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
2SHB 2616 - Concerning parents with intellectual or developmental disabilities involved in dependency proceedings.
ESHB 2519 - Concerning early education for children involved in the child welfare system.
HB 2585 - Concerning income eligibility for temporary assistance for needy families benefits for a child.
SHB 1156 - Consolidating designated forest lands and open space timber lands for ease of administration.
ESHB 1287 - Subjecting federally recognized Indian tribes to the same conditions as state and local governments for property owned exclusively by the tribe.
E2SHB 2493 - Concerning current use valuation for land primarily used for commercial horticultural purposes.
HB 2436 - Creating the public employees' benefits board benefits account.
HB 2437 - Clarifying employee eligibility for benefits from the public employees' benefits board and conforming the eligibility provisions with federal law.
HB 2456 - Correcting the expiration date of a definition of firefighter.
HB 2479 - Placing restrictions on retired law enforcement officers and firefighters employed in certain public positions.
SHB 2018 - Regarding additional contribution rates for employers of the Washington state retirement systems.
SHB 2612 - Changing provisions relating to the opportunity scholarship.
SHB 2613 - Creating efficiencies for institutions of higher education.
SB 6542 - Establishing the state cannabis industry coordinating committee.
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.