Legislative Pulse: What to Expect through the End of Session

The legislative session has been nothing short of fast-paced. Lawmakers have been hard at work holding hearings almost daily from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM to efficiently move legislation and keep priority bills alive. Some legislators have begun to work over the weekend to maintain momentum and get as many bills as possible passed through committee. At PCS, we have been in Olympia daily, keeping up with the action and advancing our clients’ legislative priorities as we work through key deadlines.

In February, we picked up the pace as we strategized to maximize effectiveness ahead of key cutoff dates. Wednesday, February 4th, was the policy committee cutoff, where legislation had to pass out of its assigned policy committee to maintain momentum this session. In most cases, if bills do not pass by this deadline, they are considered dead until the following year. This was a significant moment for those seeking to advance their policy agendas, as lawmakers narrowed their focus to legislation that had already passed committee. The fiscal committee cutoff occurred on Monday, February 9th. By this date, all bills with fiscal impact had to pass out of their respective committees to move through the legislative session. Key committees we tracked at PCS were the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate Ways & Means Committee, the Capital Budget Committee, and the House Finance Committee. The fiscal committee cutoff is significant because, at this stage in the process, the Legislature sets the precedent for what the State can afford; many bills die here due to budget constraints.

Many bills fail to move forward if they do not pass the house of origin cutoff. For this reason, hundreds of bills often stall due to time constraints. This year, the house of origin cutoff landed on Tuesday, February 17th. It is by this date that legislation must pass off the floor of the chamber in which it was introduced – either the House or Senate – to move forward in the legislative process. Just eight days later, this cycle repeats at the policy committee cutoff for the opposite house on Wednesday, February 25th, and at the fiscal committee cutoff for the opposite house on Monday, March 2nd.

The opposite house cutoff marks the home stretch of the legislative session. March 6th at 5:00 PM is the last day for opposite-house bills to be considered – this is a pivotal moment, as our work must be completed by then before the final week of the session begins. Indeed, the session is fast-moving, but we are moving steadily through the turbulence as our pre-session planning and proactive approach to meeting the needs of our clients and community are paying off. At Pettigrew Consulting Services, we are working around the clock to achieve our goals and make the 2026 legislative session as successful as possible for those that we serve.