The 2022 legislative session wraps up on Thursday, March 10. These last few days can feel like a rollercoaster as bills either sprint or creep towards the finish line. A lot of what happens in these final days happens behind the scenes and it can be hard to get good information. That can lead to a lot of rumors and misinformation making it feel like even more of a rollercoaster.

Last week we had several Action Alerts asking for your help to address problematic bills. Thanks to your collective voices, we have seen success. SB 5155 concerning pre-judgement interest did not advance by the March 4 cutoff deadline and appears dead for this session. HB 1660 mandating local ADU ordinances also failed to make it through before the deadline and is also considered unlikely to return this session.

Speaking of feeling like a rollercoaster ride—last week we responded to the shocking news that the House Transportation Committee Chair, Rep. Jake Fey (D–Tacoma) planned to backfill the state’s transportation obligations with a sweep of the Public Works Assistance Account (PWAA) as part of the proposed statewide transportation package. We are grateful to all of the city officials who reached out to their legislators to urge them not to allow a sweep of PWAA funds.

Thanks to those who signed onto the AWC letter urging the Legislature to find another way to fund transportation without negative impacts to local infrastructure funding. We continue to try to work with legislators to find ways to avoid a sweep and provide more funding for local transportation needs.

If you haven’t yet reached out to your legislator to ask them to oppose this sweep, it’s not too late. We need to keep the pressure up. City voices remain influential in the legislative process.

The supplemental budget proposals (operating, capital, and transportation) will be some of the final items to pass and most likely we won’t get to see them until they are up for a final vote. The best way to impact what gets in the final budgets is to reach out to your legislators and let them know what your city needs and ask them to talk to legislative budget writers. AWC’s budget hot sheet can be a good tool for these conversations with your legislators.

Policy bills next steps

For an update on key bills that we have been tracking, review our weekly bill Hot Sheet. Some bills are waiting for final action and some have dropped off if they failed to meet a cutoff deadline.

Bills that have passed both bodies in the same form now head to the Governor’s desk for signature. The Governor has five days to act on bills sent to him during session and 20 days (minus Sundays) after session.

Legislative wrap-up webinar

Join us March 29 for our popular session recap webinar where we will review the highlights of the session and how it impacted cities.