There comes a time in every legislative session when thoughts inevitably must turn from introducing bills to passing them. That time has finally arrived. After introducing nearly 1400 bills during the first weeks of session, Friday marks the first cutoff. Bills must have passed out of a policy committee in the house in which they were introduced by Friday in order to keep moving in the legislative process. There are always exceptions to this rule, but metaphorical red pens will begin slashing bills off of tracking lists – with glee and sorrow – as of Friday, February 7th.

This will begin the winnowing down of bills and help us all begin to focus on what really might have a chance of becoming law this year. Bills with price tags will move along to fiscal committees, of which they must pass out of by next Tuesday. The rest will move to the rules committees and await action by the full house or senate.

The influx of executive sessions this week does not mean a week without policy hearings. WSAC members and staff will testify on 19 bills and register support or opposition by signing in on another 15. Here are just a few examples:

  • On February 3rd, WSAC will support HB 2247, which will require the liquor and cannabis board to align marijuana licensing decisions with local zoning ordinances.
  • We’ll support the Senate Transportation Committee Chair’s new transportation funding proposal on Wednesday, February 5th.
  • On Thursday, February 6th, WSAC will testify in support of HB 2228, which will permit the early deployment of state fire service resources.

Then, we will probably spend most of our Saturday sitting in the House Appropriations Committee or the Senate Ways & Means Committee to shepherd good bills along and make sure fiscal notes are regarded for bills that add costs to county government. Bills often get added as late as the day of the meeting, so you never know exactly what to expect. This is an unfortunate reality of short sessions when timelines are compressed, but the number of bills introduced is not.

Regardless, these first two steps in the process are incredibly important. For example, with more than 70 housing-related bills introduced this year and others still alive from last year, we may finally have the opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff and see a picture begin to take shape. With the outline coming together, we’ll be better able to weigh in on what bills counties think will help or hurt the housing and homelessness crisis, as well as the ones that really won’t do much at all. It’s finally time to focus.