Despite the frigid temperatures in Olympia and around the state, it was a week packed with hearings. Committees also started voting on bills (called “taking executive action”). There are only 12 days left for bills to receive a committee vote in order to advance in the legislative process.
Great news!
SB 5974, which would create an automatic process to remove uncollectible juvenile court debt, advanced out of committee! After a strong hearing in the Senate and House, this important legislation advanced out of Senate Human Services on Thursday. It goes next to the Rules Committee; it must be pulled from rules to the floor for a vote by February 13.
A few other bills also moved forward out of committee: SB 6021 which would eliminate the cost of prison phone calls to better connect families with incarcerated loved ones; and SB 5981 which was written by currently incarcerated students.
Ninth Grade Success Spotlight
Rep Stonier’s bill HB 2053 had a fantastic hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, featuring student and administrator voices from around the state. The Daily Herald also highlighted the impact of Ninth Grade Success funding in Snohomish County in a recent article. Thank you to everyone who signed in pro for the bill!
Hearings to watch next week:
- SB 6082 (Nobles) – Increasing compensation for Washington paraeducators, hearing Monday 1/22 at 10:30am in Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education committee. Sign in Pro!
- HB 2065 (Stearns) – Recalculating sentencing ranges for currently incarcerated individuals whose offender score was increased by juvenile convictions, hearing Monday 1/22 at 1:30pm in House Community Safety, Justice & Reentry committee. Sign in Pro!
- HB 1228 (Ortiz-Self) – Building a multilingual, multiliterate Washington through dual and tribal language education, hearing Monday 1/22 at 1:30pm in House Education committee. Sign in Pro!
These are just a handful of important bills up for consideration; you can follow along with all the action at tvw.org and see the daily hearing schedule at leg.wa.org.
In advocacy,
Liz Trautman
Government Affairs Director
