AWSP Blog

The saying that short legislative sessions are like sprints and long legislative sessions are like running marathons is completely true! This week, the 2022 legislative session got off to a rapid start. With about 1,500 bills either recently introduced or leftover from last year and more on the way, bill hearings began right away on Monday and both the House and Senate began voting bills out of their respective chambers on Wednesday.

Happy New Year! We are days away from January 10th, which marks the beginning of the 2022 legislative session. This short, 60-day session will go fast and is expected to end on March 10. In a 60-day legislative session, the supplemental budget makes spending adjustments to the 2021-2023 biennial budget passed last year.

Here in Olympia, there seems to be a constant stream of bills that will eventually have hearings dropping each day. There are also budget discussions taking place for how and when districts will receive the second round of federal dollars for K–12 education along with how the state funding will continue to support schools. And, we are hearing from President Biden there might be a third round of funding from the federal government. The short version, I believe, is that funding will be stable for next school year. How that all gets sorted out, however, remains to be seen. An important concern we’ve shared with legislators is making sure the dollars driven to specific programs that are dependent upon enrollment numbers like levy equalization (LEA), learning assistance (LAP), skills centers, institutional education, special education, hi-cap, and more, stay steady as well.

A very unusual session started this week, beginning with more somber opening day House and Senate sessions in which both houses voted on remote rules. Members who traveled to Olympia for the first day had to navigate terrible rain and tightened security measures to enter the Capitol. Committee hearings began on Tuesday and continued all week

The 2021 legislative session kicks off on Monday, January 11th and both the House and the Senate will convene for opening day and swearing-in ceremonies.