Welcome to Policy Watch 2006

PART II – WEEK TWO IN OLYMPIA

THE SCENE

The 2006 Legislative Session is off to a flying start.

Picture this. There’s rain pouring down (Olympia is beating the all-time record for rain), the Capitol was drenched, and the Session was just one week old. But already on January 16 th there were close to a dozen groups – large and small – hosting lobby days at the Capitol. One legislator (who had been racing from one group to the next) caught her breath and told a gathering of about 170 social workers: “…it’s only the start of the second week and I feel like we’re already two weeks behind!” Meanwhile, outside the old Insurance building, Long-term Care workers in purple ponchos were accompanied by a tiny band, another 300-400 soggy but undaunted advocates for social justice were marching on the Capitol under the auspices of the Statewide Poverty Action Network, and smaller groups from Citizen Action (among others) were deep in meetings with their Senators and Representatives over health care reforms. And that was just the start of week Two.

Day after day they came: retail workers in yellow-orange shirts, motorcycle club members in black leather jackets, business owners and professionals in suits. Ours is a real “people’s Capitol” – as anyone who comes for a lobby day or just a brief personal visit could attest. Many people hesitate to come; they’ve got the false impression that Olympia is a formal, even intimidating place. But among the very-first-time-citizen-lobbyists this week were home care workers who learned otherwise. One woman liked the experience so much she wants to come back… and bring her children. After all, it’s their Capitol too.

Those who come as part of an organized group usually get the opportunity to hear from legislators and lobbyists alike, along with briefings and packets full of information. Those who come on their own learn that Capitol staff will go out of their way to help. A busy tax policy aide who was described by the receptionist as “very popular today,” nonetheless stopped what she was doing to answer a newcomer’s questions about a bill, and then carefully walked him through some of the steps his group needed to take next.

THE PROCESS – Policy Committees

At this point in the Session much of the action occurs in Committees. That’s a practical matter as much as anything since it is hard to imagine how else the Legislature could do its job. After all, they will be dealing with about 1,800 bills before they adjourn in early March. It would be impossible to have all of those bills discussed by all 98 Representatives or all 49 Senators from start to finish.

So like any large group, they use Committees as the “work horses” of the Session. After a bill is introduced and assigned a number (e.g., House Bill 1234, or Senate Bill 5678), it gets assigned to a relevant policy committee – one of 16 in the House; one of 12 in the Senate. Education bills are referred to the Education Committees, health bills to the Health Committees, business-related bills to the commerce Committee….

Unlike the full House or full Senate, those committees are small enough to focus on a discrete set of bills, consider whether any changes are needed, and then vote to either let the bill die… or pass. If a bill gets a positive vote from 51% of the Committee members it can move to the next stage in the process. That means people wishing to influence what happens in Committees need to think how they could influence a small number of legislators – since a policy committee in the Senate typically has just 7 members, or 9; a policy Committee in the House may have 11.

Two Key Committee Actions, two examples .

(A) PUBLIC HEARINGS

Policy Committees begin their task by holding PUBLIC HEARINGS on the bills that are referred to them. The hearings are truly public: anyone can drop in to listen to part, or all, of a Hearing. There’s even a sign-in sheet just inside the door, where anyone can write their name and address, an organization they represent (or leave that blank), check whether they are “Pro” or “Con” on the bill being heard, and check “Y” or “N” in the column labeled “Wish to testify?”

On Monday, 1/16, the Children & Family Services Committee held a Public Hearing on House Bill 2002, a bill to extend foster care services to youth up to age 21, instead of ending those services at age 18 (the current law). This bill was originally introduced last year, and was the subject of a Public Hearing in early 2005 so Committee members were already familiar with it. This year twenty people used the sign-in sheet to indicate they wished to testify - all were in favor - and another 45 signed-in to indicate support for the bill. And if you are thinking that’s a lot of “professional experts” to show up for one Public Hearing, think again.

The people who spoke had a lot of expertise, but not necessarily as professionals. Among those offering comments on the bill were: current and former foster youths, former homeless youths, youth service providers, researchers, and foster parents. Most were sitting at the witness table for the first time; a few were visibly nervous and read from hand-written notes. (Representatives on the Committee couldn’t see it from where they sat, but at the feet of one former foster youth was a small stuffed pink bear; coming to Olympia to tell her story to these strangers took a real act of courage.) The Committee Chair, Representative Ruth Kagi, read out the names of everyone who signed their name and expressed a position on the bill; at the end she thanked all those who had taken the time to participate in the Hearing. With a bit of wonder in her voice, she noted that this was the largest turnout for a single bill in her time as Chair.

(Meanwhile - over in the Senate there is Senate Bill 6324, which is very similar to HB 2002. On Tuesday, 1/24 at 10:00 am, that bill is scheduled for a Public Hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services and Corrections.)

One day later (1/17) the State Government Operations & Accountability Committee held a Public Hearing on House Bill 2661, the Anti-Discrimination Act – a version of which has been before the legislature since 1976. It has passed the House of Representatives several times but never the Senate. Then last year it came to a vote in the Senate for the first time, only to lose by one vote. Because it was defeated last year, it had to be re-introduced and given a new number. It too was the focus of a packed committee Hearing this week. This time there were thirteen pages of people (10 names to a page) from every walk of life signed up to express a view on this bill. To no one’s surprise among them were people both in support of, and opposed to, the bill.

Both Committees moved quickly to take their respective bills to the next stage in the process because a Public Hearing is an essential step, but only the first step.

(B) EXECUTIVE SESSIONS

Once a bill has been “heard” (i.e., been the subject of a Public Hearing), it becomes eligible for an EXECUTIVE SESSION of the Committee. At this point the public is once again welcome to attend – but this time the public is not invited to speak. Instead, an Executive Session is a time for the members of the Committee (the Representatives or Senators) to debate the bill, amend it (if they wish to see it changed), and then vote on the bill in its new, amended form.

Both of the bills mentioned here were known to be “on a fast track” -- and were quickly scheduled for Executive Session. (Olympia regulars often refer to this in short-hand, e.g., x bill is going to be “Exect’d.”) The Foster Care bill – HB 2002 – got scheduled for Executive Session the very next time the Committee met, two days after the Hearing. It won a hefty 8-1 positive vote – so it now out of the policy Committee and on to the next stage. Since implementing this bill involves a cost, the next stage for HB 2002 is review by a fiscal committee – known in the House of Representatives as Appropriations.

Similarly, the Anti-Discrimination Act was scheduled for Executive Session the very next time the Committee met (one day after the Hearing). There it was amended, won a positive vote to move it out of Committee, and went on to the next stage. Because this bill did not have fiscal implications, it did not have to go to the Appropriations Committee. And because it has been discussed so many times over so many years, there was no need to stop and think about it - so it was quickly moved out to the House Floor. On Friday, 1/20, this bill was debated and amended on the Floor with all but one Representative present. When it came to a final vote it passed: 60 voted AYE, 37 voted NAY (1 member was excused).

Because of its special history, reaching back 30 years, the Senate Committee responsible for HB 2661 has already scheduled a Public Hearing: Tuesday, 1/24 at 3:30 pm before the Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Consumer Protection. For those wishing to follow this issue, that Public Hearing will also be televised by TVW.

(Later POLICY WATCH issues will describe what happens in a fiscal Committee, the Rules Committee, and during Floor Action.)

YOUR PART

If you are getting Legislative Alerts from a group that monitors the legislature and sends out regular bulletins, you will know when the bills you care about are scheduled for a PUBLIC HEARING or EXECUTIVE SESSION. Similarly, if you are following bills by checking the legislature’s website (www.leg.wa.gov), you can see which bills have been scheduled for Public Hearings or Executive Session in the Committees they were referred to.

But you needn’t be a passive observer of the scene. Once a bill has been introduced, you can contact your legislators - ask them to do whatever they can to see that it is scheduled for a Public Hearing. If the bill you care about has had a Public Hearing, ask your legislators to do whatever they can to see that it is scheduled for an Executive Session.

And if your Senator or one of your Representatives sits on the Committee with responsibility for the bill, you will be in an especially strong position to urge action. Long-time advocates know that every bill needs at least one champion on the Committee it is referred to. That’s just a reflection of what happens when a small group of people is asked to consider a lot of complex issues in a short period of time: bills can easily slip off the radar screen. You can help make sure that doesn’t happen to the bills you care about.

The SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET

Work on the Supplemental Budget is on-going. Much of that work takes place behind the scenes, in small conversations or with legislators poring over the worksheets prepared by staff. However, some budget action will also takes place in Committees. On Tuesday, 1/24 at 3:30 pm, the House Appropriations Committee will hold a Work Session to give Committee members an “Operating Budget Overview.” On Thursday, 1/26 at 1:30 pm, the House Capital Budget (concerning buildings, facilities, “bricks-and-mortar” issues) will hold a Public Hearing on this year’s Supplemental Capital Budget.

BY NOW you should have taken these two easy actions

Sign up to get regular legislative alerts from an advocacy group that monitors the issue(s) you care most about. (One list is in PART III of POLICY WATCH; if that list doesn’t have what you are looking for, ask your friends, neighbors, co-workers – or google.) Those who write the alerts monitor what is happening and will tell you when your voice is needed. Most will offer a “sample message” you can put in your own words. You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to care about an issue, and talk about it from your own experience.

Promise yourself you will try to make a call or send a note or email once each week about one of the issues in the Legislative Alert you are receiving. With the state’s TOLL-FREE LINE (1-800-562-6000) you can leave a brief message for your Senator, your 2 Representatives, and the Governor – all in just a matter of minutes. 1 call or message a week for the next 7 weeks, and you can have an impact on the policies that affect your life. Pretty cool. (PART III of PW has lots of handy information to help you get, and stay, involved.)

SNAPSHOTS

** Think that “ordinary voters” don’t count? Think again. A Senator’s aide couldn’t find any time in her boss’ schedule to accommodate a request for a meeting. So the visitor asked if he could maybe just accompany the Senator to a meeting… or find some other “in between time.” At that the aide offered an option: “I can pull the Senator out of a Hearing,” she said. But not for just anyone: “…constituents come first.”

** An Eastern Washington Representative urged one group at the Capitol not to ignore the legislators – or other voters -- with a different point of view from their own. “Go where people don’t agree with you,” he advised, “…let them know what you know.”

** One first-time visitor found himself “informing” as well as “lobbying:” turns out the bill he’d come to talk about was something his Representative was interested in but had not even heard about – and was eager for details.

** A presiding Committee Chair looked down the list of those who’d signed up to testify, scanned the audience and said with a smile, “I know there were a couple of people against this bill… guess I’ll have to wade through the names to find them.” After a brief pause he explained, “…for those who don’t know me… I have a bias here… but I respect my friends on the other side and welcome them to testify.”

** Yet another Committee Chair noted the long list of people who had signed up to testify on a bill to win more affordable housing. He promptly set an overall time limit for testimony, noted that he would call up first those who’d come from farthest away, and asked everyone to keep their remarks BRIEF. If you want to make a point that’s already been made, he said, “… just say ‘ditto.’” (And if witnesses took too long, he firmly but politely cut them off.)

** Gender Watch: Washington used to have the highest proportion of women state legislators (over 40%); now we’ve slipped into sixth place, with just 33%.

REMINDER :

House Bill numbers begin with 1 or 2;

Senate Bill numbers begin with 5 or 6.

Thus a bill identified as SB 6264 is the 1,264th Senate Bill introduced in the session; HB 1058 would be the 58th bill introduced in the House.

More recent bills have higher numbers.

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