As the session reaches its midpoint, the focus now moves to floor action where the full House and Senate will consider their respective bills that passed out of committee. A lot will happen over the next several days and we expect the Legislature to actively work on the weekend to vote on bills.

Last week we featured a rundown of the upcoming bill cutoff date schedule. Today is the second deadline—where bills need to advance out of fiscal committees. Bills have until February 15 to pass their house of origin to keep advancing. As always, these deadlines have exceptions…

How you can help

Take time this week to reach out to legislators and let them know about bills that you want to advance (that is: continue on the path to become law) and which you do not. To find out the specific status of a bill, you can look it up on the Legislature’s bill information webpage.

Make sure to also use the AWC weekly bill Hot Sheet for a quick overview of bills important to cities and where they stand in the process.

AWC leadership meets with Gov. Inslee

As a follow-up to Gov. Inslee’s address to city leaders at this year’s City Action Days, AWC’s Board executive leadership met with the Governor and his staff on Tuesday last week. This engaging conversation addressed key topics, including climate crisis response, housing, transportation, and infrastructure. AWC’s leaders talked about the many areas of agreement on these topics, but also highlighted some of the challenges within the Governor’s proposals on increasing missing middle density. It was a very good meeting and hopefully the first of more regular conversations. We appreciate Gov. Inslee’s time and focus on city needs.

News from the “other” Washington

Cities have been anxiously awaiting additional information on the federal infrastructure package passed late last fall. The package, referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), is a massive new investment that funnels more funding into existing programs and creates a host of new funding opportunities. Much of the work on determining how the funds will be distributed is still being developed as federal agencies set up these programs. However, the White House just released a new guidebook to the federal funding programs as a central platform for important information on each program.

The release fortuitously aligned with the National League of Cities’ (NLC) event for state league leaders last week, which consisted of a series of meetings with White House and federal agency representatives to talk about progress and opportunities related to BIL. AWC is looking forward to developing opportunities for cities to learn about the federal funding available to local governments.

Friday city action calls

Looking for more frequent updates on hot legislative topics? Join us for these well-attended weekly city action calls every Friday at 12:30 pm via Zoom.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far in advocating for cities during this legislative session. City leaders have a powerful voice and it is important that legislators hear your input. We appreciate your engagement during session.

If you have questions about the legislative process or issues going before the Legislature, always reach out to the Government Relations team. There is no such thing as a silly question, and we are always happy to help!