Bills & budget items in focus as adjournment nears March 8.

This is a make-or-break week for policy bills of interest or concern to cities. While there are many policies of interest, we’re focusing on certain ones that are under legislators’ self-imposed deadlines to move, alter, or abandon by Friday, March 2 at 5 pm. We’ve compiled a short list for both the House and Senate that we’re distributing to all legislators and leadership to let them know what issues we need them to pay attention to.

It’s also a week when both the House and Senate are poised to act on their supplemental budgets unveiled last week. Overall, both proposed budgets are positive for cities in that they haven’t reduced shared revenues or support for programs that cities need.

AWC is concentrating most on the changes to the operating budget and we’ve produced a quick comparison of key differences and which chamber’s version we prefer. On the positive side, there are several important program enhancements, while of concern there are likely bills that will pass that will add costs that aren’t being covered. Take a look at what we are sharing with legislators as they get ready to negotiate the final budget before adjournment next week.

Look for updates on Wednesday in our CityVoice e-newsletter and if warranted, we’ll let you know before next Monday if your collective voices are needed to make a difference.