Welcome to Session!
By Renee Radcliff Sinclair, President and CEO
Welcome to the new year! January always marks a busy and important time for TVW as our core business of covering the work of state government kicks into high gear with coverage of sessions of the Legislature and Supreme Court. We’re excited to welcome legislators, justices, and the citizens of our state back to the Capitol Campus this year (I’m knocking on wood as I type) and I can’t wait to connect with old and new friends as TVW continues to serve as your lens on state government.
Things might look a little different to you this year starting with the location of oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The Court has moved to temporary offices for the next two years as the Temple of Justice receives some much needed renovation and TVW has worked diligently to install and test cameras to ensure our coverage of the work of the Court will continue through this period. We’ve also added cameras to the Senate Rules Room to provide increased access to Senate Rules meetings and other meetings that occur in that location both during the legislative session and the interim. And, finally, if you use TVW content primarily online, you will be pleased to see the “view” provided on web-streamed events has been greatly enhanced.
These upgrades are so important to our continued coverage and viewer experience and we are eager to make these investments on your behalf. Our friends (ahem, donors) have been very generous throughout 2022 (thank you!), and we could not do this work without your help.
Programming Update: The Legislature is Back…Like, Really Back…In Person
By Mike Bay, Vice President of Programming
For the first time since March 2020 when COVID hit, the State Legislature is returning to the State Capitol full force. Lawmakers, staff, the public, lobbyists and more are again mixing it up in person at the State Capitol.
After two years of zoom, prepping for an in-person session presents renewed challenges. The public is accustomed to virtual access, which will be incorporated into all legislative committee hearings. TVW will continue to cover legislative happenings that we did not cover before COVID, such as legislative Rules Committee meetings and “pro forma” (no official business) floor sessions. But bottom line, whether via a zoom box or in person, TVW will always give Washingtonians comprehensive and unedited access to their state government. To that end…
- Every House and Senate committee hearing and floor session will be livestreamed on tvw.org – check https://tvw.org/schedule/ for the daily schedule
- The Impact Wednesdays at 7pm and 10pm, and Inside Olympia Thursdays at 7pm and 10pm, offer in-depth looks at key issues via interviews with state legislators
- Legislative Review airs every night of the week at 8pm and 11pm, offering daily – and on Fri/Sat-Sun weekly – summaries of important bills and debates at the State Capitol
- We’re even now recording Legislator Profile interviews – offered to all 49 state senators and 98 state reps – watch for them airing on TVW, and online at TVW.org
- Live coverage of weekly legislative leadership media availabilities held by majority Democrats and minority Republicans, as well as Gov. Jay Inslee’s media availabilities
One ironic benefit of COVID is making it possible – via virtual access to meetings – for TVW to continue its coverage of state agencies, boards and commissions virtually uninterrupted during legislative session. Plus continue to cover every case heard by the three Washington Courts of Appeals, and more. Again, you’ll find it all on the TVW schedule page: https://tvw.org/schedule/
Legislative Review: Angela Nolasco brings you the most compelling debates from committee hearings and floor every night of the week at 8pm and 11pm, offering daily – and on Fri/Sat-Sun weekly – summaries of important bills and debates at the State Capitol.
TVW Daily Coverage Memos
TVW provides daily coverage memos via email every morning so government affairs professionals, members of the media and decision-makers can stay informed.
TVW Daily Coverage Memos are an essential planning tool to understand what’s happening in Washington State government on a daily basis. Plus, links in the memos are archival and never go bad so it’s a library of vital information.
Click here to receive daily coverage memos from TVW
- TVW covers ALL House and Senate committee hearings and floor debates at the State Capitol.
- TVW covers ALL WA State Supreme Court oral arguments, both inside and outside Olympia.
- TVW offers comprehensive coverage of state elections – the nine statewide elected offices, key legislative races, and ballot measures.
- TVW provides unedited coverage of state agencies, boards and commissions – examples include the Transportation Commission and Fish & Wildlife Commission
Teach with TVW – connecting students to their state government
By Brett Hansen, Director of Education
Teach with TVW is a free online resource consisting of civics programs for Washington Social Studies Teachers to engage students with their state government.
Capitol Classroom, now in its 13th year, is starting this session with 16 classes and 17 lobbyist volunteers. Students will learn about and track actual bills through the legislative process. In fact, students in one Capitol Classroom school wrote a bill about gender equity in personal care products and presented the bill to their elected representative. Currently, the bill has been sponsored and even has a companion bill in the works.
Capital Classroom+ is in its second pilot year and has more than 30 Washington teachers who have signed on. Inspired by our flagship program Capitol Classroom, Capitol Classroom+ offers on-demand civics education through a custom, interactive platform. This platform gives teachers the tools to engage their students in the legislative process with real-time updates from their lobbyist on actual legislation. Capitol Classroom+ scales up the Capitol Classroom model so that more students have access to hands-on, experiential civics education.
The Impact: Mike McClanahan provides an up-close view of how legislative and regulatory policy decisions made in Olympia affect your daily life. Wednesdays at 7pm and 10pm and anytime online.
The Chief Justice Gerry Alexander Endowment for TVW
Since TVW’s beginning, former Chief Justice Gerry Alexander has been a champion of TVW’s mission to provide access to the work of all three branches of government. We are honored to secure our future through the establishment of The Chief Justice Gerry Alexander Endowment for TVW.
The endowment is established solely for the purpose of preserving the mission of TVW.