by Elizabeth Garbe

Public Policy Director

The 2012 legislative session started with a bang! A few important things are happening this week: new bills will be introduced, Appropriation Sub-Committees will be meeting, and debating will go on daily!

A number of education bills that United Way is working on were heard in Committee last week. There are also just as many bills that have not been numbered and bill language is not available for review. Legislators have until Thursday, February 2 to request bills or appropriations and approve bills for numbering without floor approval. This means there will be a lot of bills introduced this week! Check out United Way’s bill list to see which bills we are currently following and where they are in the process.

Last week Appropriation Sub-Committees met each morning and will continue their work every morning this week. Sub-Committees hear presentations and testimony regarding their specific budget area. Committees make recommendations to the Executive Appropriations Committee specific to their portion of the larger budget. The final budget is not approved until the last week of the session.

Standing Committees will be meeting each afternoon from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. You can find out which Committees are meeting and where their meetings are located each week. Please click HERE for the schedule. Both the House and the Senate will be on the floor debating bills at 10:00 a.m. daily.

Follow the conversation on Twitter by following @uwsl and by searching #utleg or #utpol.

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See you on the hill!