Yesterday marked the deadline for policy bills to pass from the opposite chamber. All policy bills, unless they are deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB), must have moved from the opposite chamber and either (a) to the Governor’s desk for his signature or (b) to the chamber of origination for concurrence and then hopefully onto the Governor’s desk.

Both the Senate and House have spent the last week advancing bills to the next stage in the process.

Below is a brief glimpse of some of the bills that have advanced past this major deadline

• HB 1138: Creating a task force on mental health and suicide prevention in higher education
• HB 1546:  Concerning dual credit opportunities provided by Washington’s public higher education institutions
• SB 5328: Changes the dissemination of financial aid information
• SB 5638: Modifies the requirements of the State Need Grant program to make the grant available to students enrolled or accepted for enrollment at a qualifying institution of higher education for at least three quarter credits, or the equivalent semester credits