A driving goal of the legislative affairs team is to bring to bear the expertise of our more than 34,000 WSBA members to the legislative process.
In advocating Bar positions in the Legislature, the legislative affairs team is guided by the Board of Governors' (BOG) Legislation and Court Rule Comment Policy, which is designed to make sure that WSBA positions presented in Olympia represent a broad spectrum of WSBA members.
Important budget information for WSBA Members
The House and Senate have taken very different approaches to funding the Judicial Branch for the 2013–2015 biennium. The Board of Governors is urging the Legislature to adopt a final Judicial Branch budget that resembles the proposal adopted by the House. Below are resources that we hope will help you understand the differences between ESSB 5034 (Senate) and the striking amendment to ESSB 5034 (House) – We encourage you to contact your state legislators and express your opinion about the different proposals:
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Office of Financial Management website
– House and Senate operating budget proposals. To review, scroll down to the middle of the page to find links to the 2013-15 Operating Budget Proposals.
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Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) analysis and comparison of the House versus Senate proposals as they relate to Judicial Branch funding. Note: Budget documents can change quickly. The AOC’s analysis found on the WSBA website reflects the impact of the budget proposals as of 4-12-13.
For detailed information on the Legislative involvement of WSBA, view the WSBA Legislative Process Roadmap.