A frozen Du Pen fountain on the Capitol Campus
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)
Trivia!
Initiatives to the Legislature
Back in 1915, the Washington State Legislature failed to act on an initiative to the Legislature, “the Brewers’ Hotel Bill,” sending the issue to the voters as Initiative Measure 24 for their consideration in the November 1916 general election. The voters soundly defeated Initiative Measure 24 with 48,354 voting yes and 263,390 voting no.
What subject did the “Brewers’ Hotel Bill” cover?
Week Two is Almost in the Books!
This short legislative session is setting into a rhythm, with the first cutoff (policy committee cutoff) a mere 12 days away. The winnowing of bills (and dreams) has already begun, and lobbyists have the benefit of fewer bill numbers to recall off the top of their heads!
While week one’s theme was food and parking, week two’s theme was weather. Like the rest of the state, it has been COLD in Olympia (as evidenced by the picture of the frozen Du Pen fountain above). With pass closures, slippery roads and the availability of virtual participation in legislative activity, the number of people on-campus is notably lighter than in previous years.
Yet, even with the cold, we see people participating in organizational lobby days on the Capitol campus. This week, I saw students from higher education institutions calling for more affordable college as well as a number of people wearing badges from the Wheat Association. I got very excited thinking there might be free cinnamon rolls from the Wheat Association, but I was unsuccessful in finding any. Perhaps another day.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Day, both the Senate and the House held celebrations honoring the late Dr. King and his legacy. Dr. King strongly believed in the power of civic engagement; what a way to celebrate him by seeing it all in action.
This is a reminder that Washington’s legislative session “clock” counts all seven days a week (meaning even weekends count toward this year’s 60-day session). It is not unusual for weekend legislative activity to be scheduled, and we already expect two Saturday fiscal committee meetings and additional weekend floor activity. The Washington Legislature moves at a fast pace! In addition, as evidenced by Monday’s activity, our Legislature works on the two federal holidays during our sessions – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. This provides opportunities for the public to engage more fully on what are typically days off from work for many Washingtonians.
Bill Activity Highlights
A number of early learning related bills had public hearings throughout this second week of the legislative session. Due to our publication schedule, we will include a summary of hearings related to HB 2195 (Representative Callan) Early Learning Facilities, SB 5870 (Senator C. Wilson) Expanding and Streamlining Eligibility for Early Learning Programs, and SB 6018 (Senator C. Wilson) Designating Early Learning Coordinators at Educational Service Districts in next week’s newsletter.
On Jan. 17, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee passed Substitute Senate Bill 5774 by Senators Billig and C. Wilson. This bill requires the Department of Children, Youth and Families to maintain the ability to perform fingerprint background checks in at least ten of its child welfare and early learning field offices. The substitute bill prioritizes geographic locations and limits the staff support to .25 FTE to each office location. The measure now moves to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
What’s on Deck for Next Week?
This short session started off with a bang and a flurry of bill hearings and executive sessions right out of the gate. As noted above, the first cutoff for policy committees is quickly approaching on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
As noted in last week’s Notes From Olympia, a huge volume of legislation was pre-filed and introduced during the first week of the legislative session. With that said, the bill introductions have slowed down considerably and if bills have not yet been scheduled for a policy committee hearing, the likelihood they will move forward in this short 60-day session is becoming less and less. We will focus on our state’s fiscal outlook in later newsletters as we transition into the fiscal committee timeframe. Still, the state’s budget outlook is not as flush as previous years, which also impacts decisions about scheduling bill hearings.
The committee schedule for week three has been released and – at least for the time being – it is notably lighter as it relates to early learning bills. We are at the stage of the legislative session, though, where bills are constantly added and removed from committee schedules. This is all to say it can change on a dime, so if you are tracking a particular bill, it is a good idea to keep a close eye on its status via leg.wa.gov.
On to next week …
Child Care and Tax Relief
Three bills have been scheduled related to leveraging our state’s tax system to support child care:
- HB 1716. The House Finance Committee will hear HB 1716 by Representative Rule Jan. 23. This bill would establish a Business & Occupations Tax Credit for businesses that provide child care assistance to employees. Now you might be wondering, wasn’t that bill heard last year? If you are thinking that, you would be correct. HB 1716 was introduced by Rep. Rule in 2023 and received a hearing in the House Finance Committee March 23, 2023. During the second year of a two-year legislative session, bills that did not pass in the first year are reintroduced and retained in their current status, so HB 1716 was eligible for another public hearing in the House Finance Committee.
- HB 2322. The House Finance Committee will also hear HB 2322 by Representative Senn Jan. 23. This bill would require entities receiving tax preferences from the State of Washington to provide child care assistance to their employees.
- SB 6038. Finally, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear SB 6038 by Senator Claire Wilson Jan. 25. This bill contains two primary provisions: 1) it would eliminate child care licensing fees and 2) provide for a tax preference to expand the business and occupation tax exemption to include income derived from child care.
A Good Little Bill for Families
- HB 2052. By Rep. Callan would provide that any construction or renovation in which public restrooms are required, baby diaper changing stations must be included. The bill has been scheduled for a public hearing in the House Local Government Committee Jan. 23 and an Executive Session Jan. 26.
Executive Sessions Scheduled
Two bills of note (in addition to HB 2052 noted above) are scheduled for Executive Session next week:
- SB 6109. Primarily related to child welfare, the bill also includes a provision related to home visiting. This bill is scheduled for Executive Session (vote) in Senate Human Services Jan. 22.
- HB 2243. By Representatives Reeves and Waters would create the children’s social equity land trust wherein funding for child care deserts would be generated by revenue from working forests statewide. Its public hearing is scheduled after the publication of this newsletter (Jan. 19 at 10:30 a.m.) in the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Next week’s committee schedule shows an Executive Session Jan. 26.
Bill Tracker
As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.