From LWVWA 2/4/24 Newsletter:
Last week was the deadline for policy bills to be moved out of the policy committees. If they were not moved out by last Wednesday, January 31, then they essentially “died” in committee.
This week, Monday, February 5, is the deadline by which bills must have moved on from the fiscal and transportation committees or will have “died” in committee. Since that is Monday, the fiscal committees met with very long agendas this weekend on Friday and Saturday to move as many bills as possible.
Bill Updates
HB 1241, Addressing Harassment, makes threats to election workers a class C felony regardless of how the threat is delivered and allows for those election workers who are harassed to apply to the Address Confidentiality Program to protect their home addresses. HB 1241 passed the House with bipartisan support and has been referred to the Senate Law & Justice Committee.
The legislature recognizes the increasing risks and threats to socially vulnerable people (including pets) from extreme weather events such as heat, cold, smoke, and flooding. HB 1012, Creating an Extreme Weather Response Grant Program, will provide funding for communities with a demonstrated lack of resources, to meet the costs of responding to community needs during such periods. This is for cities, counties, towns, and tribes that have emergency management organizations. Passed the House and is in Senate Committee.
The Governor convened a task force on police use of deadly force following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The task force recommended the creation of an Office of Independent Investigations (OII) and an Office of Independent Prosecutions to ensure that cases involving use of deadly force by police would be handled fairly. The OII is up and running, but we need to finish the job by authorizing the Office of Independent Prosecutions. HB 1579 died in the House.
HB 2065, Elimination of Juvenile Points, rectifies past harms by making HB 1324 retroactive died in House committee.
HB 1885, Strengthens campaign finance disclosure by prohibiting campaign contributions and expenditures by foreign-influenced corporations would protect the basic principle of democratic self-government, and improve trust in our elections. Died in House committee.
HB 2250 would provide baseline definitions and legal requirements for ranked choice voting (RCV) elections for local governments. This legislation is critical to prepare for the eventual use of RCV in our state. The work group to be established would research best practices and develop effective rules, implementation materials, voter education standards, and support materials to aid in the consistent implementation of ranked choice voting throughout the state. This will save the taxpayers money and provide guidance for all local governments. Died in House Committee.
SB 5993, Concerning voter education, this bill places the burden on local governments to educate voters without the benefit of a statewide implementation plan. This legislation, if passed, allows any eligible voter to file an action against the local voting jurisdiction and election office. This sets up local governments, and its taxpayers, to be assessed monetary damages if even one voter feels the public education and outreach campaign associated with the voting method change is inadequate. Died in House committee.
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