As 2020 kicks off, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers is gearing up for a busy year where trade, fighting mandatory carbon regulations and preserving the lower Snake River dams top the legislative to-do list. “At the state level, we will be opposing any potential harmful carbon regulations that would unfairly impact our growers. Protecting the lower Snake River dams ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Jan. 13, 2020, the Washington State Legislature will convene in Olympia for a 60-day “short session.” The main task of legislators will be to pass supplemental budgets for the operating, transportation and capital budgets. The supplemental budgets are generally minor adjustments to the biennial budgets (passed in the 2019 “long session”) based on updated ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Since the Legislature adjourned at the end of April, we are in the time period known as interim where the focus has shifted to agency implementation of legislation, primarily taskforces and work groups established by the legislature. The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) is actively engaged in the following work groups: Snake River Dams ... Read More »
From NW News Network Washington lawmakers adjourned at midnight Sunday after majority Democrats approved an initiative to restore affirmative action and passed a $52.4 billion, two-year state operating budget. The budget relies on an array of tax increases, including on businesses and real estate transactions, but doesn’t impose a new capital gains tax as had been proposed. Read the rest ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Tuesday marked the 100th day of the 2019 Legislative Session. Another important legislative deadline occurred last week, in which all bills must have passed out of both chambers to remain “alive,” unless they are deemed necessary to implement the budget. The 2019 Legislative Session is scheduled to end on April 28. Over the next five days, ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Yesterday was day 93 of the 2019 Legislative Session, and the end of the regular session is quickly approaching. The fiscal cutoff (where opposite chamber bills needed to be voted out of committee to remain alive) came on April 9, and since then, legislators have been on the floor trying to pass opposite chamber bills ... Read More »
From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Yesterday was day 86 of the 2019 Legislative Session. It was the opposite chamber fiscal deadline, where bills had to pass out of the fiscal committees of the opposite chamber unless necessary to implement the budget. Starting today, we move to floor action until the next cutoff deadline which is April 17 at 5 p.m. to ... Read More »
From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Monday marked the 79th day of the 2019 Legislative Session. The next legislative deadline is April 3 when all bills must pass out of the opposite chamber’s policy committees to remain alive, unless they are necessary to implement the budget. Both chambers can now begin final budget negotiations after Senate Democrats released their budget plan last ... Read More »
From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Yesterday was the 71st day of the 2019 Legislative Session. The next major deadline is Wednesday, April 3. That is the opposite chamber policy cutoff, where policy bills from the opposite chamber have to be voted out of policy committee to stay alive. One of the primary tasks of legislators during a long session (odd years) ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist March 19 marked the 64th day of the 2019 Legislative Session. On March 13, the Legislature reached a milestone—the deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin. Bills that did not meet that deadline are ineligible to move forward this year unless considered necessary to implement the budget. It is important to note, ... Read More »
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