Washington Legislative Update - Week 7
Published March 3, 2025 at 8:44 AM · Legislative Advocacy - Washington
March 3, 2025
With fiscal cutoff over, lawmakers head to the floor for two weeks of debate
The legislative session has now hit its first two major cutoff deadlines, with non-budgetary fiscal bills having had to emerge from a fiscal committee by this past Friday. Legislators in both chambers will now have near-daily floor sessions between now and the next cutoff, March 12th, for bills to emerge from their house of origin.
Top updates and issues from the seventh week, and coming activity, include:
Budget & Taxes
Although budget talks won’t begin in earnest until after the next state revenue forecast, scheduled for March 18th, a few things began moving this week. On Thursday, Governor Ferguson held a press conference in which he announced $4 billion in spending reductions over the next four years that will form the basis of his upcoming budget proposal. These cuts, on top of $3 billion in savings identified in former Governor Inslee’s December budget proposal, impact state employees with staff reductions and furloughs, Medicaid and public health care reductions, and the like, and total about $7 billion in total spending reductions. At the same time, Ferguson introduced a new figure into the debate, pegging the state’s budget shortfall at $15 billion. Legislative Democrats have generally used a $12 billion figure, and Republicans have priced the gap closer to $6 billion. Even under Ferguson’s estimate, $8 billion in additional cuts, spending delays, and/or new revenue would be necessary to craft a balanced budget. House and Senate Democrats’ response to Ferguson’s announcement was to emphasize that the budget can’t be balanced by cuts alone – revenue is on the table. In that regard, Noel Frame, D-Seattle, the Senate’s revenue lead, on Friday began the first of a series of bi-weekly meetings with business community leaders to talk about revenue options. Proposals continuing to air, in addition to the previously reported B&O tax general increase and surcharge on services, and property tax cap expansion, include a wealth tax on assets above a certain threshold, capital gains tax expansion, increase in the Real Estate Excise Tax, a payroll tax on business above a certain threshold, and additional B&O tax surcharges above certain gross income thresholds. Other items potentially targeted for new taxes include cell phones, advanced computing, ammunition and firearms, storage units, and vacation rentals.
Transportation, Capital Budget & Construction
Word in the hallways between the House and Senate transportation committees is that public opposition to the chambers’ Road Usage Charge (RUC) bills over the last two weeks – over 20,000 people signing in “con” to the public hearings – has led budget leaders to look more closely at other states’ RUC models for a different plan. Attempting to address a $1 billion shortfall in the current biennium, transportation leaders are talking about a three-way approach that involves project delays, additional revenue in the form of the retail delivery tax, taxes on tires, a gas tax surcharge, and miscellaneous fees, and interplay with the operating budget, where certain road-related sales taxes could potentially be used for transportation. The final piece would tie the transportation budget into the operating budget endgame. Elsewhere, SB 5176, requiring prompt pay for contractors on public works projects, did not emerge from the Ways & Means Committee by Friday’s deadline. SB 5061, escalating prevailing wage rates on public works to the rates in effect when work is performed, rather than when contracted, passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday. HB 1970, streamlining contracting options for the Department of Transportation, was voted out of the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday and is in House Rules. HB 1183, updating building code provisions to promote affordable housing, was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. HB 1458, requiring the state Building Code Council to address carbon emission reduction standards in buildings, did not advance past the Appropriations Committee. SB 5360, the “environmental crimes” bill, continues to cause strong concerns for its provisions creating criminal sanctions for accidental actions under state environmental laws. It’s on the Senate floor calendar for potential consideration this coming week.
Business Regulations
Artificial Intelligence and comprehensive data privacy regulation stalled in House Appropriations this week, as HB 1168 (data transparency in AI) and HB 1671 (data privacy) failed to emerge by Friday’s cutoff. HB 1170 (required AI detection tools for created content) is still alive but remains in the House Rules Committee.
Labor & Employment
HB 1155, barring non-compete agreements, is still in the House Rules Committee this week, while employer groups continue to discuss narrowing amendments. HB 1213, expanding job protection and other coverage in the paid family & medical leave insurance system to small business, was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday. HB 1672, a data privacy for employees bill, died at cutoff in the Appropriations Committee. SB 5041, providing unemployment insurance benefits to striking workers, passed out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Friday, while SB 5626, creating an unemployment benefit for undocumented workers, died in Ways & Means at Friday’s cutoff. HB 1402, prohibiting an employer from requiring applicants to have a valid drivers’ license when advertising a position, became newly problematic on Thursday when it was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee with an amendment stripping its administrative enforcement provision and replacing it with a private right of action.
Insurance
In floor action, on Tuesday the Senate unanimously passed SB 5141, excusing disability income insurers from the requirement of making single case rate filings, and on Friday, passed SB 5419 on a 47-1 vote. This is one of Commissioner Kuderer’s request bills to require reports of fire losses be made to OIC rather than the State Fire Marshal. Both head to the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee. SB 5721, requiring an auto repair appraisal policy term and creating an appraisal process, remains in the Senate Rules Committee while industry discussions about amendments continue. SB 5331, providing authority for the Commissioner to order restitution and levy $10,000 per violation fines on insurers, was pulled from the Rules Committee on Wednesday and awaits a Senate floor vote. SB 5589, ordering a study of the use of credit history and credit-based insurance scores, and other rating factors, in underwriting for personal lines was also pulled from the Rules Committee on Wednesday. HB 1539, creating a wildfire mitigation working group, was pulled from the House Rules Committee on Friday and awaits a floor vote. HB 1714, allowing small businesses to create self-insured risk pools, cleared the Consumer Protection & Business Committee but was referred to the Finance Committee, where it failed to receive action by Friday’s cutoff.
Financial Services
HB 1285, requiring financial literacy education in high school graduation standards, was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee on Friday, with further amendments adopted to reduce the amount of reporting required under the bill, and with a “null and void” clause inserted, specifying that if the bill is not funded in the operating budget, it does not go into effect. The bill to create a Washington state public bank, SB 5754, died at cutoff in the Ways & Means Committee. Financial institutions and segments of the business community have been at odds over SB 5070, prohibiting credit card interchange fees on tipped wages and sales tax collections, and HB 1623, focused on tips. The former died at cutoff, while the latter was voted out of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Civil Justice & Liability
On Friday, the Senate passed SB 5408 on a 41-7 vote, addressing lawsuit abuse arising from the state’s job posting salary & benefits disclosure law by providing a ten-day notice and right to correct provision. HB 1403, addressing warranty provisions and mandatory arbitration for condominium construction defect disputes, remains alive in the House Rules Committee. As noted with HB 1402 above, an employment regulation with a new private right of action, an emerging tactic to avoid fiscal notes in the current budget climate is to replace administrative enforcement mechanisms with private rights of action. The Liability Reform Coalition is in the process of inventorying bills alive post-cutoff where this tactic may have been deployed.
PIA Bill Status
| Bill # | Abbrev. Title | Short Description | Status | Sponsor | Position |
| HB 1006 (SB 5108) | Service contracts | Regulating service contracts and protection product guarantees. | S Business, Fin S | Ryu | |
| HB 1046 | Motor vehicle damage/rescue | Protecting the vulnerable by providing immunity from civil liability for damage to a motor vehicle arising from the rescue of vulnerable persons or domestic animals. | S Law & Justice | Leavitt | |
| SHB 1170 | AI content notices | Informing users when content is developed or modified by artificial intelligence. | H Rules R | Shavers | |
| HB 1197 (SB 5166) | Operating budget, supp. | Making 2023-2025 fiscal biennium second supplemental operating appropriations. | H Approps | Ormsby | |
| HB 1198 (SB 5167) | Operating budget | Making 2025-2027 fiscal biennium operating appropriations. | H Approps | Ormsby | |
| 2SHB 1213 (SB 5539) | Paid family & medical leave | Expanding protections for workers in the state paid family and medical leave program. | H Rules R | Berry | |
| SHB 1308 (SB 5345) | Access to personnel records | Concerning access to personnel records. | H Rules R | Reed | |
| HB 1320 | Business & occupation tax | Modifying business and occupation tax rates to fund programs and services to benefit Washingtonians. | H Finance | Street | |
| HB 1334 | Property tax revenue growth | Modifying the annual regular property tax revenue growth limit. | H Finance | Pollet | |
| SHB 1402 | Job posting/driver's license | Concerning job postings requiring driver's licenses. | H APPDPS | Scott | |
| 2SHB 1516 | Insurance/affordable units | Conducting a study of insurance coverage options for permanently affordable homeownership units. | H APPDP2S | Hill | |
| SHB 1522 (SSB 5430) | Utility wildfire mitigation | Concerning approval of electric utility wildfire mitigation plans. | H 2nd Reading | Dent | |
| SHB 1539 | Wildfire protection | Addressing wildfire protection and mitigation. | H 2nd Reading | Reeves | |
| 2SHB 1563 (SSB 5491) | Prescribed fire claims | Establishing a prescribed fire claims fund pilot program. | H APPDP2S | Bernbaum | |
| SHB 1714 | Small business risk pooling | Enabling opportunities for risk pooling by small businesses for property and liability risks. | H Finance | Cortes | |
| SB 5042 | Autonomous vehicles | Concerning vehicle and operator requirements for autonomous vehicles. | S Transportation | Lovick | |
| SSB 5067 | Impaired driving | Concerning impaired driving. | S Rules 2 | Lovick | |
| SB 5108 (HB 1006) | Service contracts | Regulating service contracts and protection product guarantees. | H ConsPro&Bus | Kauffman | |
| SSB 5127 (HB 1194) | Collector vehicle licenses | Creating additional requirements for collector vehicle and horseless carriage license plates to improve compliance and public safety. | S 2nd Reading | Lovick | |
| SB 5166 (HB 1197) | Operating budget, supp. | Making 2023-2025 fiscal biennium second supplemental operating appropriations. | S Ways & Means | Robinson | |
| SB 5167 (HB 1198) | Operating budget | Making 2025-2027 fiscal biennium operating appropriations. | S Ways & Means | Robinson | |
| SSB 5262 (SHB 1505) | Insurance statutes | Correcting obsolete or erroneous references in statutes administered by the insurance commissioner. | S 2nd Reading | Kauffman | |
| SSB 5331 (HB 1199) | Insurance code violations | Strengthening consumer protection through increased insurer accountability for violations of the insurance code. | S 2nd Reading | Cortes | |
| SSB 5430 (SHB 1522) | Utility wildfire mitigation | Concerning approval of electric utility wildfire mitigation plans. | S Rules 2 | Chapman | |
| SB 5721 (HB 1645) | Automobile insurance | Enhancing consumer protections for automobile insurance coverage. | S Rules 2 | Stanford |
Dead Bills
| Bill # | Abbrev. Title | Short Description | Status | Sponsor | Position |
| HB 1078 | Pet insurance | Concerning pet insurance. | H ConsPro&Bus | Walen | |
| SHB 1168 | Artificial intelligence info | Increasing transparency in artificial intelligence. | H Approps | Shavers | |
| HB 1181 | Labor standards | Concerning labor standards and the Washington minimum wage act. | H Labor & Workpl | Mena | |
| HB 1194 (SSB 5127) | Collector vehicle licenses | Creating additional requirements for collector vehicle and horseless carriage license plates to improve compliance and public safety. | H Transportation | Goodman | |
| HB 1199 (SSB 5331) | Insurance code violations | Strengthening consumer protection through increased insurer accountability for violations of the insurance code. | H ConsPro&Bus | Taylor | |
| HB 1315 | Impaired driving | Concerning impaired driving. | H Community Safe | Donaghy | |
| HB 1504 | Firearm financial resp. | Enhancing public safety by requiring financial responsibility to purchase or possess a firearm or operate a firearm range. | H Civil R & Judi | Reeves | |
| HB 1645 (SB 5721) | Automobile insurance | Enhancing consumer protections for automobile insurance coverage. | H ConsPro&Bus | Peterson | |
| SB 5107 | Local gov. vehicle insurance | Concerning underinsured motorist coverage for local government employees. | S Loc Gov | Boehnke | |
| SB 5345 (SHB 1308) | Access to personnel records | Concerning access to personnel records. | S Labor & Comm | Saldana | |
| SB 5465 (SHB 1656) | Wildfire costs/securitizing | Authorizing electrical companies to securitize certain wildfire-related costs to lower costs to customers. | S Environment, E | Shewmake | |
| SSB 5491 (2SHB 1563) | Prescribed fire claims | Establishing a prescribed fire claims fund pilot program. | S Ways & Means | Warnick |
Lobbying provided by . . .
