Legislative session has officially wrapped, even as our legislators are hard at work addressing the impacts of COVID-19 in our state.
We had some great wins, and we’ve got some work left to do. Here’s where the WRA 2020 legislative priorities ended up. We had some great wins, and we’ve got some work left to do. Here’s where the WRA 2020 legislative priorities ended up:
HB2642 (No Wrong Door):
- Passed both the House and the Senate UNANIMOUSLY!
- This bill will save lives by decreasing wait times and allowing people to access treatment during their window of willingness.
HB2734 (Closing the Opioid Distributors Tax Break)
- Sadly, 2734 did not pass this year. It is especially challenging to pass bills related to revenue and tax code during non-budget years in Olympia. But, we’re not giving up!
- We received very positive feedback from lawmakers about 2734 and the possibility of closing this tax break during next budget-year legislative session in 2021.
- We learned from your meetings with lawmakers that there is confusion among some of them about the tax break this bill aims to close. We will be working with you between now and the 2021 session to address those misunderstandings so we can WIN this fight next year.
HB2793 (Clean Slate)
- Clean Slate was scaled down to a study with a single-county pilot which will take place in 2021, and then passed both the House and the Senate!
- The Administrative Office of the Courts will produce a report on how to implement a statewide system based on the pilot.
- Without this groundwork, it would take several years to figure out how to automatically vacate records statewide.
- We’ll be working with the Public Defender’s Association on a “Clean Slate 2.0” bill for the 2021 session to take what we learn from the one-county pilot and bring greater access to housing and employment to people in all counties in WA State.
We want to keep our momentum going and strategize with you about how to make major changes like closing the opioid distributor’s tax break a reality.
We know that the global pandemic has thrown a wrench into the whole world. When chaos takes away our routines and our in-person connections, it’s even more important to find new ways to be in community. To that end, we are excited to host our first-ever virtual Recovery Summit on June 1st, 2020.
Registration is $50, and we have a sliding scale available for folks who need it. We can’t be together in person, but we’re excited to try some new things together and send our virtual attendees a little gift from the WRA.
This year’s summit will look a bit different, but the purpose is the same – to bring the recovery community together to solve problems and start building our next set of advocacy priorities.
We’ll see you online!
-The KCRC Team
Leave a Reply