Do You Concur?
In addition to working on the operating budget, we have now focused our attention on the concurrence process. For bills that have passed both chambers of the Legislature in different forms, the House and Senate must work together doing the “concurrence dance.”
When a Senate bill comes back from the House with amendments, the Senate votes “to concur” with the House amendments and the bill goes to the Governor to be signed into law or (rarely) to be vetoed. Or, the Senate votes “do not concur” in which case the bill goes back to the House where they can either “recede” and the bill goes to the Governor in the version that passed the Senate, or the House can”insist” and the bill comes back to the Senate with the House amendments. After several trips back and forth, if there is no agreement, the bill either dies or goes to “conference” to work out the differences.
The three prime-sponsored bills I still have alive, the Sheena Henderson Act, the Expanded Learning Council bill, and campaign finance transparency bill, all came back from the House in amended form. On Thursday, the Senate quickly concurred on the House amendments on two of the bills and hopefully the third bill, campaign finance transparency, will also gain concurrence early this week.
Our Favorite Constituent Correspondence of the Week
Last week, I received 25 letters from Mrs. Kruiswyk’s 4th grade class at Evergreen Elementary. The students wrote about many of the things they enjoy at school like art, reading, science and using their imagination. They also discussed some concerns, ranging from difficult tests to the desire for more arts and time for creativity.
Our staff and I read each letter and were impressed with their stories and thoughtful comments, as well as their penmanship! This kind of feedback is not only fun to receive but also important to me as I make decisions about how to best vote and advocate for all Spokane constituents, even the littlest ones. Thank you to Ms. Kruiswyk and all the students who wrote to me.
Keeping In Touch
If you have a comment, idea, or question, please let me know. I would love to hear from you! You can reach me by e-mail at andy.billig@leg.wa.gov or by phone at 360-786-7604.
If you know someone who would like to receive their own copy of my weekly e-newsletter, tell them they can go to my website athttp://www.senatedemocrats.wa.gov/senators/billig/ and click on the link to “Sign up for my e-newsletter.”
Onward!
-Andy
