Democrats in the Legislature announced Thursday they have a tentative deal on an operating budget for the biennium. House and Senate budget writers expect to release the plan on Saturday, one day before Sine Die, the scheduled end of the legislative session. >>
With just over a week to go in the regular session, the House and Senate on Wednesday wrapped up voting on bills from the opposite chamber and began working out differences on bills that received amendments after passing their originating chamber. Budget negotiators are still at work on operating, capital and transportation budget proposals hoping to reach an agreement before Sine Die on April 28. >>
The House and Senate spent the past week on the floor voting bills out of their chambers ahead of Wednesday's house of origin cutoff deadline. System requested bills HB 1714 — which would grant a high school diploma to students over the age of 16 who complete an associate degree — and SHB 1715 — which would remove the ability of a K-12 school district to withhold a student’s grades or transcripts because of unpaid fines or fees — both passed the House this week. >>
House and Senate fiscal committees held marathon hearings this week, hearing and voting on bills before the fiscal committee cutoff today. Today's cutoff means that bills with financial impact need to be voted out of those committees in order to continue in the legislative process. Testimony is encouraged to be short and focuses on a bill's fiscal significance, not policy. >>
The Legislature was busy this week as attention turned to the Senate Republican budget which was released Tuesday. It passed the chamber along party lines in the early hours of Friday. House Democrats are expected to release their version of the budget early next week. >>
House members and senators spent the week on their chamber floors, debating and voting on bills ahead of Wednesday's floor cutoff deadline. >>
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