As most of you know, Washington state’s 2020 legislative session starts today, January 13, 2020. As mandated by law, the session begins annually on the second Monday in January. During odd-numbered years, such as 2019, the state biennial budget is debated upon and the Legislature meets for 105 days. This year, an even-numbered year, they will meet for 60 days.
The 2020 “short” session will likely be fast-paced. We know many bills were pre-filed and hearings are starting up on the Governor’s budget today! A short session also means it’s a supplemental budget year; the main focus is generally on making fixes/adjustments to the biennial budget. Nonetheless typically new investments are made, new policies passed, and many, many bills are introduced.
In 2020, Partners for Our Children will continue to promote policies that ensure Washington’s children, youth, and families have the services and support they need to thrive. We’ve grouped them in the following topic areas, and we also will be supporting priorities established by other organizations, including the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). Read Partners for Our Children’s state policy priorities here and download the pdf.
As a reminder, throughout session we will summarize and track bills related to child welfare and other relevant topics. We keep the Partners for Our Children searchable bill tracker as up-to-date as possible, typically updating it every Friday. Please use it often and also give us feedback/suggestions for making it as useful as possible.
Questions? Concerns? Contact Laurie Lippold, State Policy Director and/or Nicole Sadow-Hasenberg, Communications Manager, Partners for Our Children
