A number of committees not only heard bills this week but also exec’d (passed out of committee) a number of them. Given how many bills have been introduced, passing at least some now makes sense! In addition to committees passing bills, legislators have also begun passing bills out of their original house.
Early learning, mental health, juvenile justice and housing/homelessness are among the areas that will likely receive a lot of attention this session.
While we will do our best to capture the key bills in the early learning, mental health (particularly children’s mental health), and juvenile justice realms, we also encourage you to go to the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance’s website, https://www.wliha.orgfor information on the bulk of the housing bills. We will, however, cover bills that deal primarily with homeless youth.
Committees continue to have work sessions on topics such as McCleary, Child Welfare, Home Visiting, Public Assistance, Behavioral Health and more. In many respects, legislators are getting a crash course in areas for which they will be responsible for making policy and budget decisions. It is definitely a lot to take in in a short period of time!
An incredibly valuable resource in our state is TVW. TVW broadcasts many hearings live, as well as floor action but also records all of the hearings that can be accessed on their website. So, if you missed a hearing or floor action no worries! You can go to TVW.organd find pretty much everything that has happened in Olympia.
A note about our legislative bill tracker… The intro sheet (a daily document that lists the bills that have been introduced) comes out the evening/night before the day the bills are read. Our tracker covers bills that have been introduced up to, and including, Thursdays. You might, however, see the intro sheet Thursday evening and wonder why those bills aren’t on our tracker. They will be! But not until the next week’s tracker. Apologies in advance for any confusion or omissions… we will do our best to keep up, and, as you know, the volume is huge!
Have a good weekend and let us know if you have questions, concerns, etc.
Other questions or comments? Please contact Nicole Sadow-Hasenberg, Communications Manager, Partners for Our Children
