With just ten days left in the legislative session, the action is happening very quickly. As we reported last week, both the House and Senate released their supplemental budget proposals. Both bodies have now passed their respective budget proposals and now the real work of negotiating begins.
In addition to the budget work, this is the final race to the finish line for policy bills. Technically, policy bills not related to the budget must be passed by the Legislature by Friday, March 6.
AWC is still working on a number of policy bills that are highlighted in this week’s Hot Sheet.
A lot of the focus is now on budget negotiations, which makes it a very good time for you to let your legislators know what cities need included in the final budget proposal. Last week, AWC sent a letter to budget leaders highlighting our priorities and what we would like to see in the final version of the budget. The letter asks budget leaders to:
- Fund affordable housing and homeless crisis response
- Support a strategic watershed approach to fish blocking culvert corrections
- Increase shared cannabis revenue
- Provide funding for 21 Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) classes
- Offer funding to develop a model for providing medication assisted treatment in local jails
- Help cover the increased PERS 1 retirement system costs from a new COLA for retirees
- Include HB 2804 in the budget to reopen and refund the Local Revitalization Financing (LRF) program to support economic development projects
- Support local transportation funding through the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB)
Now is the time to reinforce these priorities with your local legislators – ask them to support these requests and talk to the budget leaders about city funding priorities.
It is also not too late to reach out to your legislators about key policy bills – check out the Hot Sheet and share that information with your local legislators.
We really appreciate how many city officials from around the state have been engaged throughout the session. Your voice is critical in the legislative process – keep up the good work!