This is budget week in Olympia as the Senate and House prepare to roll out its operating, capital and transportation budgets which will govern state spending for the next two years. Read more

While the virtual session has slowed the rate of bill passage, the House and Senate have taken some big policy strides this session -- including moving forward on an update of the Working Families Tax Credit with near unanimous consent. Here’s more on that and other bills that may affect the United Ways of the Pacific Northwest - Washington legislative priorities. Read more

The House and Senate finish marathon virtual floor sessions today as the bodies move as much of their agenda as possible before the latest legislative deadline at 5:00 p.m. After today, attention shifts back to committee activity as House committees consider Senate passed bills and vice versa.  Read more

This week, state legislative activity is almost exclusively in (virtual) assembly as the full bodies of the House and the Senate debate bills that have passed at least one committee. It’s a good opportunity to review the United Ways of the Pacific Northwest legislative priorities in terms of this session. Read more

From now until March 9, legislative action moves to the floor of the House and Senate as these bodies take up bills that have cleared their committees. This year because of the virtual nature of deliberations, it is possible to talk with legislators since they won't physically be tied up in chambers.  Read more

Monday, February 15, was the first committee deadline for voting out bills. In this all-virtual session, the pace of legislation creation has slowed with roughly half the number of bills introduced this year of previous sessions. From here on, only bills that have passed a committee can continue to be considered, unless the bill is budget related. Read more

This year, the Legislature’s primary job is to deliver an operating budget that will govern state spending for the next two years starting July 1. As a result, the Senate this week is collecting and reviewing funding requests to guide the Senate Ways and Means Committee in formulating a response to Governor Inslee’s proposed budget (SB 5092). Read about the WA 211 request and other legislative activity below. Read more

The virtual nature of the 2021 Washington State Legislative Session is having an impact both in the pace and public engagement. While fewer bills have been considered, public participation is breaking records. For instance, 3,600 people signed in to comment during a public hearing on gun legislation recently. You can file written comments on legislation through the state’s Legislative website. Where appropriate, we’ve provided a comment link in this newsletter.  Read more

The first all-virtual Legislative session is in full swing with public hearings being held online. Already there have been hearings that touch on all of the UWPNW Washington State priorities. Read on to get an idea of the action for our top objectives. Read more

In the face of continued uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Jay Inslee has proposed the new two-year budget that will start July 1, 2021. While the budget process will carry on through the 2021 virtual legislative session, it's not too early to be acquainted with the issues at play. Governor Inslee's proposed budget is a starting point. Below is a sampling of some of his budget initiatives that reinforce our goals in the United Ways of Washington legislative framework. Read more