Today marks the second big deadline of legislative session. \u201cFiscal cutoff\u201d is the deadline for bills with budget impact to be voted out of a fiscal committee. This week has truly been a marathon of bill hearings and committee votes (called \u201cexecutive session\u201d in legislative lingo) going well into the night. These will continue all day today until the deadline of 5pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you read this, Stand\u2019s Debt Free Youth Justice priority bill – SB 5474 – still needs to be voted out of executive session. It is scheduled for a vote today, just squeaking up to the deadline. The bill was heard in Ways and Means on Saturday, February 18 (yes, the legislature even works on the weekends around cutoff time!), and the highlight of the hearing was definitely Jacob<\/a>, who broke down the long-term impact of owing tens of thousands of dollars before you turn 18. Please take a moment to listen to Jacob\u2019s 90-second testimony<\/a>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In less rosy news, Stand\u2019s other priority bill SB 5408 to sustain and expand Ninth Grade Success Teams was not <\/em>scheduled for a hearing or vote in Ways & Means, despite powerful advocacy from school leaders around the state. We are not giving up though! There is a path forward through the two-year state budget and we will share opportunities for advocacy in the coming days! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you to everyone who rallied and took action on one of our support bills – SB 5434 to \u201craise the age\u201d of juvenile court jurisdiction from 8 – one of the country\u2019s lowest – to 13. You sent dozens of emails to legislators (and many of you indicated your support even though your legislator didn\u2019t sit on Ways & Means!). Your voices joined a loud call for evidence-based public policy, rooted in best practice, brain science, and positive youth development. Unfortunately, the bill was not brought up for a hearing in Ways and Means before today\u2019s Fiscal cutoff and will not move forward this session. However, thanks to your advocacy, lawmakers know how important it is to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction and are looking into keeping the conversation going via a potential budget strategy. We will keep you in the loop as things develop \u2013 stay tuned!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an update on the status of other bills we\u2019ve mentioned in the last few weeks: <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can tell, things are moving quickly and the outcome of some important pieces of legislation is still uncertain. We\u2019ll be updating you soon with a full report and how you can take action to keep top priorities moving forward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for being in this work with us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n