APA Washington’s Legislative Committee:
Help Shape the Chapter's 2023 Legislative Priorities
To guide Washington APA’s advocacy programs on state legislative policies, laws and budgets, the chapter develops and maintains an annual legislative agenda document that lists the chapter’s priorities for action in the upcoming state legislative session.
The chapter’s Legislative Committee takes the lead on developing the legislative agenda document with input from chapter membership and consideration of the policy direction set nationally through APA Policy Guides and APA Policy Principles. The chapter’s board of directors then considers the legislative agenda document for approval each year, and board or chapter president approval is also sought before the legislative committee engages in particularly important or contentious advocacy efforts.
The legislative agenda generally undergoes a full refresh prior to the start of each legislative biennium, which starts with a new long session (odd-numbered years), and a more limited update before each short legislative session (even-numbered years). However, the legislative committee decided to conduct a full review in the summer and fall of 2021 to produce the chapter’s 2022 Legislative Priorities to accommodate the impact COVID had, not only on the 2021 Legislative Session, but also on the chapter’s members and allied professionals who have interacted with the chapter on legislative issues. The full review included a survey of the membership, a presentation during a session of the virtual 2021 Annual Planning Conference, and approval by the chapter’s board of directors. The 2022 Legislative Session (68th Session), was a short session, and although the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session (69th Session) will be a long session, the review for the 2023 Legislative Priorities will be the more limited update.
It’s very important that the chapter’s legislative advocacy efforts represent the priorities of the chapter’s membership, and the only way that’s possible is through your input and involvement. Beginning in August of 2022, the Legislative Committee will be reviewing the chapter’s 2022 Legislative Priorities; legislation from 2022, including bills which passed and those which did not pass; and other potential legislative issues to draft the 2023 Legislative Priorities. Weekly Zoom meetings will take place every Friday from 12:00-1:00 PM PT. The goal is to have a document ready for review by the chapter’s board of directors at the beginning of October followed by presentation of the 2023 Legislative Priorities at the 2022 Annual Planning Conference.
If you’re interested in doing more to help advocate for the tools to make great communities happen by contributing to the chapter’s 2023 Legislative Priorities and/or by joining the legislative committee to participate in the weekly Zoom meetings, please send an email to Legislative Committee Chair Robin Proebsting and Legislative Committee Vice Chair Chris Collier at [email protected].
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