Michele Thomas, Director of Policy and Advocacy

Last week brought the final cutoff of the regular legislative session. By April 12, all bills had to clear the floor of the opposite house from which they originated. As often discussed in these blog posts, bills that are “NTIB”, necessary to implement the budget, are not subject to these cutoffs. House Bill 1570/Macri, the Bringing Washington Home Act, is considered NTIB and is still alive despite not moving off of the House floor yet.

The last week of the session will largely be consumed by floor action in the House and Senate mostly dealing with bills on their “concurrence” calendars. Concurrence is needed when a bill has been amended in the opposite house, after it already passed the floor of the chamber in which it originated. Since the bill is now different, the chamber that first passed it has to decide if they agree with the changes. If they do not, they send it back with a request to “recede from amendments.” Good bills die in this process, even after making it this far. There are about 50 bills left for the House to consider and about 40 in the Senate, with about 8 bills currently in dispute.

What’s next?

Just about everyone is wondering the same thing: When will the special session start and how much time it will take to reach agreement on the budget? The plan for how special session will be rolled out will likely be made public by the end of the week. The options include starting immediately on April 24, waiting some set period of time to allow for a break, or not starting at all until agreement has been reached. Regardless, special session will most likely mean that the bulk of lawmakers will return home, with only budget negotiators staying in Olympia.

The Silver Lining

The good news about special session is that it offers real, in-district opportunities for advocacy to move lawmakers on key issues that are unfinished. In addition to the budgets, there is House Bill 1570/Macri and the House revenue proposal (House Bill 2186/Lytton) will also be on the table. This means that we all have been given more time to educate our lawmakers on the importance of these bills. Lawmakers have been hearing about 1570 all session, but now that they will be home, we can ensure that they see first-hand the good that the Homeless Housing and Assistance Surcharge does in their community! The Housing Alliance will be securing a date soon for a webinar on in-district special session advocacy. Watch for an announcement soon!

You are invited to a special call on House Bill 2186 - the House revenue package!

Want to learn more about what is in the House revenue package and how you can support it? Join the Housing Alliance for a special call on Wednesday, April 19 from 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM. We will be joined by Representative Noel Frame/36 LD who is the vice chair of the House Finance Committee. And Andy Nicholas from the Washington State Budget & Policy Center will also join us. Both will help us understand the tax proposal and how it both brings in much-needed new revenue while also fixing our regressive tax system. We will also discuss what affordable housing and homelessness advocates can do to help ensure that the bill passes. Register here for the phone number and to pre-submit any questions for Andy and Representative Frame.

Thanks for the many actions you’ve taken this session. Please help us wrap up this session with a bang and take action today! We will post one last blog next week to wrap up the regular session, but will provide updates during the special session when things are happening.

Lastly, don’t forget about the April 25 early bird registration deadline for the Conference on Ending Homelessness. The Conference is scheduled for May 10th and 11th in Tacoma. Click here for all the information. Note that Washington State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu is one of our keynotes! She is incredible and you won’t want to miss her!

- Michele