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February 14, 2018
Dear Friends and
Neighbors,
Today we'll conclude the busiest week yet of the 2018 legislative
session. Counting today, seven of the past eight days (including
Saturday morning) have been dedicated to “floor action.” That means being on the floor of
the Senate chamber, taking action on bills. It lasted well into the night more
than once, with the longest stretch of floor voting taking us far past
midnight. Our break was on Sunday.
Once this first round of floor action is behind us (and also for my colleagues in the House), we will be at a significant
point in the session. Except for bills that will be part of an eventual budget
package, every piece of legislation still in play will have been passed by either the
Senate or House – meaning it’s already halfway through the lawmaking process.
Floor voting is a particularly busy time for me, as the assistant
floor leader for our side of the aisle. Although the Senate floor debates may
appear fairly seamless to folks viewing back home on TVW, a lot of coordination
is involved. Tracking bills and amendments, offering amendments at the correct
time, knowing who will offer an amendment and speak in support of it – those
are just several examples of the many moving parts that a debate can include. The second and final period of floor voting is March 3-8, to
conclude the session.
After
today my Senate colleagues and I will turn our focus back to committee hearings, this time on bills that have come over from the House. The House committees will do the same
with many Senate bills.
During a pause in voting yesterday,
Senator Christine
Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) and I discuss a funding issue affecting local school districts. Senator Rolfes chairs the Senate Ways and
Means Committee and serves as the lead budget developer.
Status of Bills
Some bills passed by the Senate have already received
attention from House committees. My Senate Bill 6211,
to support the Department of Natural Resources’ Good Neighbor work agreements,
was endorsed February 9 by the House committee on natural resources. It had
received unanimous Senate approval on January 24.
My Senate
Bill 6055, to help Leavenworth address an unusual situation involving the disposal
of brush and yard waste, received unanimous support from the Senate yesterday.
I expect to see it routed to the House Environment Committee. That’s because the
Senate’s Energy, Environment and Technology Committee had jurisdiction of the
bill in the Senate.
The first of the state’s quarterly revenue forecasts for
this year will be made public tomorrow morning. My Senate and House colleagues developing
the operating budget will use the forecast to propose mid-course adjustments to
the two-year budget adopted last year. Those adjustments are collected in
what’s called the “supplemental” operating budget. Soon we will see the
respective supplemental budget proposals begin their journey through the
lawmaking process, along with measures considered to be part of the larger
budget package.
Work is also under way on a supplemental capital budget and
a supplemental transportation budget. I have been advocating for projects
related to each – the cleanup of Saddle Rock soil being an example.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve as
your 12th District state senator.
Sincerely,
Brad Hawkins
State Senator
Brad Hawkins
12th Legislative District
E-mail:
brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov
Website: senatorbradhawkins.org
107 Newhouse Building
- P.O. Box 40412 | Olympia, WA 98504-0412
(360) 786-7622 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000
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