All that’s left is for the lady to sing…
Prepared by Marie Sullivan, WSPTA Legislative Consultant, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
Only one week remains in the 67th legislative session, and there is actually a lot that’s left to do before that famous lady sings the final song: budgets, the climate commitment act, a capital gains tax, and a transportation revenue package, just to name a few of the topics still to be resolved by sine die (April 25).
Starting April 12, lawmakers began the reconciliation process – this has a couple of different parts:
- Bills that were changed in the opposite chamber must return to their original chamber for concurrence or dispute with those changes.
- Budget reconciliation, including differences in language when the dollar amounts are the same and differences in the funding amounts.
- Requests for conference committees, which are used to resolve major differences in bill versions.
Keep up with the bills and committee hearings related to WSPTA member-generated legislative priorities and long-term positions by utilizing the bill status report.
In addition, don’t miss the webinar that Washington State PTA is hosting on Thursday, April 22, 7:00-8:30 pm. Join Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal; Maddy Thompson, K-12 Education Policy Advisor for Governor Inslee; and Lacy Fehrenbach, COVID-response director at the Department of Health, for this informative and engaging webinar about the latest guidelines for school reopening fully to in-person learning in the 2021-22 school year. Registration is required. Please send your questions to legconsultant@wastatepta.org by April 20.
- Each week a new newsletter, “Focus on Advocacy,” will be sent each Monday to subscribers to keep you informed on what is happening during the legislative session and how it aligns with WSPTA priorities. To subscribe simply click on the “Update your Profile” link at the bottom of any newsletter to select this newsletter.
- Subscribe to the Action Network to participate in timely action alerts through the session. As a bonus, subscribers to the Action Network receive the new “Focus on Advocacy” newsletter.
- Advocacy questions can be directed to WSPTA Advocacy Director Sherry Rudolph.