The 2024 Legislative session is scheduled to end in less than three weeks and things are heating up. Bills that have a chance of passing are now being considered by the other legislative body and budgets are beginning to be unveiled.

The Legislature is finishing its first round of committee work this week with attention starting to shift to the full assembly as the Legislature works through a series of self-imposed deadlines designed to complete legislating by the last day of session on March 7.  Since our priorities are mostly affected by the budget, which is not affected by these deadlines, this is a good time to lay the foundation for support of the following funding issues. Read on.

The 2024 Legislative Session is already at full speed with hearings of interest coming up and the fate of several of United Ways of Washington’s priorities weighing in the balance.  Read on. 

While international and national news capture headlines, the United Ways network continues to do the day-to-day work necessary to make people's lives more sustainable. This is an excellent time for us as an organization to review our priorities and reach out to decision makers, particularly legislators, to seek their input and reinforce their understanding of the challenges our communities face and the role we play to help overcome them. Please read on for more on this.

Legislative Update - Session Wrap Up!
The regular 2023 legislative session ended on Sunday after legislators approved the budgets necessary for the state to operate effectively for the next biennium (which starts July 1). There is a lot to be thankful for regarding progress on United Ways of Washington’s legislative framework for this session. But going forward, we have more work to do. Read on to see how our issues fared this year based on our legislative framework. 

Yesterday was the last day that the Legislature, under its self-imposed rules, could consider bills that are not related to the budget. From here on, legislative activities will quiet down. The exception will be when the House and Senate officially resolve their differences on bills that have passed both bodies. Without argument, the most important expected compromise is the 2023-25 operating budget for the state.

In devising their respective budgets released over the last week, the House and Senate both counted on the revenue from the new capital gains tax that was just affirmed by the Washington Supreme Court. Read on to learn more about these budget proposals from members of our United Way statewide partner coalition as well as our own  Following passage in both houses, the dueling budgets will go to conference committees (operating and capital) to craft final versions for consideration by the full Legislature. But its not too late to comment and links are provided at the end of this message.

The Senate has released its proposed state budget for the 2023-25 biennium. We are deeply concerned about funding for 211 and the Imagination Library funding and need your help See below for details.

Legislative activity shifts back to committees this week as bills that have passed either the House and Senate get hearings in the opposite legislative body.