Day 77 and counting…
From LWVWA 3/26/23 Legislative Newsletter.
In the week ahead, the Legislature will undergo another transition. The House and Senate policy committees are considering bills that passed the opposite chamber. The cutoff for policy bills to pass out of committee is this Wednesday, March 29. The cutoff for bills to pass out of the fiscal and transportation committees is April 4.
At the same time, the Senate has released its capital and operating budget proposals and has held public hearings on those. The House is expected to release its proposed budgets on Monday in the week ahead, with public hearings in very short order afterward. Both chambers will release their transportation budgets next week as well. These will be pushed to the floor for action very quickly.
LWVWA Issue Chairs will describe some of the budget issues they see as well as policy recommendations in their respective weekly updates. The joint Action Items, the ones that head this Newsletter, are the ones that the entire Team deems worthy of your action; but for specific issues you are interested in, please also check the weekly reports for those issues.
Support Climate Change Mitigation
HB 1181, Improving the state’s response to climate change by updating the state’s planning framework, must pass out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee soon. Please help move it forward by asking for a vote
Climate change is a worldwide crisis that is also creating a crisis in Washington State. Local jurisdictions have a responsibility to address it, both in terms of mitigation but especially in terms of organizing for resiliency in the face of its effects. Recent experience with floods, landslides, forest fires and more demonstrates that mitigation and resilience plans are needed. HB 1181 would add a goal of climate change and resiliency to the state Growth Management Act and direct local jurisdictions that produce comprehensive plans to include these climate change elements in their plan updates. This is the time to give such direction, because plan updates are due in 2024 for Puget Sound area jurisdictions and in 2025 for other parts of the state. After that, the next plan updates won’t be required for 10 more years.
Click here to ask the Senate Ways & Means Committee to PASS HB 1181.
Stop Punishing People Twice for the Same Crime
Current law automatically giving people longer sentences because of crimes they committed as children has meant that Black and Indigenous people often receive longer sentences due to prior juvenile convictions. And it does not reflect modern brain science showing that young people’s decision-making and impulse control are still developing.
HB 1324, Eliminating Juvenile Points, would rectify this outdated practice by retroactively eliminating the use of juvenile adjudications in adult sentencing and discontinuing the practice moving forward
Click here to sign in PRO on HB 1324.
Be involved. Legislators need to hear from you!
Thank you for supporting the League’s priorities!
There are several other ways you can follow the hearings and legislative process:
- Via TVW (Washington State’s public affairs TV network), and
- On the Washington State Legislature website.
We recommend you sign up to get the LWV Washington weekly legislative newsletter delivered to your own inbox! Lots more happening in the upcoming week.
Learn more here.