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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

Hill: Lobbyists get “a hall pass”

OLYMPIA -- Faced with 16 bills up for a hearing and 27 that need a vote in executive committee, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Andy Hill suggested lobbyist stay seated, and quiet.

"You can tell your employers I said you couldn't testify," Hill said at the start of this afternoon's hearing. "I'm giving you a  hall pass." 

Anyone who testifies was only getting a minute to talk, anyway, he said. And it was a fiscal hearing, not a policy hearing, so they need to stick to money issues, he said.

Anything that doesn't get out of committee today is pretty much done for the year.

The list of bills is inside the blog.

Ways & Means* -  03/03/14  1:30 pm

Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 4
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA

REVISED on 3/3/2014 at 1:31 PM

Public Hearing:  
  1. 2SHB 1909 - Concerning veteran-owned businesses.
  2. SHB 2310 - Concerning safety equipment for individual providers.
  3. SHB 2725 - Concerning court review of involuntary treatment decisions.
  4. E2SHB 2383 - Integrating career and college readiness standards into K-12 and higher education policies and practices.
  5. SHB 2739 - Requiring a report analyzing the correlation of certain family factors with academic and behavioral indicators of student success.
  6. SB 5880 - Relating to education.
  7. ESHB 2315 - Concerning suicide prevention.
  8. 2SHB 2616 - Concerning parents with intellectual or developmental disabilities involved in dependency proceedings.
  9. EHB 2558 - Disposing tax foreclosed property to cities for affordable housing purposes.
  10. SB 6542 - Establishing the state cannabis industry coordinating committee.
  11. 2SHB 2457 - Concerning derelict and abandoned vessels.
  12. E2SHB 2029 - Eliminating the economic development-related agencies, boards, and commissions.
  13. 2SHB 1072 - Creating the agricultural labor skills and safety grant program.
  14. SHB 2415 - Creating a pilot program to provide certification of homeless status for persons in need of an address for purposes of employment.
  15. SHB 2610 - Identifying characteristics of the homeless youth population.
  16. SHB 2146 - Concerning department of labor and industries appeal bonds.

Executive Session:  
  1. ESHB 2315 - Concerning suicide prevention.
  2. SHB 1635 - Concerning disproportionate share hospital adjustments.
  3. 2SHB 2616 - Concerning parents with intellectual or developmental disabilities involved in dependency proceedings.
  4. ESHB 2519 - Concerning early education for children involved in the child welfare system.
  5. HB 2585 - Concerning income eligibility for temporary assistance for needy families benefits for a child.
  6. SHB 1156 - Consolidating designated forest lands and open space timber lands for ease of administration.
  7. ESHB 1287 - Subjecting federally recognized Indian tribes to the same conditions as state and local governments for property owned exclusively by the tribe.
  8. E2SHB 2493 - Concerning current use valuation for land primarily used for commercial horticultural purposes.
  9. HB 2436 - Creating the public employees' benefits board benefits account.
  10. HB 2437 - Clarifying employee eligibility for benefits from the public employees' benefits board and conforming the eligibility provisions with federal law.
  11. HB 2456 - Correcting the expiration date of a definition of firefighter.
  12. HB 2479 - Placing restrictions on retired law enforcement officers and firefighters employed in certain public positions.
  13. SHB 2018 - Regarding additional contribution rates for employers of the Washington state retirement systems.
  14. SHB 2612 - Changing provisions relating to the opportunity scholarship.
  15. SHB 2613 - Creating efficiencies for institutions of higher education.
  16. SB 6542 - Establishing the state cannabis industry coordinating committee.
  17. 2SHB 1909 - Concerning veteran-owned businesses.
  18. SHB 2310 - Concerning safety equipment for individual providers.
  19. SHB 2725 - Concerning court review of involuntary treatment decisions.
  20. 2E2SHB 1727 - Raising licensure limits to allow assisted living facilities to serve a higher acuity resident population.
  21. 2SHB 2457 - Concerning derelict and abandoned vessels.
  22. ESHB 2246 - Regarding financing for stewardship of mercury-containing lights.
  23. E2SHB 2029 - Eliminating the economic development-related agencies, boards, and commissions.
  24. 2SHB 1072 - Creating the agricultural labor skills and safety grant program.
  25. E2SHB 2383 - Integrating career and college readiness standards into K-12 and higher education policies and practices.
  26. SHB 2739 - Requiring a report analyzing the correlation of certain family factors with academic and behavioral indicators of student success.
  27. SB 5880 - Relating to education.


Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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