From the Director - Legislative Action Shifts to the Floor: Calls from Home are Vital

The first several days of this week saw a flurry of committee activity as the committees worked aggressively to get legislation moving before the cutoff for consideration of measures in the policy committees. For the next two weeks, legislative action will shift to the floor of the House and Senate. Pursuant to the joint rules, legislation must clear the house of origin by 5 pm on March 14 to remain technically alive for this session.

As mentioned above, we are making progress on several of our key issues. However, we are also working to defeat harmful legislation that has moved out of committee. Two of those adverse measures are SSB 5854, eliminating the authority for municipal utilities to impose liens for delinquent utility bills of renters; and SHB 1034, requiring all municipal utilities to allow their customers to pay utility bills electronically. That requirement would only kick in after the utility modifies its systems by 25% or more. City officials are urged to contact their legislators and ask that they oppose these two harmful measures.

As indicated on the front page of this Bulletin and in subsequent write-ups, there are a number of positive measures that are moving through the process. All too often, bills simply die in the Rules Committee because there is no legislator who asks for the measure to be brought up for a vote. Contacting your legislators can be critical in helping those good bills along. We urge you to make those calls and communicate the importance of those measures to your legislators.

In Closing

Between now and the anticipated adjournment on April 22, the legislative session will become more hectic. There will be greater pressure to get legislation out of the second house and lobbyists will try to resurrect dead measures by amending them onto live bills. We will keep you apprised of what’s going on and seek your assistance on measures that may need that crucial "call from home."

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