WA Faces Revenue Decline in New Budget Outlook
By Advocacy Committee, ptaadvocacydir@wastatepta.org On March 18, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released the latest revenue forecast. The figures further worsened the state’s financial outlook, adding to an already projected operating budget shortfall of up to $15 billion over the next four years. The latest forecast projects nearly $900 million less for…
Week 10: Senate Advances Special Education Bill
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Be sure to check out our comprehensive Week 10 Bill Tracker to see how bills we support have fared. Wednesday, March 12 was the deadline for bills to pass out of the chamber in which they began. The Senate celebrated the cutoff by passing E2SSB 5263 by a vote of 48-0…
Week 9: Spring ahead to the second half of the 2025 session
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Be sure to check out our comprehensive Week 9 Bill Tracker to see how bills we support have fared. Last week, the Legislature crossed the half-way mark of the 105-day session, which means there is still a lot of time left on the calendar to advocate for priorities, share concerns, and…
Act Now: Attend town halls and demand legislators prioritize K-12 funding
Education Funding Crisis: Students across the state need your help! To invest in our future, we must invest in education, yet districts across our state are struggling financially. Funding from our legislature has not kept up with the true costs of education. Our students will continue to be impacted by the loss of staff, programs,…
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Week 8: Big 3 Reduced to Big 2 – Amounts Also Reduced
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Friday, February 28 was the final day of consideration for bills that cost the state money to pass out of their respective fiscal committees. Both the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means Committees worked well into the afternoon Friday, while Transportation committees and the House Capital Budget Committee finished up…
WSPTA Testifies: Lowering the Thresholds
Advocacy in Action! WSPTA Board member Tori Emerson, a parent and educator in the 39th legislative district, urged members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee to pass SSB 5186, which would lower the threshold to pass bonds by a simple majority. Tori shared her frustration and concern about her school district failing five bonds…
First deadline signals end of the line for many bills, Big 3 remain alive
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Over the course of the 105-day session the Legislature has set deadlines for bills to remain under consideration and possibly cross the finish line for signature by Governor Bob Ferguson. The first of these “cutoffs” was Friday, February 21st, when bills needed to pass out of policy committees. Bills with a…
Week Six: Make way for Focus Day!
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Click here to view the comprehensive Week 6 bill tracker. More than 280 people have registered for Washington State PTA’s Focus Day in Olympia, and the capital will be a crowded place, with many rallies and protests taking place on the Capitol campus. WSPTA members will be meeting with legislators and…
WSPTA Testifies: Fully Fund Special Education and Student Transportation
Advocacy in Action! President Angela Steck testified in favor of SSB 5263, a bipartisan bill that would increase funding for special education services. Angela also asked for funding to support inclusionary practices and a study that would identify how other states fund programs to support students with disabilities. Listen to Angela here. Angela also spoke…
Week 4 is done, two weeks to go for policy cutoff
By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org Click here to view our comprehensive Week 5 Bill Tracker We are one month into the 105-day session and policy committees are really digging into hearings and voting on the bills in their committees before the first deadline for bills to remain under consideration – February 21st. Bills on “the Big…