We are little less than four months from the 2020 Legislative Session which makes it the right time to start thinking about state policy issues and their impact on your work.  We'd like to offer some free webinars in the weeks leading up to session and would like your help determining which issues to focus on. So please read to the end and answer our quick poll on this.  

Happy July.  Today, we take notice of some of the effects of recent legislation and a HUD rulemaking. You can read up on the key achievements of the 2019 session here.

The 2019 Legislature finished on time and in the nick of time to avoid a special session.  In doing so, the Legislature passed new two-year operating and capital budgets and some legislation that offers good news regarding our agenda. 

The regular Legislative session ends this Sunday. As of today, four bills on our legislative tracking list are headed to the Governor for his consideration. One bill is still in limbo between the House and Senate version.  And, of course, the star of the 105-day show is the biennial budget.  

Olympia legislative activity winds down after today with the focus turning toward the budget and working out compromises on bills that have passed both houses but in different form, such as S.B 5600 which extends protections to tenants. 

Yesterday was the committee deadline for bills not related or necessary to the state budget.  Meanwhile, budget conferences have begun to sort out the differences between the House and Senate versions of our state’s two-year plans for operating and capital spending.  Read on about what that may mean for United Way priorities.

It's been an active week with the House and Senate releasing budget and revenue proposals and their fiscal committees cranking through bills to meet the April 9 deadline for passing bills on to the floor.  And. . . good news about the Working Families Tax Credit.

It's time to contact your legislators regarding the House operating and capital budget. Votes will be taken this week. And stay tuned, the Senate budget proposal will likely be released later this week. 

While we wait for the next edition of the proposed 2019-21 biennial budget bill due out next week, Senate and House committees are actively taking up bills passed from the other legislative body, including those discussed below.  

At 5 p.m. today (Wednesday, March 13), the Legislature will have reached its self-imposed deadline for bills passing their house of origin. By tomorrow, the Senate will only be considering bills that have been approved by the House.  And the House will only consider bills approved by the Senate.  The exceptions are budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets.