2023 Legislative Update: Week 12

April 2, 2023

By Lyset Cadena

Contract Lobbyist, Bellevue Chamber

Weekly Legislative Report

Wednesday, March 29 was the last day for bills to be passed out of their opposite house policy committees. Following that cutoff, attention quickly shifted to fiscal committees. There is a quick turnaround of just one week between opposite house policy cutoff and opposite house fiscal cutoff on Tuesday, April 4.

All bills that had been referred to a fiscal committee in their opposite house must pass out of committee by Tuesday or they are considered dead (unless they are deemed Necessary to Implement the Budget (NTIB). Any bills that did make it out of committee in time were referred to the Rules committee for further consideration. Our next cutoff date is Wednesday, April 12 when bills must be passed out of the opposite house.

For those that like to keep track of the number of bills moving through the legislative process, below are the number of bills introduced and the bills passed by each of the cutoffs we have crossed:

Bills Introduced so far in the 2023 session: ~1,650
Bills Passed House of Origin Policy Cutoff: 1,108
Bills Passed House of Origin Fiscal Cutoff: 818
Bills Passed House of Origin Floor Cutoff: 611
Bills Passed Opposite House Policy Cutoff: 569

Budgets

On Monday, the House released its proposed 2023-25 Operating, Capital and Transportation budgets. And on Wednesday, the Senate released their proposed Transportation budget. At this point, all budget proposals have been released. Following the release, there was (and continues to be) a big flurry of reviewing the proposals, working on amendment, and passing budgets out of committee and off the floor.

Senate Capital Budget

The Senate capital budget was released on Monday, March 20th and heard in Senate Ways & Means committee that same day at 4pm. It appropriates a total of $7.9 billion for the 2023-2025 biennium. The Senate passed the budget on March 27th with a 44-0 vote count and is waiting for the House to pass their capital budget for negotiations to begin.

Senate Operating Budget

The Senate operating budget was released on March 23rd and heard in Senate Ways & Means on Friday, March 24th . It would appropriate $69.2 billion in 2023-2025 from funds subject to the outlook (NGF-O). Policy level changes are a net increase of $5.1 billion. The budget was amended and voted off the Senate Floor on Wednesday, March 29th with a 40-9 vote count.

Senate Transportation Budget

The Senate transportation budget was released on Wednesday and heard on Thursday, March 30th . The Senate budget provides $12.9 billion in appropriation authority – $7 billion is provided for capital projects and programs, and $5.9 billion is provided for operating programs. This is an increase of around $700 million over the 2022 enacted budget (regular 2022 supplemental plus the 2022 Move Ahead WA package). The budget is scheduled for executive session on April 3rd .

House Capital Budget

The House capital budget was released on Monday and heard on Tuesday, March 30th. It was passed by the House Capital Budget committee on Thursday and is now awaiting further action. The capital budget authorizes a total of $8.1 billion for the 2023-25 fiscal biennium. Of this amount, $4.7 billion is financed with general obligation bonds.

House Operating Budget

The House operating budget was released on Monday and heard that afternoon. It was amended and passed by the Appropriations Committee on March 29th after a very long executive session. The budget appropriates $70.0 billion NGF-O and $131.9 billion in total budgeted funds. This includes a net increase of $2.4 billion NGF-O and $1.8 billion total budgeted funds at maintenance level to continue current programs and meet statutory obligations, with the largest NGF-O cost drivers being K-12 staff salary inflation and statutory provisions around early learning and child care services.

House Transportation Budget

The House transportation budget was released on Monday and heard that afternoon. It was amended and passed by the House Transportation committee on Wednesday, March 29th . The House Chair’s proposal for the second supplemental transportation budget for the 2021-23 biennium and the new transportation budget for the 2023-25 fiscal biennium provide spending authority of $10.335 billion and $13.601 billion.

TVW’s Legislative Review does clips each day highlighting some of the hot topics of the day. You can find links to the Legislative Review videos here.

Upcoming Events Report

Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 4/3 @ 9:00am

2SSB 5120 – Exec Session – Establishing crisis relief centers in Washington state.
2SSB 5290 – Exec Session – Concerning consolidating local permit review processes.

Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 4/3 @ 10:00am

E2SHB 1110 – Exec Session – Increasing middle housing in areas traditionally dedicated to singlefamily detached housing.
SHB 1132 – Exec Session – Concerning oversight and training requirements for limited authority Washington peace officers and agencies.
E2SHB 1167 – Exec Session – Concerning residential housing regulations.
E2SHB 1181 – Exec Session – Improving the state’s response to climate change by updating the state’s planning framework.
2SHB 1579 – Exec Session – Establishing a mechanism for independent prosecutions within the office of the attorney general of criminal conduct arising from police use of force.