Legislative Updates

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...

Week 16   SINE DIE!!   It was a nail biter but the legislature adjourned ON TIME on April 28th just before midnight. The last couple of days are probably a blur for most legislators and others who were there, as they were working pretty much around...

Week 15   The clock is ticking... and the big question remains: Will session be over by 11:59 p.m. Sunday night??!!! It appears that an agreement has been reached on the operating budget, an indication that they may be able to be done on time....

Week 14    Wow! Another cut-off has come and gone: As of 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17th, bills had to be out of the opposite house or die. Well, this is the rule except for those that are deemed NTIB (necessary to implement the budget) or are...

Week 13           Let the negotiations begin!   The Senate passed their operating budget last Friday. Now that both budgets are out of their respective house, the negotiators can begin, in earnest.   And, while there are areas in which the...

Week 12 What a week! The cherry blossoms are in full and beautiful bloom. The Senate heard and passed their budget, the fiscal committees heard and passed many bills, and the cut-off for bills to be out of the opposite house policy committees came...

Week 11 The big event this week was the release and anticipated passage of the House budget. The budget was released on Monday, March 25, amended and passed by the Appropriations Committee on the 27th, and is expected to come up on the House floor...

Has spring sprung?  It has been a beautiful week in Olympia, with the trees starting to develop buds and many people gathering at the sundial!  And, to add to the sunny mood, the revenue forecast was released on March 20.  Although it is not a major...

The second half of the 2019 legislative session has begun!! Wednesday March 13th at 5:00 was the cut-off for bills to get out of their original house. Since the fiscal committee cut-off on March 1, the House and Senate have spent their time debating...

This week was mainly about Rules and floor action! The cut-off for bills to be out of fiscal committee of origin was last Friday (March 1st). Since then, the focus has been on getting bills out of Rules and onto the floor of the House or Senate for...