By Melissa Johnson, WANA Lobbyist
Last Week’s Highlights
Lawmakers began week nine of the legislative session with two days of “floor action” to meet the house of origin cutoff on Tuesday. Between both chambers, 55 bills currently sit in health care committees after passing their house of origin before the cutoff. No other issue saw as much floor action. Overall, the House passed 200 of its 747 bills and the Senate passed 208 of its 695 bills. Bills that made it passed Tuesday’s cutoff now face an accelerated hearing process in the opposite chamber. The next deadline is the opposite house policy committee cutoff on March 26th.
Coronavirus relief package. On Thursday, President Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan Act. Washington will receive $1.9 billion for K-12 schools; $655 million for higher education; and $635 million for childcare. There will also be $7.1 billion for local, county, and state governments. Of that, $4.25 billion will go to state level government. Federal guidance on how to spend this funding is coming soon.
COVID-19. On Thursday, Governor Inslee announced that the state will move to the new Phase 3 of the Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery. Sports guidance will change in Phase 3 to allow in-person spectators at events for the first time in a year. Spectators will be allowed to attend outdoor venues with permanent seating with capacity capped at 25%. The change effects both professional and high school sports, as well as motorsports, rodeos, and other outdoor spectator events. Social distancing and facial covering are still required.
The new phase also allows for up to 400 people maximum to attend outdoor activities, as well as events in indoor facilities — so long as 400 people does not exceed 50% capacity for the location, and physical distancing and masking protocols are enforced. Larger venue events are capped at 25% occupancy, or up to 9,000 people, whichever is less, and must follow spectator guidelines.
Additionally, Phase 3 will allow up to 50% occupancy or 400 people maximum, whichever is lower, for all indoor spaces. This applies to all industries and indoor activities currently allowed; restaurants, gyms and fitness centers and movie theaters, among others, may all increase their capacity.
Additionally, the governor announced that starting Wednesday, March 17, everyone in Tier 2 will be eligible for their COVID vaccine. This includes workers in agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, public transit, firefighters and law enforcement, among others. Tier 2 also includes people over the age of 16 who are pregnant or have a disability that puts them at high-risk.
Economic news. All eyes will be on the March 17th economic forecast, which will provide key information to House and Senate budget writers as they complete work on their budget proposals. Budget writers have signaled that the budgets will be released later than usual, to enable full consideration of the federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Health Care Bills
SB 5169, the bill providing reimbursement to health care providers for the cost of PPE when treating patients in person, will be heard in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Monday.
SB 5229, the legislation that creates a health equity continuing education requirement for health care providers, will be heard in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Monday.
WANA Legislative Days
WANA hosted the first of two Legislative Days (actually, evenings) on March 11th, welcoming legislators and WANA members from Eastern Washington. We had an excellent turnout, with Rep. Marcus Riccelli, Rep. Rob Chase, Rep. Jenny Graham, and Rep. Bob McCaslin attending. We also had staff attend from Sen. Andy Billig’s office and Rep. Gina Mosbrucker’s office. Thanks to all of our WANA members and Gonzaga students who attended!
On Thursday, we will have our second Legislative Day meeting, this one focusing on Western Washington legislators and WANA members. We’re looking forward to another great night.
This Week’s Events
Capital gains legislation. The House Finance Committee will hear SB 5096 on Monday. As the bill stands now, the first $350 million would be deposited in the existing Education Legacy Trust Account to fund education, including early learning and childcare. The next $100 million would go to the state’s general fund, with the remaining revenue deposited into the Taxpayer Fairness Account created in the bill. The emergency clause was removed from the bill. This would allow opponents of the measure to seek a referendum on the November ballot.
Health equity. On Monday, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee hear SB 5052, the bill creating health equity zones.
Universal Health Care Commission. On Thursday, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee will hear SB 5399, the bill establishing the Universal Health Care Commission.