WACD Advocacy 2024

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Important Legislative and Budget Dates

January 8, 2024: The Legislature Convenes in a Short Session
The Washington State Legislature convenes today for a short, 60-day session. Find the legislative cutoff calendar at https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/cutoff.aspx.

The Legislature’s Agendas, Schedules, and Calendars page is available at https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Calendar.aspx.

​January 8, 2024First Day of Session
January 31, 2024Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) in house of origin, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
February 5, 2024Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees in house of origin.
February 13, 2024Last day to consider (pass) bills in house of origin (5 p.m.).
February 21, 2024Last day to read in committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from opposite house, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
February 26, 2024Last day to read in opposite house committee reports (pass bills out of committee and read them into the record on the floor) from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.
March 1, 2024*Last day to consider (pass) opposite house bills (5 p.m.) (except initiatives and alternatives to initiatives, budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets, differences between the houses, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session).
March 7, 2024Last day allowed for regular session under state constitution.
* After 5:00pm on the 54th day, only initiatives, alternatives to initiatives, budgets and matters necessary to implement budgets, matters that affect state revenue, messages pertaining to amendments, differences ​between the houses, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session may be considered. ​​

2024 WACD Bill Tracker

This year, WACD is using a third-party system to present our bill tracking information to you. Find the bill tracker at https://wacd-bill-tracker-2024.glide.page/. The tracker can be installed on your smart phone or tablet. More information about the tracker is available at https://wadistricts.us/2024/01/wacd-bill-tracker-for-2024/.

Legislative Day is January 25!

We have secured the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Lacey/Olympia with a group discount for folks planning to attend WACD Legislative Day on Thursday, January 25th. To reserve your room please follow this link. The link will take you to the hotel website, where, at the top of the page, click “book now” and enter the dates (January 24th – January 25th), click “search” and the next page will display the room rates and types. If you need to book a reservation outside of the dates, you can call the hotel directly (1-360-491-7985) to make or modify your booking. 

WACD will be hosting a legislative breakfast and briefing on the morning of the 25th, from 7 – 8:30 AM at the Holiday Inn Express. Staff is also preparing legislative materials for districts for potential use on Leg Day. 

If you are looking for supplement any district handouts, there are WSCC material available for districts. Specifically, they have a CTA fact sheet and an RCPP Fact Sheet. Additionally, the Commission has made available their district specific pages from their 2023 Annual Report.

Click here for WACD’s 2024 Legislative Priority sheet.

How to sign in and submit testimony or state your support

The Washington State Legislature has guidance on how to comment on a bill. Also see https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Participating.aspx.

House

Image of House Committee Sign In page
House Committee Sign-In

General guidance on how to submit written testimony for House committees is published at https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/house#. At that link, you can sign in to express support or to provide testimony. If you successfully follow the steps outlined there, you’ll see something like this:

Select the middle option of “I would like my position noted for the legislative record” and then complete the resulting form. You can testify or sign up in support of the bill. You must sign up at least one hour before the committee hearing is to start.

Senate

General guidance on how to submit written testimony for Senate committees is published at https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/senate#. It works very much like the system for the House.

Find Your District

Visit https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ to find your legislative district and legislators.

Legislative Update Newsletters

Budget and Policy Topics

Budget
February 28th – WACD FY 25 Supplemental Budget Reconciliation Priorities to the Operating Budget Negotiating Team
Tribal Representation on the Commission
WACD written comments to the Senate Ag & Water Committee from January 11
Riparian
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Support

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