Tag Archives: legislature

WAWG State Legislative Report, week 9

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist March 10 marked the 61st day of the 2023 Legislative Session. On March 8, the Legislature reached a milestone — the deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin which means House bills must have been voted out of the House and Senate bills must have been voted out of the Senate. Bills ... Read More »

Washington 2023 Legislative report, week 7

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist State lawmakers have completed their seventh week of the regular session. Last week, they reached their second deadline where the focus was on the fiscal and transportation committees. Legislators on those committees worked long days and evenings to hear and pass out bills having a financial impact to the state. Feb. 24 was the fiscal ... Read More »

Washington 2023 Legislative report, week 6

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Feb. 19 marked the 40th day of the 2023 Legislative Session and the first deadline: policy committee cutoff. This means all bills needed to pass out of their respective policy committees in their house of origin by that date, or they are considered “dead” for the legislative session. However, no bill is ever officially “dead” ... Read More »

Bipartisan buffer bill advances; Inslee stays opposed

From the Capital Press The Inslee administration continues to oppose a bipartisan voluntary riparian buffer bill backed by tribes, farm groups and the entire House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Administration officials complained Monday the bill lacked minimum buffer widths and gave state agencies too little power to oversee grants to plant vegetation and compensate landowners. Read the rest of ... Read More »

Washington 2023 Legislative report, week 5

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist We have completed the fifth week of the legislative session (Feb. 5-11). Only a week remains until the first legislative deadline on Feb. 17, when all bills must be voted out of their respective policy committees to remain under consideration. Bills that do not meet this deadline will be considered “dead” for the legislative session. ... Read More »

Washington lawmaker proposes cap-and-trade rebates for farmers

From the Capital Press An Eastern Washington lawmaker has proposed reimbursing farmers who can show they paid cap-and-trade surcharges on fuel used to produce or transport farm goods. Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, said he’s been hearing from angry farmers seeing higher fuel bills. Legislators were assured cap-and-trade would not apply to agricultural fuels, he said. Read the rest of the ... Read More »

Washington 2023 Legislative report, week 4

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist We have completed the fourth week of the 2023 Legislative Session. So far, legislators have introduced nearly 1,500 bills for the body to consider. There are only two weeks remaining until the first legislative deadline known as a “cutoff date”. By Feb. 17, bills must be voted out of their respective policy committees to remain ... Read More »

Washington 2023 legislative report, week 3

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Sunday marked the 21st day of the 2023 Legislative Session and completion of the third week of the session. Committees are still holding hearings on new bills as well as scheduling bills for executive action, which is the action of voting bills out of policy and fiscal committees. Bills are continuously being revised as they ... Read More »

Washington 2023 legislative report, week 2

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist We have completed the second week of the 105-day session. Committees have been busy holding public hearings and passing bills out of committee. In addition, legislators are dropping dozens of bills daily. As of Jan. 20, over 1,000 bills have been introduced. The first legislative deadline is Feb. 17, 2023, when all bills must be ... Read More »