Legislative Session Update: Week 6 (February 16-20, 2026)

By Jim Hedrick, GSI WA State Lobbyist and Spokane Regional Advocate

Breathing Room

The Washington State Legislature wrapped up House of Origin floor action this week, sending a wave of bills across the rotunda to opposite-chamber policy committees. Lawmakers now face a fast-moving timeline, with only until February 25 to review, debate, and advance those measures.

One of the sure signs that session is entering its final phase is the release of the pre-budget revenue forecast, which budget writers rely on to put final touches on their proposals. The Monday forecast from the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council showed Washington’s economy and state finances performing modestly better than expected. Projected General Fund–State revenue for the 2025–27 biennium is now approximately $827 million higher than the November forecast, bringing total expected collections to roughly $75.3 billion. Revenue for the 2027–29 biennium is also projected to be more than $1 billion higher, largely driven by stronger personal income, employment, and tax receipts.

This improved outlook gives budget writers some welcome breathing room as they prepare supplemental budget proposals easing, but not eliminating, pressure as lawmakers work through competing priorities ahead of the March 12 adjournment. Democratic budget leaders have been quick to emphasize that while the forecast helps, challenges remain.

Legislative Budgets

Following the revenue forecast, the Legislature will roll out its supplemental budget proposals for the second year of the biennium. Operating budgets from both chambers are scheduled for release Sunday afternoon, House at 3:00 p.m. and Senate at 4:00 p.m., and will be posted publicly online.

Public committee hearings are slated for Monday, followed by committee markup and votes on Tuesday. Floor action could come as early as Wednesday or Thursday.

If the budget process feels fast, that’s because it is. Leadership moves quickly to minimize opportunities for amendments or organized opposition, and procedurally the budgets must be placed “into dispute” to formally trigger negotiations between the chambers.

Millionaire’s Tax

On Monday, majority Democrats sought to bolster the state’s long-term revenue outlook by approving SB 6346 (Pedersen, D-Seattle), commonly referred to as the “Millionaire’s Tax,” 2

following a lengthy and often contentious floor debate. Minority Republicans offered multiple amendments aimed at reshaping the proposal, but none were adopted.

When the final vote was taken, three Democrats—Senators Cortes (D-Battle Ground), Hansen (D-Bremerton), and Krishnadasan (D-Gig Harbor)—broke with their caucus and joined Republicans in opposing the bill, resulting in a 27–22 vote. The measure now moves to the House.

The tension did not end there. On Tuesday, Governor Ferguson addressed the bill during a media availability, proposing to direct more than half of the projected revenue, roughly $1.9 billion annually, back to Washingtonians through affordability measures. His plan includes approximately $1 billion to dramatically expand the small-business B&O tax credit, effectively eliminating B&O taxes on the first $2.5 million in revenue for many businesses and reducing them for thousands more.

He also proposed roughly $380 million annually to expand the Working Families Tax Credit by increasing eligibility and boosting rebate amounts by 30 percent, along with targeted sales-tax relief, including a sales-tax holiday for purchases under $1,000 and exemptions for diapers, baby products, and hygiene items. Ferguson emphasized that these investments must represent new dollars directly back into people’s pockets.

Legislative Democrats responded with visible frustration, not only over the substance of the proposal but also over how it was unveiled. Rather than negotiating through press conferences, they urged the governor to engage directly with legislative leadership.

The 5 o’clock Bill

One of the recurring dramas of floor cutoff days is identifying the “5 p.m. bill”—the last bill introduced before the deadline. Bills must be introduced by 4:59 p.m. to remain eligible, after which legislators often go “at ease” to caucus and negotiate before returning for final action.

This year, however, the Senate hit an unexpected snag when Senator Short (R-Coleville) requested that the full 39 pages of a bill dealing with transmission reliability and capacity be read aloud. Typically, only the first and last lines are read. The full reading, a rarely used procedural tactic, consumed significant time and effectively stalled floor action.

As a result, several bills scheduled for consideration never reached the floor and are now considered dead. In the aftermath, members from both parties acknowledged the unforgiving nature of cutoff deadlines. Majority Leader Senator Pedersen (D-Seattle) later suggested the delay stemmed from a misunderstanding, noting that discussions would continue and that the issues could be revisited next session. 3

Bills Suffering the Cutoff

Several high-profile bills failed to advance before the House of Origin cutoff, despite extensive debate. Among them was HB 1834 (Callan, D-Issaquah), Attorney General request legislation addressing minors’ use of social media. Despite months of stakeholder negotiations, three substitute versions, and 15 floor amendments, the bill ultimately stalled. HB 2389 (Cortes, D-Everett), which sought to prioritize community-based rehabilitation in juvenile justice, also failed to advance after drawing more than 60 amendments and intense debate. Speaker Jinkins acknowledged during floor action that the votes were not there.

Other bills that died include HB 2611 (Scott, D-Seattle) establishing a 32-hour workweek; HB 2578 (Lekanoff, D-Tulalip) adding tribal representatives to the Fish and Wildlife Commission; HB 2112 (Leavitt, D-Lakewood) setting a minimum age for accessing adult content online; and SB 6111 (Salomon, D-Seattle) requiring social-media platforms to verify user age.

Environmental Protections and the Line Between Efficiency and Erasure

Two politically linked bills quietly died on the Senate floor calendar this week when time ran out. SB 5466 (Shewmake, D-Bellingham) would have granted broad environmental exemptions to accelerate transmission of “green energy,” while SB 5609 (Kauffman, D-Auburn) sought to strengthen protections for cultural resources as a condition of permitting. Together, the bills highlight a growing fault line in Olympia between utilities, environmental advocates, Tribes, and labor.

Every session, the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) shows up wearing two hats. On one side are categorical exemptions, designed to streamline low-impact projects and prevent regulatory paralysis. In a state facing housing shortages, infrastructure needs, and ambitious climate goals, exemptions are often framed as common sense.

On the other side are cultural resources, which don’t regenerate or relocate. Archaeological sites, tribal cultural properties, and historic landscapes are uniquely vulnerable because damage is often invisible until it’s irreversible. Once a project is categorically exempt, the legal trigger to even look for these resources can disappear.

Supporters of expanded exemptions argue SEPA has become a litigation tool detached from environmental outcomes, driving delay and cost. But cultural-resource protection is not outlined elsewhere in Washington State law as other resources do such as land use, water, fish, and air quality. Protection of cultural resources is about ensuring development does not unintentionally erase history, particularly Indigenous history. The uncomfortable truth is that categorical exemptions don’t just reduce paperwork; they reduce legal visibility. When review 4

disappears, so does consultation and when consultation disappears the tension between Tribes trying to protect their heritage and state government, labor and utilities trying to produce, construct and sale energy becomes intense. This phenomenon is not going away anytime soon.

The real question is not whether efficiency matters. The question is whether speed is being calibrated carefully enough to preserve the remaining legal backstops for cultural resources under SEPA. SEPA reform done right can make the process faster and fairer. Done wrong, it risks trading short-term convenience for permanent loss. And once that’s gone, no categorical exemption can bring it back.

The Week Ahead

Budgets and fiscal committee work will dominate the coming week as legislators and lobbyists scramble to get that “one last thing” added—or removed—from spending and tax bills. Fiscal committees will face long days of testimony and executive action, not only on budget bills but also on policy bills that have crossed over.

That workload is driven in part by the opposite-house policy committee cutoff on Wednesday, February 25. Expect a busy week and for more bills to stall, die, or change significantly as scrutiny intensifies under the very real constraint of limited spending capacity.