Let it snow!!! When virtual, what’s a little or a lot of snow?! Business can proceed as usual and folks signed up to testify won’t have to worry about mountain passes being closed, slipping and sliding down I-5, or getting cold feet (at least not temperature-wise!) on the way to the hearing! And over the course of the week, seeing so many people from around the state participating in the legislative process is really wonderful.
As reported last week, the first cut-off is coming up on the 15th and that is for policy bills to get out of their original committee. Then comes the fiscal cut-off on Feb. 22nd. So many bills have a fiscal impact that the Appropriations and Ways and Means committees are going to be pressed hard to hear and pass a significant number of bills by Feb 22nd. Very long zoom days are in the near future for members of those committees…
A few bills to highlight include, HB1227, the Keeping Families Together bill; HB1194, the bill dealing with Parent Child Visitation /Family Time; HB1213 the Fair Start for Kids Act; and SB5331, the Early Childhood Court bill. All are still in play, but none has made it out of both the policy and fiscal committees, yet.
One bill that has made it out of both committees is HB1368, the so-called Early Action bill that appropriates a considerable amount of the federal stimulus money. And not only has it made it through the fiscal committee in the House, it has also passed the House, gone through the committee process in the Senate, and made it to the Senate floor where it passed on Feb 10th!
Very few bills were added to the tracker this week, and likely there will be even fewer throughout the rest of session. FYI, we do track every bill’s status weekly and update every Friday. We also summarize amendments on some, but definitely not all, of the bills we are tracking.
Bills introduced this session past cut-of are alive through the 2022 session and are introduced for a variety of reasons, including getting it on the radar of legislators and the public well in advance of the next session.
Leg.wa.gov and TVW will become very good friends of yours by the time session ends; they are incredibly valuable resources for staying on top of legislative activities!
Questions? Comments? Please let us know!
Stay safe and thanks for your continued involvement!
