Trivia Answer

“Sine Die” is a Latin phrase meaning “without assigning a day for a future meeting or hearing.” It is used to symbolize adjournment at the end of a legislative session. It occurs when both the Senate and House of Representatives have concluded all of their business, or at midnight on the final day of the legislative session, whichever happens first.

In Washington state, Sine Die is typically a celebratory event with both the Senate and House chamber doors opened so the Presiding Officers can see each other. Legislators line the aisle for the final bang of the gavels. There is often cheering and even the blaring of the horns you hear at soccer games. The 2021 Sine Die will no doubt feel a little anti-climactic as most legislators will be at their homes.

Here’s a view of the final gavel coming down from a previous Sine Die celebration. Note the open Chamber door looking out onto the Senate Chamber and the House members gathered near the aisle.

Trivia!

Now that bills are making their way to the Governor’s desk, how much time does the Governor have to act on a bill?

Weekly Highlights

End of Session is Near. After a marathon weekend of floor activity prior to the Sunday, April 11th 5:00 p.m. deadline for bills to be passed out of the opposite house, this week’s lighter calendar may have provided a moment to catch a breath. That’s not to say there was nothing going on, as both the Senate and House held floor sessions where they reviewed and approved changes made to bills in the opposite house, a process called concurrence.

In addition, budget writers continued their negotiations. At a Tuesday media availability, Democratic leadership shared their current expectation that negotiations will wrap up by early next week, giving staff time to do the hard work of turning the agreements into a budget bill and accompanying supporting documents. Both Senate and House Democratic leaders pledged they will allow time for public review of the budget details prior to their respective votes.

As a reminder – the Legislature is scheduled to Sine Die (adjourn) on Sunday, April 25th. Nine days – but who is counting!

Fair Start for Kids Act Almost Across the Finish Line. The Fair Start for Kids Act is very close to the Governor’s desk with one step remaining in the process – the Senate has to concur (agree) to the amendments made to the bill in the House. Note that if further changes to the bill are needed to align with the final budget agreement, there are procedures for further changes as long as both bodies agree.

As a reminder, Start Early Washington has produced a summary of the Fair Start for Kids Act as passed by the House on April 8^th.

Capital Gains Bill Up for Vote Friday.  At 9:00 today (Friday), the House Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on a proposed striking amendment to the Capital Gains bill, ESSB 5096. The proposed striking amendment provides that all funds generated by a seven percent tax on certain Capital Gains be deposited into the Education Legacy Trust Account to support K-12 education, early learning and child care.

Under the previous version of the bill, the first $350 million of the revenue generated would have gone into the Education Legacy Trust Account, the next $100 million into the state General Fund and the balance into a newly created “Taxpayer Fairness Account.” Should this striker be adopted, this funding distribution is changed, with all funding going into the Education Legacy Trust Account.

The striking amendment also exempts certain real estate transactions, commercial fishing privileges and qualified family-owned small businesses. If the bill is approved by the House Finance Committee, it would then move to the House Floor and back to the Senate for Concurrence in House amendments. Both the Senate and House proposed budgets assume passage of Capital Gains in their projections.

What is the Future of the Blue Press House?

On the west end of the Capitol campus sit a blue house and a white house, both of which serve as offices for members of the Capitol Press Corps. These houses were a focus of a 2020 Trivia question.

Changes are coming for these buildings as both the Senate and House Capital budgets contain funding for a “Legislative Campus Modernization” project that will mean the end for both houses.  The Spokesman Review’s Jim Camden wrote a wonderful column this past Sunday about this modernization effort and shared some memories of his time working from that space. It’s a great read.

Trivia Answer

In Washington state, bills that are delivered to the Governor more than five days before the Legislature adjourns have five days to be acted upon (Sundays excluded). We call these “5 day bills.” Bills that are delivered fewer than 5 days before the Legislature adjourns (or passed in session but delivered after the session concludes) have 20 days to be acted on by the Governor (Sundays also excluded).

It should be noted that once a bill has been passed by both bodies (with its amendments concurred in, if necessary), the bill must then be signed by both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate before it is officially delivered to the Governor. The 5- or 20-day clock starts when the bill reaches the Governor’s desk.

How can I find out when bills are being signed?  The Governor’s Office maintains a Bill Action section on its webpage that it updates with scheduled bill action and a list of previous action taken.

In pre-COVID times, the bill signings were often a celebratory affair with the legislative bill sponsors and advocates on-hand to pose for a picture commemorating all of the hard work. For some significant bills, signings are held in alternative locations to either accommodate a large group of supporters or to symbolize the bill’s focus (like an education bill being signed at a school).

In contrast, bill signings during COVID:

This blog post was developed in partnership with Kirbi Range, maternal and child health manager at EverThrive Illinois.

This week marks Black Maternal Health Week, a nationwide effort to deepen the conversation around Black mothers and families and advance health equity across minority communities.

There are arguably few calls to action more pressing than the U.S. maternal health crisis. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people are three to four times more likely than white people to die while they are pregnant or in the year after pregnancy. Particularly in Illinois, the rate of pregnancy-related death is six times higher for Black birthing parents than white birthing parents – a state review committee found that most of these deaths are preventable.

The disparities in maternal and infant mortality are rooted in racism. Both systematic and structural racism and implicit bias among providers are leading contributors to a health care crisis that results in Black people not receiving optimal health care and dying. With maternal mortality rates on the rise, we must take aggressive and targeted action to address this public health crisis and the stark and persistent differences in deaths by race.

Recently, health advocates in Illinois declared a major victory in the fight to halt these inequitable trends in maternal mortality with the passing of HB158, a health care reform bill sponsored by the Legislative Black Caucus. With adequate funding, this bill will expand access to evidence-based home visiting and doula services, opening the door for more pregnant and parenting people to have access to the high-quality care and support they need and deserve before, during and after pregnancy. These services play a pivotal role in reducing risks to maternal health and their expansion has the potential to save lives.

As HB158 awaits Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s signature, work must continue to ensure effective and immediate implementation of the bill’s life-saving provisions. Advocates must turn our focus to funding these provisions, and the state must begin the work to partner with Black-led organizations and communities to make this change a reality. In addition, follow along with ongoing efforts to address the maternal health crisis in Illinois through the work of the Prenatal to Three Coalition.

To learn more about Black Maternal Health Week, visit Black Mamas Matter and the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

This blog post is a component of Illinois Childhood Advocacy Week, a week of full of opportunities for providers, parents and caregivers to share with their legislators that early education is essential—now more than ever as we rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.

Spring has sprung in Illinois, which means the Illinois General Assembly is busy building the state’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget. Now more than ever before, the state legislature must invest in the health and sustainability of our early care and education system. The public health crisis wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the needs of families, certainly among those already lacking equitable services and opportunities. It has also brought into sharp relief the essential nature of the work performed by early childhood professionals – workers whose efforts are central to the well-being of children, families and communities.

Fortunately, we know where we need to go. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding and the Prenatal to Three Initiative offer ambitious plans for how to fund and structure our state’s system to ensure all children, birth to age 5, have access to the highest quality care. But, we need more public funding to turn these plans into action.

Time is of the essence, and this spring session presents a great opportunity for the legislature to direct additional state and federal funding to early childhood programs and its workforce.

We ask the state to:

• Increase funding for the Early Childhood Block Grant by $50 million, with a significant portion of these funds ($30 million) to be used for increased workforce compensation.
• Increase funding for the Early Intervention program by $25 million to improve provider reimbursement rates and extend services for children who turn age 3 over the summer.
• Increase funding for voluntary home visiting programs by $4 to increase wages for home visitors and to expand access to doula services.
• Invest significant state and federal funds into the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to help providers stay in business and to increase staff compensation.

Our goal is simple: make Illinois the best place in the country for young children. Let’s get to work.

This blog post is a component of Illinois Childhood Advocacy Week, a week of full of opportunities for providers, parents and caregivers to share with their legislators that early education is essential—now more than ever as we rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.

Trivia Answer

Photo taken April 8, 2021.  Look at those gorgeous trees!

What a silly trivia question, because, if the Legislative Building filled up with 136 Olympic-sized swimming pools, there would be more than a few problems!

I found this factoid on the Department of Enterprise Services website and it caused me to wonder – what is the impetus to measure these types of things?  If you are curious about other comparisons – the Eiffel Tower is 3.5 times the height of the Legislative Building and the approximate tons of bricks used to build the Legislative Building equals the weight of 5538 Orca whales. Tuck those away for a future trivia game and wow your family and friends with your wide array of knowledge.

My mind was on the Legislative Building because, if we were able to safely be on the Capitol Campus, lobbyists would be spending this whole week on the “3^rd Floor.”  The 3^rd Floor is the non-creative name for the literal 3^rd Floor of the Legislative Building and is the location to the main entrances to the Senate and House chambers, which are on opposite sides of each other.

During the periods of floor cutoff, the 3^rd Floor is abuzz as lobbyist aim to catch lawmakers and staff to make final pitches on bills, amendments and budget discussions (and to share gossip). In a nod to tradition, lobbyists can “send in notes” to legislators via the Sergeants to request that a legislator come out to discuss an issue. This requires a lot of patience because when you send in notes, you can wait (and wait and wait!). There is little seating provided, so it’s wise to wear comfortable shoes as the days (and nights!) are long and the marble floors are not forgiving.

With a largely virtual session, there is no 3^rd Floor activity this year.  Personally, I miss it because, while it is exhausting (and frustrating), it is also adrenaline fueling and the down time allowed me to build relationships with wonderful people working hard to advance policies for Washingtonians. Yes, I am still idealistic about this process.

A simpler time. The 3^rd Floor pre-Covid. Lots of waiting, pacing and being “on the lookout.”

This is the “Sine Die” tree, located on the east side of the Legislative Building.  Legend holds that when the tree fully blooms, it is time for the Legislature to sine die (adjourn).  The buds show progress, but we have some ways to go!

Trivia!

Why are there 42 steps leading into the north side of the Washington State Legislative Building?

Weekly Highlights

Another Calendar Cutoff – Now Back to Floor Activity. Today represents another milestone in the legislative process as we hit the cutoff for bills to pass out of the opposite chamber’s fiscal committee. This has been a stressful week for legislators, lobbyists and stakeholders alike as we anxiously await updated fiscal committee agendas to see if key bills have been scheduled for a public hearing and/or vote. It is not unusual to see bills that have seen minimal problems to date simply not be scheduled for a hearing or a vote. There are a number of reasons this can happen – availability of funding, concern over policy, or simply because there is not enough time to hear all of the active bills (legislators and staff do need to sleep a little bit!).

This lack of sleep and passion around whether bills are moving (or not) has led to increased tension this week.

The impacts of a mostly virtual session were particularly notable over the past few weeks as bills have been heard in the opposite chamber. First, many of the veteran legislators have yet to meet the newly elected legislators from the opposite chamber. When freshmen legislators were presenting their bills in the opposite chamber, we heard a lot of “I look forward to meeting you.” Second, the admonition to not introduce companion bills was felt as the bills moved to the opposite chamber. Companion bills are identical pieces of legislation that are introduced in both the Senate and the House. There are a lot of reasons to introduce companion bills, including increasing the likelihood that the desired policy will be enacted. One of the results we are seeing from the lack of companion bills is that there is sometimes little familiarity with bills once they hit the opposite chamber. This has led to the need to spend time educating members on the issues, and we are also seeing bills that sailed through one chamber running into problems in the opposite one.

After the fiscal committee later today, activity will immediately shift to floor activity again, with floor sessions expected over the next two weekends to meet the April 11th opposite floor cutoff.

Fair Start for Kids Act Advances. It appears that E2SSB 5237 will serve as the legislative vehicle for the Fair Starts for Kids Act.  E2SSB 5237 had a quick public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, with an approval vote later that day.  Since this was one of the few companion bills introduced, the bill’s components had been amply reviewed by both bodies. The bill now moves to the House Floor.

Start Early WA has produced an updated document summarizing the latest components of the Fair Starts for Kids Act.

Senate and House Budget Proposals Receive Attention. In the past week, the Senate and House released their respective Operating and Capital budgets. Fueled by an expected $56.6 billion in revenue for the 2021-23 biennium and significant federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), both budgets lay out a vision for meeting the needs of Washingtonians in this time of recovery from the pandemic.

Both budgets assume enactment of a 7% capital gains tax that is expected to bring in $347 million in the 2021-23 biennium (this is a lower amount because of the ramp-up for the new tax).  There are a lot of similarities in both budgets’ priorities, with large investments seen in continued pandemic recovery, child care, housing and rental assistance and K-12 education.  The House budget leaves an ending fund balance of $199 million and $1.1 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account (Rainy Day Fund) while the Senate budget leaves an ending fund balance of $179 million and $1.3 billion in the Budget Stabilization Account.

Both the Senate and House make historic investments in early learning.  Start Early WA has prepared a high-level summary of major early learning investments contained in both budgets.  Because of the strong intersection between the budget and the Fair Start for Kids Act, we will likely see House action on the Fair Start for Kids Act delayed until budget negotiations conclude so the final details can be aligned in the Fair Starts bill.

What comes next? The full Senate has passed both its Operating and Capital budgets and the House is expecting to take similar action in the next day or so.  Budget writers will then turn to resolving differences between the two approaches and the agreed-upon budget will be released toward the end of the scheduled adjournment of legislative session (April 25^th).

Trivia Answer

The 42 steps represent Washington’s admission as the 42nd state to the Union.

According to the Washington Department of Enterprise Services, the Legislative building was constructed between 1922-28, with legislators occupying the building starting in 1929. Construction of the Legislative Building cost $7.4 million and was funded by revenue raised by timber sales on state lands. The federal government gifted Washington this land upon statehood and, to this day, revenue generated by state land timber sales is dedicated to supporting buildings on the Capitol campus.

When the campus fully opens back up, I will count the steps to verify!