Now that we are in Week 4 of the session, it is time to start paying attention to those critical cutoff deadlines. The first deadline is February 7, when bills have to pass out of policy committees. Bills that fail to meet that deadline are generally considered dead for the session. However, there are always exceptions to these rules—bills deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB) are generally excluded from the deadlines. Also, some bills are just zombie bills (unofficial designation) and seem to keep coming back to life for any number of reasons.
The next deadline is the February 11 fiscal committee cutoff, when bills with a fiscal impact have to pass out of one of the designated fiscal committees. The fiscal committees are: House Appropriations, Capital Budget, Finance, and Transportation Committees; and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation Committees.
A variety of bills that AWC is watching closely are subject to the February 7 cutoff. Check out the Hot Sheet for a quick reference guide to bills we are tracking. Feel free to share the Hot Sheet with your legislators.
Supplemental budgets coming soon…
As you know, this session the Legislature only works on supplemental changes to the budgets (operating, capital, and transportation). The House will offer its proposal first, followed by the Senate—then they will negotiate a final compromise. We expect to see the House proposal shortly after the February 20 revenue forecast is released. In anticipation of those budget proposals, AWC submitted a letter to legislative budget leaders highlighting city funding priorities. These are the priorities we focused on:
- Increased cannabis revenue sharing
- Funding to develop a model for providing medication-assisted treatment in local jails
- Funding for homelessness crisis response
- Funding for additional Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) classes
- Restoring funding to the Public Works Assistance Account (also known as the Public Works Trust Fund)
Keep up your great advocacy work!
Thank you to everyone who made the trip to Olympia last week for City Action Days (CAD). We had a great event and loved the energy that came from having nearly 400 city officials around the Capitol. It was powerful to have so many city officials making their voices heard in the legislative process.
Of course, you don’t have to come to Olympia to have your voice heard. Whether you came to CAD or not, keep communicating with your local legislators all session long about what is important to cities. If you need help finding their contact information, check out AWC’s legislator directory.
Want an easy way to find all of AWC’s legislative information?
The AWC Advocacy 2020 app is an easy way to find all of our legislative resources in one place. You can access fact sheets, Bulletin, Hot Sheets, and more through the app. It also offers up-to-date notifications about legislative action. Get it here.