WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE 2023 LEGISLATIVE SEASON.
Please plan on attending our AAUW Washington LOBBY DAY 2023 January 30 – click for information.

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Comments welcome – email publicpolicy@aauw-wa.org

OCT. 2022 UPDATE – CLICK FOR BILLTRACK50 TO SEE THOSE OF INTEREST TO AAUW-WA…

Read summary of our 2022 AAUW priorities…
Here are quick links to each bill’s info at government website:

• PASSED – Increasing the Availability of sexual assault nurse examiners education in rural and underserved communities – HB 1622
• FUNDED IN BUDGET – Creating Teaching Endorsements in Computer Science – SB 5389
• PASSED – Concerning Protections and Services for Indigenous Persons who are Missing Murdered or Survivors of Human Trafficking – HB 1571
• PASSED – Affirm WA Access to Abortion Act – HB 1851/SB-5766
• PASSED – Changes to the Paid Family Leave – SB 5649
• PASSED – Providing Wage and Salary Information (Pay Gap Legislation) – SB 5761
• Creating programs to encourage sexual assault nurse examiner training – HB 1621
• Higher Education Affordability – HB 1659
• Keep Our Care Act. SB 5688/HB 1809

Week 9 FINAL report March 11 – The 2022 legislative session has come to a close. The 2022 Legislature found itself flush with higher-than-expected tax revenues and federal COVID relief dollars, leading them to make historic investments in the supplemental budget in housing, behavioral health, families, schools, foster care, food, and transportation. Most of AAUW’s priorities fared very well this session.

Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 8 report March 4 – It is hard to believe that there is only one week left in the 2022 legislative session. As legislators work around-the-clock to pass bills off the floor of the Senate and House, advocates are also hard at work to keep critical proposals moving toward the Governor’s desk. […] There is lots of good news. Many of AAUW’s priorities are in a great place, thanks in no small part to your advocacy efforts!

• Increasing the Availability of sexual assault nurse examiners education in rural and underserved communities – HB 1622 – passed from the Senate on March 3 on a vote of 47-0.
• Concerning Protections and Services for Indigenous Persons who are Missing Murdered or Survivors of Human Trafficking –  HB 1571 – passed off the Senate floor 48 to 0. The bill needs to head back to the House for concurrence on an amendment made in the Senate and then it will head to the Governor for his consideration.
• Affirm WA Access to Abortion Act – HB 1851 – passed out of the Senate 28-21. It now heads back to the House so members can concur on the positive changes made by the Senate. Then off to the Governor.
• Changes to the Paid Family Leave – SB 5649– passed the Senate on 42-7 vote, and it passed the House 96-2.
• Providing Wage and Salary Information – SB 5761 – passed off the House floor on March 1. It now goes back to the Senate for consideration of an amendment made in the House, which will delay the effective date.
• Higher Education Affordability – HB 1659 – passed the Senate 38 to 10. The Senate made changes to the bill regarding the increases in the WA College Grants awards. These changes must be considered by the House before the bill can move on to the Governor.
  Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 7 report Feb. 25 – Budget proposals were released this week as the 2022 session heads into the homestretch. With a continued strong economic climate, both the House and Senate proposed substantial new spending, making use of federal resources and increased state revenue, prioritizing pandemic response, behavioral health, homelessness, and housing…It is expected that both houses will pass their respective budgets within the next few days and the work to reconcile differences will continue until the Legislature adjourns on March 10…Looking ahead — next week will be the final two cutoff deadlines before the last day of session, better known as Sine Die! Monday, February 28 is fiscal committee cutoff from the opposite house, and Friday, March 4 is the opposite house cutoff. So now is your time of final chances to change legislators’ minds about how they vote on our AAUW-WA priority bills. Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 6 report Feb. 18 – The second half of the week was chock full of committee hearings on bills from the opposite chamber. All bills need to be heard and exec’d out of committees before next Thursday, February 24th, the deadline for bills to make it out of the policy committees from the opposite house. In the background, budget leaders from the House and Senate are working on their respective supplemental budgets. We anticipate that they will be publicly available in the next few days and then there will be public hearings on those budgets early in the week. Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Feb. 18 AAUW priority bills progressing:
Creating programs to encourage sexual assault nurse examiner training – HB 1621
Increasing the Availability of sexual assault nurse examiners education in rural and underserved communities – HB 1622
Concerning Protections and Services for Indigenous Persons who are Missing Murdered or Survivors of Human Trafficking – HB 1571
Affirm WA Access to Abortion Act – HB 1851
Changes to the Paid Family Leave – SB 5649
Providing Wage and Salary Information – SB 5761
Higher Education Affordability – HB 1659
Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 5 report Feb. 11 – We have officially reached the half-way point of the 2022 legislative session. Legislators will spend the next 5 days on the floor, making key decisions about the bills that are before them. Come February 16, we start the process all over again – those bills that have successfully made their way through one chamber now must repeat the process in the other. We also are expecting the House and Senate to release their supplemental budget proposals soon, as an agreement on the supplemental budget must happen by March 10.
Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 4 report Feb. 4 – The first official legislative “cut-off” date has come and gone and the second one is fast approaching. February 3 was the day by which policy bills had to have passed out of policy committee. For the next few days, fiscal committees will hold lengthy hearings…The updates [in this report] capture where AAUW’s priority bills stand as we approach fiscal cutoff and as legislators get ready to turn their attention to floor activity…If you want to watch floor activity beginning February 8, click here.
Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 3 report Jan. 28 – The clear highlight of this week was AAUW Lobby Day! it was great to see so many faces turning up on a Monday morning to learn more about AAUW priority issues and to lobby their legislators. From February 3 to February 7 attention will shift to the fiscal committees, where costs of the policies will be considered. And then, we have only until February 15 for bills to pass off of the Senate and House floor.  As each deadline passes, fewer and fewer bills make the “cut” and the number of bills considered by legislators begins to dramatically decrease…CALL TO ACTION! Keep Our Care Act –  SB 5688/HB 1809…The bill has hit a few roadblocks…All AAUW-WA members: Please call or email the key players who can move this bill forward…Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 2 report Jan. 21 – In this short, 60-day session, things are moving quickly! With limited time, legislators are making key decisions on which bills to prioritize. Public hearings on policy issues will continue for another week and at the same time decisions are being made on which bills will move on in the process. [Some updates:] HB 1621 and HB 1622 passed out of Committee unanimously and been referred to House Appropriations. There was a robust public hearing on SB 5688 in Senate Law and Justice on January 18. Thank you to all the AAUW members who signed in as supportive. The bill is now scheduled for executive action on Senate Law and Justice on January 27. Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…

Week 1 report Jan. 15, 2022 – The 2022 Legislative session commenced on Monday, January 10 and given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 session looks much like that of 2021 – a virtual session with a limited number of lawmakers on site at the Capitol, and committee hearings being fully remote [….] Members were sworn in on Monday and on Tuesday, Governor Inslee delivered his State of the State address – click to view…. Given that it is a short 60-day session, legislators began holding hearings on the very first day. Under consideration this session, are both bills that were held over from 2021 as well as many newly introduced bills. Before adjourning on March 10, legislators will also need to pass a two-year supplemental state budget. Click to read/print full report containing LINKS to bills and details…<