The first week of the 2020 legislative session started off with plenty of action to report.
On Monday, January 13, the Legislature officially elected the first new Speaker of the House in 20 years. Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D–Tacoma) is the first women and first openly gay speaker in state history. AWC and a delegation of mayors (Buckley Mayor Johnson, Olympia Mayor Selby, and Tacoma Mayor Woodards) met with Speaker Jinkins in December to talk about the important relationship cities have with the state and to share cities’ legislative priorities.
On Tuesday, January 14, Governor Inslee gave his State of the State address in which he discussed his priorities, including addressing homelessness.
Also on Tuesday, Olympia enjoyed a light dusting of snow. We know that’s different than what many others experienced, with much of the state getting hit hard by winter storms.
There were also numerous committee hearings on a wide variety of bills the first week. Your AWC lobbyists were already busy testifying on bills and providing updates on city issues during some committee work sessions. For a quick view of some of the bills that are hot right now, here is our weekly Hot Sheet.
Legislature works to comply with public records requirements
A few other issues also took up the Legislature’s attention the first week. It’s clear that the Legislature wasn’t fully prepared for the new reality of working under the Public Records Act (PRA). In December, the Washington Supreme Court held that individual legislators are subject to the PRA. As a result, legislators’ offices are not accepting or are strongly discouraging accepting paper copies of materials. They have been advised to keep all of the paper they receive, so they’re trying to limit the paper they take in. That means that if you are planning to visit your legislator and share any materials with them, you should be prepared to provide those materials electronically.
The Legislature is also wrestling with how to respond to the findings of an investigation into Rep. Matt Shea (R–Spokane Valley). As a result of the investigation’s findings, House Republican leadership stripped Rep. Shea of his committee assignments, barred him from participating in the caucus, and called for his resignation. Speaker Jinkins also called for his resignation and went a step further, indicating that if he didn’t resign he should be expelled, which would require a two-thirds majority. It is unclear what further action may be taken at this point.
Legislature sets key deadlines
One of the official acts legislators take in the first week is to formally adopt the Session cutoff calendar, which establishes key deadlines for legislative action. If you want to know more about what a “cutoff” is, watch this video.
Here are the key cutoff deadlines:
February 7 – First policy committee cutoff
February 11 – Fiscal committee cutoff
February 19 – Bills must pass out of the house of origin
February 28 – Second policy committee cutoff
March 2 – Fiscal committee cutoff
March 6 – Bills must pass out of the opposite house
March 12 – Sine Die (fancy Latin phrase for “indefinitely”)
Bills that fail to meet these cutoff milestones are typically considered dead for the session. Of course, these deadlines don’t always apply to bills deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB) or other bills that the Legislature chooses to exempt from the normal process.
There is an app for that—download the AWC Advocacy 2020 app
Have you downloaded the AWC Advocacy 2020 app? If not, now is a great time to do so since it will have plenty of legislative info and all the details about City Action Days. For those who have used our event app, the advocacy app is based on the same application, but offers expanded information and up-to-date notifications about legislative action. Get it here.
City Action Days January 28–29
We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Olympia for City Action Days (CAD). CAD is a great opportunity to join nearly 400 city officials in Olympia during the short 60-day session. CAD will kick off on Tuesday, January 28 with a General Session at 2:30 pm followed by Governor Inslee at 3 pm. Our ever-popular legislative reception will be Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm. On Wednesday morning we will hear from key legislators before heading to the hill. Register soon as space is limited.
Can’t make it to Olympia to testify? You might be able to testify remotely
This year the House is conducting a pilot program for remote testimony with certain committees, including the House Local Government Committee. You can visit the House website for details of how to participate using remote testimony.
The Senate has been offering remote testimony options for a couple of years—you can find information here.
AWC is here for you
As always, your AWC Government Relations team is here to help you sort through all of the ins and outs of the legislative session. If you have any questions or concerns about legislation, the process, or visiting the Capitol, please reach out to us. We are happy to help!