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Today, we hit the procedural midpoint of the 2025 legislative session. There are 46 days remaining in this 105-day legislative session, but the midpoint I am talking about is the House of Origin Cutoff.
Policy bills must be passed out of either the House of Representatives or the Senate by today. Bills that are not voted on by the full legislative body are considered “dead” for this legislative session. Many bills, like one that would raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour, will not advance this year.
In this week’s legislative update, we will focus on bills that are progressing through the legislative process and passing the milestones to legislative passage in 2025.
🪧 Senate Bill 5041
Senate Bill 5041 passed out of the Senate on March 7, advancing on a party-line vote. This bill would give striking workers unemployment benefits.
The business community’s concern with this bill is that it will provide employees with an incentive to strike and that this incentive will shift the bargaining power drastically in the favor of labor at the contract negotiating table. From our farms and factories, to our schools and hospitals, all types of business organizations should be worried about this bill going into effect.
There is cause for concern for all employers, regardless of management’s relationship with the firm’s labor. This is because if there is a large draw down of the fund due to one or more large scale strikes tapping into it, then the fund will face challenges in solvency and the legislature will likely increase the premium collection rate, impacting all employees and employers.
House Bill 1213
Another bill that advanced on a party-line vote was House Bill 1213. When the state’s Paid Family Medical Leave program went into effect, businesses with fewer than 50 employees were exempt from paying the employer portion of the PFML premium.
If HB 1213 is signed by the governor, small employers would be required to contribute to the program in the same fashion as larger companies. The bill additionally mandates that small businesses must restore employees to their positions after a period of leave – meaning a company would have to hold a job open for up to 18 weeks while an employee is on leave.
🏫 Senate Bill 5192
A bill from the Valley Chamber’s top legislative priorities is advancing through the legislative process, as 5192 passed the Senate on a 47-2 vote on March 6.
This bill improves the allocation of state funding for school districts, investing in their ability to deliver a basic education program.
- This is a tough year to pass increased funding packages, as the state faces a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. This is one of many avenues the state is exploring to relieve schools from a distressed financial position as bonds and levies have faced stronger opposition statewide, while our schools deal with the rising costs of goods and services.
We will potentially see movement on bills that provide additional flexibility and resources to school districts to achieve their funding needs.
House Bill 1644
House Bill 1644 advanced off the House floor on March 10. HB 1644 increases child labor penalties and inspections, raising employer liability.
Thanks to Suzanne Schmidt, amendments capped nonserious fines, lowered serious harm penalties, and removed automatic permit revocation, reducing business concerns. However, high penalties, stricter enforcement, and repeat violation fines still risk discouraging youth hiring.
Even with revisions, businesses may avoid employing minors to prevent regulatory exposure, limiting job opportunities for young workers. While the amendments lessen concerns, lingering issues remain regarding the bill’s impact on youth employment.
🔋 House Bill 1409
House Bill 1409 passed the House on March 10, amending Washington’s clean fuel program to reduce carbon intensity in transportation fuels.
The bill requires a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2017 levels by 2038, revising a 2021 law that aimed for a 20% reduction by 2038. Petroleum fuel suppliers must buy credits from alternative fuel suppliers. While credits were $106 at the program’s start, prices have dropped to $22.93 in January. HB 1409 seeks to raise credit prices by advancing the 20% emissions reduction to 2034, requiring suppliers to purchase more credits sooner.
What's Next
These are among the most pressing and concerning bills advancing this legislative session. We are waiting to see the fiscal bills central to the majority party’s agenda in the coming weeks.
How the state is going to raise revenue to shore up the budget is the question top of mind for the remainder of the session. Next week, on March 18, the Economic and Revenue Forecast will be released, which will provide the final figures for budget writers to utilize in their back and forth negotiations to get us to a sound budget. It is worth remembering that the legislature only has to pass one type of bill each session, and that is the budget. All other issues are supplementary, tertiary, to this chief responsibility of our lawmakers. To that end, any bill deemed “necessary to implement the budget” is not subject to the rule we started discussing in this blog post, the cutoff calendar.
That being the case, we will have to wait, perhaps until the 11th hour, to understand the burden that will be placed on businesses to get the state on solid financial footing.
