In case you're wondering why we're not sure if the bill will get a hearing in Transportation ...
If the fiscal note (budgetary impact) of a bill is above a certain threshold, after it goes through the policy committee it needs to be heard by a fiscal committee like Transportation (or Appropriations, but since this is driver-related and potentially affects WashDOT it makes sense for it to go to Transportation).
Bill sponsors generally prefer to avoid going through a fiscal committee, because especially with such a challenging budgetary situation for the stte, that's where a lot of bills die. In the Senate, the Law & Justice committee removed funding for oversight by the State Auditor and Attorney General to avoid going to a fiscal committee. Good thing police departments and other government agencies never try to bend the rules or anything like that!
But that was the Senate, and now we're in the House. The latest fiscal note (filed on 2/11) estimates that the bill will decrease revenues to Washington State University and Evergreen State College by $1.75 million this biennium (two-year period, which is how the legislature does budgets). And it also estimates additional expenses of over $2.8 million, including $1.8 million from WashDOT and abiout $900,000 from institutions of higher education.
https://fnspublic.ofm.wa.gov/FNSPublicSearch/GetPDF?packageID=76735
My guess is that the big numbers are laying the groundwork for asking for an exemption. We will certainly be pushing back -- in fact, here's one of our talking points in the action
"Remove the authorization for institutes of higher education to use ALPRs that was added in the Senate. Students at community colleges, technical colleges, state colleges, regional universities, and the University of Washington are frequently targeted by ICE and CBP – and by law enforcement as protestors."
But who knows which way the committee will go. If they keep the authorized. use the Senate added but grant the exemptions to reduce the fiscal note, the bill might well be able to avoid to Transportation., Time will tell.
#waleg
