The seventh week of the 2010 supplemental session will be focused on the release of the House and Senate proposed 2010 supplemental budgets for operating and capital.

The House is expected to release their capital and operating budgets on Monday. Though it is unclear, the Senate is likely to release their budgets on Monday as well.  Public hearings and executive sessions on the budgets will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The beginning of the week continues the Legislature’s focus on moving bills from the opposite chamber through the policy committees in preparation for the policy committee cut-off (House cut-off February 23 and Senate cut-off February 26).

Overlapping slightly will be a resurgence of fiscal committee meetings as policymakers take action on the budgets and prepare for the next legislative deadline .  All fiscal committees must move policy bills to either the floor or an appropriation committee by March 1. 

The focus of the higher education policy committees (i.e. House Higher Education and Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will be to move several bills impacting Washington’s institutions of higher education out of committee and either to the floor for consideration or to an appropriation committee. 

In addition, the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means and House Ways & Means) will meet to continue their work on budget related matters.