with men doing similar jobs.  Representative Tana Senn is sponsoring the bill.

SENN: “Keep in mind now about two-thirds of families rely on women’s incomes to make their families economically stable.  So this bill is really about family economics.  It’s really about making sure that families are secure.  And it would put billions of dollars into the economy to make it stronger as well.” [:20]

Senn, a Democrat from Mercer Island, said most surveys put women’s pay at between 54 and 71 percent of what men earn for equivalent work, with women of color faring the worst.  Her Equal Pay Opportunity Act will be heard in the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee Tuesday afternoon.  In Olympia, I’m Dan Frizzell.