2025 Legislative Update: Week 6
Friday, February 21st was house of origin policy cutoff where all bills referred to a policy committee had to be passed out of committee by that date. The week was filled with packed hearings and committee votes. Those that didn’t get out of committee are now considered dead. The exception are bills deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB), which are not subject to the cutoff calendar.
After the cutoff on Friday, focus quickly shifted to fiscal committees. Fiscal committees include the House fiscal committees (Appropriations, Capital Budget, Finance, and Transportation) and Senate fiscal committees (Ways & Means and Transportation). Bills referred to these committees needed to get voted out by Friday, February 28th. The House Appropriations committee met on Saturday to hold hearings on several bills, and the upcoming week will be filled with long hearings (sometimes very long) in fiscal committees. Testimony in fiscal committees differs from policy committees in that fiscal chairs request testifiers speak to the fiscal aspects of the bill, rather than make a policy case.
Because of the significant budget shortfall the state is facing, many bills won’t get a fiscal hearing this year. And even for those that do get heard, many won’t make it out of fiscal committee, or they may be significantly changed to reduce the fiscal impact. It will be very important to watch how bills that do move out of fiscal committee are amended because many are expected to be whittled down.
Budget
We anticipate a lot of information will be released this week related to the operating budget. The House Democrats are rumored to be releasing some information early in the week related to former-Governor Inslee’s ‘book 1’ budget. As a reminder, the ‘book 1’ budget is based on current law (aka no new revenue proposals can be factored in). Given the estimated $12 billion budget shortfall that the state is facing, we will see severe cuts to programs and services in the ‘book 1’ budget.
Governor Ferguson is expected to hold a press conference sometime this week, possibly on Wednesday, to discuss the various agency budget reductions that were due to OFM on February 6th. State agencies were asked to consider various reduction scenarios of 4%, 6%, 8%, and 11%. Further details are expected by the end of the week.
The transportation budgets are scheduled to be released around the end of March and these budgets are looking dire. The main challenge is addressing a $4 billion deficit over the next 6 years. If a balanced budget is crafted for the next three biennium, significant cuts to projects and programs will be required. Alternatively, budgeting for only the next two biennium would result in less severe cuts. Both scenarios assume no additional revenue is approved by the Legislature
Looking Ahead
This week will focus on fiscal committee as bills are heard and voted on ahead of Friday’s house of origin fiscal cutoff. Follow where we are in the process by consulting the 2025 Session Cutoff Calendar.
Click here to watch this week’s TVW Legislative Review. Episodes are posted every day during session and are just 10 minutes long, providing highlights of the day in Olympia.
Upcoming Events Report
Finance (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/24 @ 8:00am
HB 1870 – Public Hearing – Concerning county property tax levies for public health clinic purposes. (Remote Testimony Available).
HB 1996 – Public Hearing – Authorizing a qualified county to impose a tax for the funding of behavioral health diversion from the criminal justice system. (Remote Testimony Available).
HB 2015 – Public Hearing – Improving public safety funding by providing resources to local governments and state and local criminal justice agencies, and authorizing a local option tax. (Remote Testimony Available).
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/24 @ 1:30pm
SHB 1409 – Public Hearing – Concerning the clean fuels program. (Remote Testimony Available).
HB 1622 – Public Hearing – Allowing bargaining over matters related to the use of artificial intelligence. (Remote Testimony Available).
HB 1473 – Exec Session – Making expenditures from the budget stabilization account for declared catastrophic events.
Transportation (Senate) – SHR 1 and Virtual J.A. Cherberg – 2/24 @ 1:30pm
SB 5702 – Public Hearing – Streamlining the toll rate setting process at the transportation commission. (Remote Testimony Available).
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 2/24 @ 1:30pm
SSB 5176 – Public Hearing – Implementing prompt pay recommendations from the capital projects advisory review board. (Remote Testimony Available).
SJR 8201 – Public Hearing – Amending the Constitution to allow the state to invest moneys from long-term services and supports accounts. (Remote Testimony Available).
Finance (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/25 @ 8:00am
HB 1907 – Public Hearing – Defining the rental or lease of individual storage space at self-service storage facilities as a retail transaction for the imposition of business and occupation and sales and use taxes. (Remote Testimony Available).
HB 2015 – Exec Session – Improving public safety funding by providing resources to local governments and state and local criminal justice agencies, and authorizing a local option tax.
HB 1717 – Exec Session – Creating a sales and use tax remittance program for affordable housing.
Capital Budget (House) – HHR B and Virtual JLOB – 2/25 @ 9:00am
SHB 1458 – Public Hearing – Reducing embodied carbon emissions of buildings and building materials. (Remote Testimony Available).
SHB 1491 – Public Hearing – Promoting transit-oriented housing development. (Remote Testimony Available).
SHB 1808 – Public Hearing – Creating an affordable homeownership revolving loan fund program. (Remote Testimony Available).
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/25 @ 1:30pm
SHB 1975 – Public Hearing – Amending the climate commitment act by adjusting auction price containment mechanisms and ceiling prices, addressing the department of ecology’s authority to amend rules to facilitate linkage with other jurisdictions, and providing for market dynamic analysis. (Remote Testimony Available).
SHB 1175 – Exec Session – Allowing small business establishments in residential zones.
SHB 1183 – Exec Session – Concerning building code and development regulation reform.
SHB 1516 – Public Hearing – Conducting a study of insurance coverage options for permanently affordable homeownership units. (Remote Testimony Available).
Transportation (Senate) – SHR 1 and Virtual J.A. Cherberg – 2/25 @ 1:30pm
SB 5649 – Public Hearing – Creating a Washington state supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5705 – Exec Session – Improving traffic safety by modifying penalty amounts for certain traffic infractions.
SB 5773 – Public Hearing – Concerning alternative procurement and delivery models for transportation projects. (Remote Testimony Available).
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 2/25 @ 1:30pm
SB 5768 – Public Hearing – Expanding eligibility for the working families’ tax credit to everyone age 18 and older. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5771 – Public Hearing – Increasing the working families’ tax credit to reflect the economic impact of property taxes incorporated into rental amounts charged to residential tenants. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5770 – Public Hearing – Providing housing safety, security, and protection by creating the primary residence property tax exemption. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5748 – Public Hearing – Incentivizing the substantial reduction or elimination of impact fees. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5576 – Public Hearing – Providing state funding for essential affordable housing programs. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5422 – Public Hearing – Allowing bargaining over matters related to certain uses of artificial intelligence. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5292 – Public Hearing – Concerning paid family and medical leave rates. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5041 – Public Hearing – Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers. (Remote Testimony Available).
Capital Budget (House) – HHR B and Virtual JLOB – 2/26 @ 9:00am
HB 1967 – Exec Session – Modifying bonding requirements in the design portion of design-build public works projects.
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/26 @ 1:30pm
SHB 1443 – Exec Session – Concerning mobile dwellings.
HB 1858 – Exec Session – Eliminating the exemption for assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust from the document recording fee and the covenant homeownership program assessment.
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 2/26 @ 1:30pm
SSB 5155 – Public Hearing – Extending a program to streamline the environmental permitting process for salmon recovery projects. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5762 – Public Hearing – Increasing the statewide 988 behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention line tax. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5392 – Public Hearing – Concerning budget stabilization account transfers. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5496 – Public Hearing – Preserving homeownership options by limiting excessive home buying by certain entities. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5332 – Public Hearing – Concerning mobile dwellings. (Remote Testimony Available).
SSB 5613 – Public Hearing – Concerning the development of clear and objective standards, conditions, and procedures for residential development. (Remote Testimony Available).
SB 5659 – Public Hearing – Eliminating each local government’s proportional share of Washington’s housing shortage. (Remote Testimony Available).
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/27 @ 9:00am
HB 1380 – Exec Session – Allowing objectively reasonable regulation of the utilization of public property.
