January 8 – 12, 2024
Welcome to the 2024 legislative session!!
Week 1 – The session began on January 8th, 2024, and it has been non-stop since. The Governor’s budget was heard in the House Appropriations committee on the 8th and in the Senate Ways and Means committee on the 9th. Legislators have been filing bills since early December, so there were already a number of bills scheduled for hearings and even executive action. There is very little time between the first day of session and the first cut-off, which is January 31st (when bills have to be out of their original policy committee), so it’s quite a challenge to hear and take action on a lot of bills in such a short time.
You will notice a change in the format of our weekly bill tracker. For a variety of reasons, we are no longer providing as much content on each bill; however, we are still identifying bills that generally fall into the categories of our priorities – particularly child welfare. And as always, if there are bills you think we should be tracking that we aren’t, please let us know.
We are very fortunate to have Erica Hallock on board with us for the session. Erica is managing the tracker and providing general support to the public policy team. Welcome, Erica!
So what are some of the key issues the legislature will be addressing? Let’s see… Behavioral health, with a lot of focus on Fentanyl and other high potency synthetic opioids, the implementation of a child welfare bill that passed in 2021, six initiatives to the legislature that will be on the ballot, housing, climate-related issues, and more! And while our revenue situation is good right now, there are concerns about the future, and legislators will be looking at the February forecast as a guide when developing their budgets.
Another major factor at play is the 2024 elections. All state representatives and half of the senators are up for re-election. A number of legislators are running for other offices, and this is Governor Inslee’s last year. And when a governor leaves, so do many of the staff, heads of state agencies, etc. This all adds up to A LOT of change in the air!! Exactly how all of this will impact what happens during the session remains to be seen but it is very likely there will be an impact!
We are grateful for your interest in issues related to children, youth, and families. Remember, leg.wa.gov and TVW are your friends. You can get considerable information, including all bills, by going to leg.wa.gov; and you can watch all hearings and more on TVW! Testimony can be provided live or remotely (a welcomed result of the pandemic!), and legislators continue to be very available for meetings with constituents. So come on down (or up or over!) – meet with your legislators, participate in hearings, observe floor action, attend an advocacy day, tour the capitol, or just hang out! There’s never a dull moment during a legislative session!
Here is the bill tracker for week one: P4C week one bill tracker 2024.
Questions? Contact laurielippold@gmail.com
