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The end is near -- only two days remain in regular session. Although scheduled to end Sunday, April 27 it remains to be seen if session will end on time.
With the current budget concerns, a few extra days may be necessary to reach consensus. The Governor or the Legislature can call for a special session. However, at the time of this writing, it hard to tell how much difference there is between House and Senate. Per our state's constitution, a balanced budget must be passed. Unlike the federal government, the State does not have deficit budgeting/spending capabilities.
Both the Transportation budget, Senate Bill 5161, and the Operating budget Senate Bill 5167, remain in conference committees.
Both versions of the Capital budget, House Bill 1216 / Senate Bill 5195 remain in the Rules committee of each chamber. The task is to merge these two versions into one mutually agreeable plan before moving to a final vote.
CAAA Legislative Update: Week 14
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Bill #
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Sponsor
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Bill Title
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Committee
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Hearing Info
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Bill Status
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HB 1012
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Taylor
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Authorizing the Women's Commission to solicit gifts
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Final passage
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Delivered to governor for signature
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Send comments on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Authorizes the Washington State Women's Commission to solicit gifts,
grants, and endowments from public and private sources for the benefit
of the commission
Potential impact on community: Commission is intended to address issues relevant to the problems and needs of women, such as domestic violence, childcare, child support, sexual discrimination, sexual
harassment, equal compensation and job pathways opportunities in employment, and the
specific needs of women of color. The Commission provides resource and referral information to agencies and the public and holds public meetings.
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Updates 20 year-old definitions and guidance to
ensure support for the work of children's advocacy centers in child abuse cases
Potential impact on community: Establishes statewide and regional peer review of child interviews as a means of quality assurance
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EHB 1052
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Ryu
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Hate crime offenses
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Final passage
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Delivered to governor for signature
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion to Senate Bill 5038
What this bill does: Modifies the conduct that constitutes a Hate Crime offense to include
when a person commits a specified act in whole or in part because of the
person's perception of another person's certain characteristics
Potential impact on community: Strengthens hate crime laws in combatting racism against people of color
Companion to Senate Bill 5034
What this bill does: Eliminating the expiration of the interagency, multijurisdictional system improvement team
Potential impact on community: Created in 2017, the Team was directed to identify, implement, and report on system improvements for infrastructure projects to maximize value and minimize overall costs and disturbance to the community, and ensure long-term durability and resilience. Bill will make this team permanent beginning November 2026
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HB 1069
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Fosse
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Collective bargaining / supplemental retirement benefits
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Senate Rules
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Needs a pull to the Senate Floor
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion to Senate Bill 5044
What this bill does: Allowing collective bargaining over contributions for certain supplemental
retirement benefits
Potential impact on community: Retirement plans and retirement benefits administered by
the Department of Retirement Systems, rather than retirement plans and benefits in general,
are excluded from bargaining. Protects retirees
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Expands and modifies the membership, compensation, and training
requirements for the Clemency and Pardons Board. Requires the Department of Corrections to supervise a person granted conditional commutation if community custody is a condition of the
commutation.
Potential impact on the community: Encourages additional voices on the Board and enhances public safety
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E2SHB 1213
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Berry
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Worker protections
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Final passage
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House agreed to Senate amendments
Delivered to governor
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Send comments on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? Senate Bill 5539
What this bill does: Reduces the minimum claim period for benefits from eight to four consecutive hours of leave. Extends employment protection rights. Allows employers to prevent stacking of certain employment protection rights. Extends access to grants for small employers to offset costs.
Potential impact on the community: Helps workers and small businesses navigate the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave program
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SHB 1272
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Callan
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Children in crisis program
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Final passage
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Delivered to governor
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Reauthorizes the Children and Youth Multisystem Care Coordinator - RCW. 43.06.535. Current position set to expire June 2025
Potential impact on community: Protections and resources for children of color in crisis
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SHB 1308
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Reed
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Personnel records
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Final passage
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House agrees to Senate amendments.
Delivered to governor
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Send comments on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? Senate Bill 5345
What this bill does: Concerning access to personnel records.
Potential impact on community: Requires a private employer to provide an employee or former employee with a copy of the employee's personnel file within 21 calendar days of a request, and a public employer to do so in accordance with the Public Records Act. Requires a private employer to provide to a former employee, upon written request, a statement of the employee's discharge date and reasons, if any, for the discharge. Allows a private cause of action by an employee or former employee against a private employer for violations of the requirements to provide a copy of a personnel file and a written discharge statement
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Amends rules regarding background checks for the licensing and screening of employees and volunteers under the national child protection act of 1993
Potential impact on the community: Fingerprints must be searched by the Washington state patrol prior to being forwarded to the federal bureau of investigation for a national search. In order to participate in this program qualified entities and federally recognized tribes must: (a) Notify the covered individual that: (i) They have the right to obtain a copy of their own state and federal criminal history record from the agency that conducted the fingerprint check within a specified amount of time determined by the qualified entity; (ii) They have the right to appeal the results of the criminal history record to challenge the accuracy or completion of information in the criminal history record
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Concerns family reconciliation services
Potential impact on community: Offers contracts to expand family reconciliation services in two regions on the west side and one on the east side of the Cascades
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2SHB 1524
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Obras
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Workplace standards /requirements for isolated employees
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Governor signed
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Signed into law. Becomes effective January 2026
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Send comments on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Directs L&I must investigate if a complaint is filed or if L&I has reason to believe that an employer has committed a violation. Except when a violation is otherwise resolved, L&I must either issue a citation assessing a civil penalty or a closure letter
Potential impact on the community: Adds enforcement provisions to existing statutes related to isolated employees and authorizes the Department of Labor and Industries to investigate violations and assess penalties for willful violations. Modifies definitions and terminology in the existing statutes related to isolated employees
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Adopt by rule, minimum standards for degree-granting institutions
Potential impact on the community: Protects the public with rules that require that an institution operating in Washington when granting of degrees; quality of education, unfair business practices, financial stability, and other necessary measures to protect citizens of this state against substandard, fraudulent, or deceptive practices.
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ESHB 1620
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Taylor
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Limitation in parenting plans
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Final passage
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House agrees to Senate amendments
Delivered to governor
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Send comments on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? Senate Bill 5575
What this bill does: Creates the children's social equity land trust
Potential impact on the community: Amends provisions governing limitations a court may impose in a parenting plan on residential time with a child, decision-making authority, and dispute resolution by reorganizing language and making revisions and additions to substantive provisions
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Addressing the safety and health of working minors
Potential impact on the community: Issues citations to employers who violate employment rules concerning minors
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2SHB 1696
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Taylor
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Modifying the covenant home ownership
program
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Final passage
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Signed into law
Becomes effective July 2025
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Modifying the Covenant homeownership program
Potential impact on the community: Modifies the Covenant Homeownership Program by raising the area median income threshold for eligibility to 140 percent, authorizing full loan forgiveness under certain circumstances, and modifying one of the membership positions on the oversight committee
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SHB 1821
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Cortes
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Interested party definition in prevailing wage laws
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Final passage
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Signed into law
Become effective July 2025
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: State law requires employers to pay prevailing wages to laborers, workers, and mechanics employed on all public works projects. The prevailing wage is the hourly wage, usual benefits, and overtime paid in the largest city in the county to the majority of individuals in the same trade or occupation
Potential impact on the community: Requires the Department of Labor and Industries to provide, upon request, a copy of an employer's certified payroll records to an interested party. Expands the definition of interested party to include Joint Labor Management Cooperation Committees and Taft-Hartley trusts. The purpose of this trust is to provide benefits to union members, including retirement benefits and health benefits
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Bill #
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Sponsor
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Bill Title
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Committee
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Date Heard
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Status
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Creates an office of the family and children's ombuds within the office of the governor. Investigates, upon the ombud's own initiative or upon receipt of a complaint, an administrative act by DCYF, monitors the procedures of the department and reviews facilities ensuring health and safety including juvenile rehab facilities. Recommends changes in procedures to address those in the state's care
Potential impact on community: Provides a means of oversight and contact for families of color interacting with DCYF
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ESSB 5142
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Hasegawa
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Eminent domain purchase back
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Final passage
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Senate agrees to House amendments.
Heading to governor
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Providing owners of real estate taken through eminent domain by school
districts, or sold under threat of eminent domain, the opportunity to purchase the real estate
back when it is not put to intended public use
Potential impact on community: Whenever a school district acquires real estate in a condemnation action or under threat of condemnation, before the school district may sell, transfer, or put the real estate to use other than as a site for school facilities or as additional grounds to existing school facilities, the district must send a written offer to the previous owner or owners, or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest (previous owner), offering to sell the real estate back to the previous owner in exchange for the amount paid by the school district to acquire the property. The previous owner has 60 days to accept the offer
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SB 5224
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Lovick
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Concerning officer certification definitions, processes, and commissioning
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Final passage
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Delivered to governor
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? House Bill 1400
What this bill does: Requires specified peace officers and corrections officers, moving from one Washington law enforcement or corrections agency to another, or moving from a certified peace officer position to a certified corrections officer position, or vice versa, to comply with background investigation requirements. Removes the requirement that an administrative law judge issue a proposed recommendation to the panel in a hearing on the denial, suspension, or revocation of a peace officer's or corrections officer's certification.
Potential impact on community: Making sure our qualified professionals stay certified. Now that officers are allowed to work flexible work schedules, this legislation makes sure that they can maintain their certification.
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Companion bill? No
What this bill does: Requires social equity impact analysis in performance audits and legislative public hearings
Potential impact on community: Analysis to include the social equity impact of programs or services. State auditor may offer contracts for this analysis
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Companion bill? House Bill 1556
What this bill does: Community & technical college tuition waivers for high school completers
Potential impact on the community: Waives all of tuition fees and services and for children of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, or Washington state patrol officer who lost his or her life or became totally disabled in the line of duty while employed by any public law enforcement agency or full time or volunteer fire department, provided such persons begin their course of study at a community or technical college within ten years of their graduation from high school
Companion bill? House Bill 1554
What this bill does: Equity in eligibility for the college bound scholarship
Potential impact on the community: Expands eligibility to include some students who qualified for free or reduced lunch in grades 9 - 12. These students automatically become enrolled in the College Bound Scholarship and the student and parent are notified of enrollment.
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SB 5616
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Hasegawa
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Washington Saves
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Final passage
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Delivered to governor
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Send comment on this bill to your legislators
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Companion bill? House Bill 1477
What this bill does: Changes the name of the "Washington Saves Administrative Treasury
Trust Account" to "Washington Saves Administrative Trust Account."
Potential impact on the community: Washington Saves is a state-facilitated automatic enrollment individual retirement savings account program, established in 2024. The program is an auto-IRA retirement savings program administered by the State of Washington for workers whose employers don’t offer a retirement plan
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