WA State Session is half over, Floor Debates Continue

With session now more than half over, floor debates continue while committee action resumes next week

On Thursday, the session crossed its midway point, with less than fifty days now remaining. Lawmakers were on the floor this past week, spending long days – and in the case of the House, long nights – debating and passing bills in advance of this coming Wednesday’s House of Origin cutoff. This Thursday, legislators will go back into committees to begin hearing bills advanced by the opposite chamber. The deadline for opposite house policy bills to get a vote from committee is April 2. Murmurs continue on budgets and taxes but remain mostly speculative until the March 18^th revenue forecast clarifies the size of the budget gap policymakers must confront.

Top updates and issues from the eighth week, and coming activity, include:

Budget & Taxes
As noted, the state’s Economic & Revenue Forecast Council will give its updated revenue forecast on March 18^th, upon which budget writers will rely for crafting the biennial operating, capital, and transportation budgets. For the operating budget, among the many ideas circulating for tax increases, the ones starting to gain more prominence include a form of wealth tax, a payroll tax on employers with high-income employees, and increases in different ways to the Business & Occupations tax. The budgets are expected to be released the week of March 24^th and additional tax bills will start coming in shortly thereafter.          

Transportation, Capital Budget & Construction
Along with the operating budget, the transportation budget bills are also now expected the week of March 24^th. The same menu of options for curing an immediate $1 billion shortfall continues to contain project delays or elimination, and new revenue sources from things like the gas tax, taxes on tires, gross vehicle weight, retail deliveries, and the Road Usage Charge (RUC). Appearing less likely would be backfill from the operating budget through sales tax or other transfers. A new mediation between tribes and the state over the latter’s salmon restoration responsibilities may play a role if an agreement is struck to adjust the schedule for roadway culvert projects.  Elsewhere, SB 5360, the “environmental crimes” bill, creating criminal sanctions including for accidental actions under state environmental laws, passed the Senate 29-20 with a few clarifying amendments adopted, none of which removed the central concern of industry over criminalizing mere negligence. HB 1970, streamlining contracting options for the Department of Transportation, passed the House 97-0 on Wednesday. HB 1183, updating building code provisions to promote affordable housing, has been idle in the House Rules Committee.  

Business Regulations
HB 1170, the remaining artificial intelligence bill alive, requiring disclosure and detection tools for AI-created content, remains idle in the House Rules Committee and has until Wednesday to receive a vote. HB 1217, the residential rent control bill, was pulled from the House Rules Committee on Wednesday and is eligible to come up on the floor for a vote.  

Labor & Employment
On Friday, controversial bills passed their chambers as the Senate passed SB 5041 on a 28-21 vote, providing unemployment insurance benefits to striking workers, and the House passed HB 1308 on a 56-41 vote, giving workers a private right of action to enforce rights to request and review personnel records. On Thursday, the House passed HB 1875 on a 58-39 vote, giving workers the right to use accrued paid sick leave to prepare for or attend proceedings related to their immigration status. On Wednesday, the Senate passed SB 5463 on a 29-20 vote, creating new duties and penalties for private sector self-insurers in workers’ compensation, while the House passed HB 1788, equalizing the schedule of workers’ comp disability benefits for married and unmarried workers with dependents, on a 78-18 vote.  HB 1155, barring non-compete agreements, is getting closer to a House floor vote, having been pulled from the Rules Committee on Thursday. HB 1402, prohibiting an employer from requiring applicants to have a valid drivers’ license when advertising a position, backed with a private right of action, was pulled from House Rules on Tuesday.

Insurance
In floor action Monday, the Senate passed SB 5589, ordering a study of the use of credit history and credit-based insurance scores, and other rating factors, in underwriting personal lines underwriting on a 29-20 vote. On the same day, it also passed SB 5331, providing authority for the Commissioner to order restitution and levy $10,000 per violation fines on insurers, on a 30-19 vote. Then on Friday, the Senate passed SB 5721, requiring an auto repair appraisal policy term and creating an appraisal process. All three head to the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee. On the House floor, HB 1539, creating a wildfire mitigation working group, passed 96-1 on Monday, and HB 1230, excusing disability income insurers from single case filings, passed 97-0 on Thursday. Both measures head to the Senate Business, Financial Services & Trade Committee. On Thursday, that committee will hear HB 1006, clarifying the financial backing of service contracts, while the House Committee will hear the Senate companions to the service contracts (SB 5108) and disability income insurance (SB 5141) bills on Friday.

Financial Services
HB 1285, requiring financial literacy education in high school graduation standards, passed the House on Wednesday with broad support, 94-3. The bill heads to the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.

Civil Justice & Liability
HB 1403, a positive measure addressing warranty provisions and other details related to condominium construction defect disputes, appears headed to a vote in the House, having been pulled from the Rules Committee on Thursday. The bill does have an amendment on the bar, likely to be adopted, that unfortunately removes some favorable elements such as mandatory arbitration of higher value disputes and a requirement that claimants’ pay costs and attorneys’ fees in litigation if they fail to improve their position. SB 5408, providing notice and a right to cure allegedly defective job postings prior to suit awaits consideration in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee.

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