Legislative Session Update: Week 9 – March 10-14, 2025
By Jim Hedrick, GSI WA State Lobbyist and Spokane Regional Advocate
Wednesday, March 12, marked the critical deadline for bills to advance out of their chambers of origin. With this milestone passed, legislative focus now shifts to the next phase: bills making their way across the rotunda to be considered by policy committees in the opposite chamber.
Each floor cutoff day brings anticipation with one recurring question—what will be the “5 p.m. bill?” According to legislative rules, so long as the bill’s process begins before the 5 p.m. deadline, discussions can continue well into the evening. So sometimes, the bill was brought up the day prior or earlier in the day, only to be finished later, even brought up again at 4:59 pm or later. This final bill of the day often carries symbolic weight. Sometimes, it’s a contentious measure that sparks extended debate, stretching late into the night. Other times, it’s a broadly supported, feel-good proposal—perhaps a resolution honoring a local hero, commemorating a historic event, or recognizing a cause that garners bipartisan backing. This year, we witnessed both types of bills.
This cutoff, the House 5 pm bill was HB 1296 (Stonier, D-Vancouver), a hot-button student rights bill. The legislation proposes modifications to existing policies concerning student rights, parental rights, and employee protections within public schools and requires school districts to adopt or amend policies by January 31, 2026, to incorporate guidelines from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). These guidelines aim to eliminate discrimination based on gender expression and identity, address challenges faced by transgender students, and apply anti-bullying policies to these students. Additionally, the bill outlines enforcement mechanisms for non-compliance, including potential sanctions such as withholding state funds, terminating specific programs, instituting corrective actions, and placing districts on probation until compliance is achieved. Prior to enforcement, OSPI must provide notices to non-compliant districts, detailing corrective actions and timelines. The bill has elicited partisan responses. Republican legislators have expressed concerns that HB 1296 could undermine the “parents’ bill of rights” initiative (Initiative 2081) passed in 2024. The bill was brought up shortly before the 5 pm deadline and then not debated on until the middle of the night, with debate wrapping up at 2:15 am, Thursday morning. The bill passed on a party-line vote, with the adoption of six of 128 proposed amendments.
And over in the Senate, the majority chose SB 5263 (Pedersen, D-Seattle) as their 5 pm bill. Debate was sometimes emotional, with several members on each side of the aisle speaking. The bipartisan legislation, which passed 48-0, proposes several significant changes to special education funding to enhance support for students with disabilities. Key provisions include:
- Increased Funding Multipliers: The bill raises the special education funding multipliers to 1.6381 for Pre-K students and 1.5289 for K-12 students, eliminating the previous tiered structure based on time spent in general education settings.
- Removal of Enrollment Cap: It eliminates the 16% enrollment funding cap, allowing districts to receive funding for all eligible special education students without limitation.
- Lowered Safety Net Threshold: The eligibility threshold for special education safety net funding is reduced to 1.5 times the average per-pupil expenditure for all school districts, making it easier for districts to qualify for additional funds.
- Development of a Statewide IEP System: The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is required to develop and maintain a centralized statewide Individualized Education Program (IEP) system to ensure compliance with state and federal requirements, improve efficiency, and enhance educational outcomes.
- Quarterly Distribution of Safety Net Funds: The bill mandates that safety net funds be distributed quarterly under certain circumstances, providing more timely financial support to districts.
As bills now transition to the other chamber, the stakes remain high. Each proposal faces new scrutiny, potential amendments, and a different political dynamic. The coming weeks will determine which measures ultimately make it through the full legislative process and which fall short before regular session adjournment.
Senate Republicans Release Budget Proposal
The budget considered by the Washington State Legislature will be drafted by the majority party, the Democrats. However, the Senate Republicans have proposed an alternative budget aimed at tackling the state’s multi-billion-dollar deficit without introducing new taxes. Their plan includes a $75.6 billion budget for the next two years, marking a 5% increase from the current cycle. Key strategies involve utilizing surplus funds, pausing planned expansions for state-subsidized childcare, and forgoing approximately $4 billion in previously negotiated pay raises for state workers. Instead of these raises, they propose a one-time $5,000 bonus for employees. Senator Chris Gildon, the Republican budget lead, emphasized that this approach seeks a middle ground between cuts and tax increases. Democratic budget leaders have criticized the Republican proposal as “unsustainable.” The state’s projected budget deficit estimates vary, with figures ranging from $6.6 billion to over $15 billion.
Rumors on Transportation Revenue and Spending
There is little momentum regarding a bill to start a road usage charge (RUC), a concept using GIS technology on automobiles to tax them based on miles driven. The gas tax, already high in this state and politically unpopular has become less of a stable, reliable source of revenue with more fuel efficient cars and more stay at home work. This has begged the question about how the legislature is going to fund future transportation needs much less end the delays and backlog of the state’s several mega-highway projects like the I-5 Columbia River bridge in Vancouver, finishing the State Route 520 / I-5 link by the University of Washington, the State Route 167 Gateway project in Pierce County, the US2 highway trestle in Snohomish County and US395, the North Spokane Corridor. Significant cost overruns have delayed all these projects.
Rumors abound about what transportation budget writers, House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma) and Senate Transportation Committee Chari Senator Marko Liias (D-Mukilteo) will develop. Many are saying they will go back to what they know and propose an increase in the gas tax. Gross weight fees, mostly on commercial trucks, will most likely be a part of the solution as well. There is talk of a couple of new ideas, the controversial “delivery fee” on deliveries to homes and businesses via automobiles (we’ll see what hometown Amazon has to say about that), diverting the sales tax from auto sales which now goes into the state general fund for state operating costs and repurposing some of the revenue from the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) which now only goes for non-highway multi-modal types of transportation.
On the spending side both Fey and Liias have been consistent, they are looking to have a budget focused on maintenance and operations of the current system and towards replacement of fish culverts which the state is under a federal court order to address on a tight timeline. Any part of a highway project that is not currently under contract is either going to be delayed, reduced funding, or eliminated entirely. Given the cost of construction materials may increase with on-going tariffs, there is very little hope in the transportation area to get the projects the state thought they had fully funded just five short years ago.
Quarterly Revenue Forecast
Next Tuesday, the state quarterly revenue forecast will be made public informing the legislature of their revenue and in turn spending levels for their proposed budgets. Customarily the House and Senate would release their budget proposals the week of March 24. State revenue collections seemingly remain strong but the state economy is facing uncertainty with international tariff wars, inflation, changes in Federal spending practices in significant programs like Medicaid, no end to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and questions about Boeing’s products and production levels. All these factors play into the economic and revenue forecast. It’s doubtful the forecast will assist much with the budget shortfall, but it will be telling about the future of the state. The current budget problems we currently face could be dwarfed by national and international events.
The Week Ahead
The legislature will be back at full-time committee hearings all next week taking testimony on bills from the opposite house. The next process milestone is the opposite house policy committee cutoff on Wednesday, April 2. This Wednesday, March 19, the House and Senate will have a joint “memorial” session to honor past legislators who are now deceased, a tradition that started in the 1950s.
About the Author
Jim Hedrick is GSI’s State Lobbyist and Owner of H2 Government Relations. Jim has advocated on behalf of our community for more than 20 years and has 25 years of experience in the Washington State legislative and public policy venue as a fiscal analyst, legislative advocate, and political advisor to the Governor, state agency directors, and legislative officials.
About this Blog
As part of GSI’s year-round work with our community to advance policies that support the success of local businesses, we’re active in Washington State’s current legislative session – tracking bills, advocating on behalf of our community, planning our annual trip to Olympia, communicating our State Agenda, and working with our lobbyist, our Regional Advocacy Committee, and our elected officials, to advance priorities that support local businesses and enhance our community. Learn more about what we do to create a greater voice for the future of our region and view this year’s State Agenda.
