Under the Dome: Today is Thursday, March 21, the 67th day of the 105-day legislative session.

Today is Thursday, March 21, the 67th day of the 105-day legislative session.

QUOTED

"Senate Ways and Means is working more than you can believe...It's as intense an effort as anything I saw at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in the middle of the surge."

-Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, on budget-writing efforts in the Senate. Baumgartner worked with the U.S. State Department as an economic officer in Iraq.

TODAY IN THE LEGISLATURE

The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled public hearings on several mental health bills, including Senate Bill 5480, which would expedite the implementation of a new standard for involuntary commitment by a year to July 2014. The committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Hearing Room A of the John L. O’Brien Building.

Legislation creating Seattle Sounders and Seattle Seahawks special license plates, as well as authorizing certain family members of deceased U.S. service members to apply for gold star license plates, will be heard by the House Transportation Committee at 3:30 p.m. The meeting is in Hearing Room B of the John L. O’Brien Building.

FRIDAY IN THE LEGISLATURE

House Bill 1397 would require sexual health education to include elements of and consequences for conviction of child sexual abuse. The bill is one of five proposals that will be discussed during a public hearing of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. in Hearing Room 1 of the John A. Cherberg Building.

The House Finance Committee will meet for an 8 a.m. work session on marijuana taxation, revenue forecasts and the lessons learned from the taxation of liquor, cigarettes and other regulated products. The session will be in Hearing Room A of the John L. O’Brien Building.