By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

It is hard to believe how much has happened during the past week in the Legislature. With less than three weeks left, everyone involved is digging deep to find that last burst of energy to help get across the finish line. Tuesday was the cutoff for House of Origin floor activity. Bills had to be voted out before 5:00pm, meaning that legislators and staff were putting in long hours to get the necessary work done. The House worked through the night on Monday, not adjourning until nearly 6:30am Tuesday morning only to turn right back around and start working again at 11:00am.

Wednesday morning bright and early, policy committees began holding public hearings on the bills that were passed from the opposite chamber. Hearing agendas were packed, and committee chairs usually would begin with providing friendly advice, or maybe a warning, to individuals who were scheduled to testify that “short testimony will be appreciated and often rewarded.” Within a two-hour block of time, a committee often has to hear 5-6 bills, caucus on an equal number of bills in executive session, and then also take a vote on the various amendments and bills. It is a whirlwind as members, staff, and advocates spend their days logging on and off various Zoom meetings trying to keep up with it all. The pace is unavoidable as the final policy committee cutoff is Thursday 2/24. Read More

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

This week the Legislature pivoted to full-time floor action, meaning that the focus will be on caucusing, debating, and passing their members’ priority bills. These days are long, and both the House of Representatives and the Senate worked this past weekend, with the House hearing bills into the early morning hours on Sunday, to get their work done before the February 15^th House of Origin cutoff. It is funny how many emails legislators receive from constituents this time of session inquiring about if they are “really still working” when they stumble across TVW in the middle of the night and see their elected official speaking on a bill. The answer is “YES” – the legislators and staff put in long hours discussing possible amendments, strategizing, and finally debating bills on their respective chamber floors. Read More

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

We have reached the halfway point of the 2022 Legislative Session! The pace has been fast and furious, so making it to the first bill cut-off and being able to put a line through another day on the calendar getting us closer to March 10^th is an opportunity for everyone to briefly sigh in relief. Today, Saturday, was a long day of public hearings and executive action sessions in the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means Committees. Concise testimony focusing on the fiscal implications of the various bills was appreciated by the legislators who sat on Zoom from the committee’s call to order at 9:00 am until past the dinner hour.

The final day to pass bills out of the House of Origin Fiscal Committees is Monday, February 7. Bill proponents either celebrated seeing their bill numbers on the agendas for today or are spending their weekend scrambling in an attempt to have it scheduled for a hearing and vote on Monday. The number of bills that are referred to fiscal committees from policy committees is significant. While some bills are intentionally not scheduled – they could be exempt from the cut-off or there might be another bill being used as the vehicle for the issue – some just get overlooked. It is rare, but it happens. Advocates are working to find out what category their bill falls into and then take the appropriate action. Read More

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

Throughout week 3 of the 2022 Legislative Session, League of Education Voters (LEV) stepped up on multiple fronts – monitoring hearings, arranging testimony before committees, advocating on amendments, and working with coalition partners. The policy committee cut-off is February 3^rd, followed closely by the fiscal committee cut-off on February 7^th, so there has been a lot for everyone at LEV to juggle. Several committees finished their work this week and will be holding work sessions on issues, others will be spending their time caucusing and voting on various bills, and there will be a few that will be continuing to hold hearings on bills in hopes of moving them before the deadline. Regardless, it will be busy. Read More

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

When the Legislature is in person, our days in Olympia are filled with hundreds of conversations, and this doesn’t even take into account the additional hundred that we overhear or observe. We build strategy based on these small exchanges, exchanges that often take place in hallways or quietly whispered in the backs of hearing rooms. The passage of legislative information has always depended on these interactions. There are not enough hours in the day to meet with every person on every issue that is being debated in Olympia, so we rely on what is being shared by others. We find out who is supportive of legislation and who might have concerns. We discuss possible testimony in hearings, report on legislative meetings, or share proposed amendment language. Passing a legislator in the hall might be the opportunity to provide a quick update, or for them to let you know that there might be issues with the bill you are working on. Lasting only a matter of minutes (or even less), these conversations are the foundation of the work. Not being able to have them for the last two years has fundamentally changed the process. Some ways are for the better, but I believe that the virtual session hinders many aspects of passing legislation. There is knowledge gained by seeing more than what our computer screens show us, hearing information in the moment – not delayed, or listening to a person’s tone that can’t be reflected in an email or text. Fingers crossed that moving forward, we will adopt the positives gained by the virtual session – most importantly public access without the obstacle of traveling to the Capitol Campus, with the necessary human interactions that can be a valuable part of the legislative process. Read More

By Jacob Vela, League of Education Voters Director of Policy and Research

If experience has taught us anything, it is that the start of every legislative session is always a bit unique, and the first week of the 2022 session definitely falls into the “unique” category. After months of rumors, the House and Senate announced in late fall that the legislature was going to attempt to navigate a hybrid model for the 2022 session. The expectation was that after being completely virtual last year, legislative leadership had found a way to allow in-person interaction between the elected members both with each other and the public. Sadly, within days of the session beginning, based on the rapid increase in new COVID-19 cases, plans had to be changed.

The 2022 Legislative Session opened on January 10^th, once again in a virtual format. Luckily, the last few years have taught us to have patience and adapt quickly to the unexpected, so with barely missing a beat, both chambers moved forward as if virtual had been the plan all along. The 2022 Legislative Session is a “short” one, running for only 60 days. During this time the elected members will debate and pass supplemental budgets and numerous policies that will directly affect our state. As with all short sessions, the pace starts off at a run and doesn’t let up until the final gavel falls on March 10^th. Read More