2019 SESSION WRAP UP
General Information
Following their sweep in the November elections, Democratic legislators arrived in Olympia eager to pass policies for which they were previously unable to muster sufficient votes. Since 2013, bipartisanship had been a necessity for bill passage, as the partisan makeup of both chambers were within a few votes. Not this session. In the House, Democrats lead 57-41. In the Senate, Democrats lead 28-21. These leads gave Democrats the ability to pass a bold populist agenda addressing climate change, education, gun responsibility, sexual assault prevention, orca protection, health care, homelessness, and behavioral health.
With just two hours before the midnight deadline of the 66th legislature, many insiders were certain a special session was inevitable with such a great number of contentious items left to pass. At a little over an hour to spare, legislators reached agreements and bills began racing between the chambers. The 2019 legislative session was adjourned at midnight exactly.
The bill threatening a special session, SB 5313 sponsored by Senator Lisa Wellman, was the divisive Levy Lid Lift policy. Negotiated as part of the McCleary fix, advocates said the return to additional local levy monies was necessary to prevent imminent widespread school district lay-offs. Critics claimed the lift would create inequality between wealthier suburban districts and those unable to pass a levy. Late Sunday night, legislators reached agreement to lift the lid, stripping Senator Guy Palumbo’s amendment funding charter schools, and creating penalties if a district uses levy funds for basic education. Other policies that were part of this agreement include retroactively exempting the names of participants in the bump stock buy-back from public record and using a portion of the vape tax to fund the Andy Hill cancer research center.
Earlier in the evening, the Legislature also passed Initiative 1000, allowing the state to use affirmative action to address discrimination or underrepresentation by race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and veteran status, so long as those factors are not the sole qualifying reason for choosing an otherwise less-qualified applicant. This vote keeps the bill off the November ballot, where chances of passing were slim. After the Senate vote was taken, angry voices from anti I-1000 Asians for Equality could be heard shouting “Vote them out!” and “Let the people vote!” The opponents have already filed a referendum.
Coming into session, Democratic legislators and Governor Jay Inslee recommended a variety of plans to raise revenue. In the final weeks of session, it became evident the proposed capital gains tax lacked adequate votes in 2019. Another bill which failed to gain support was SB 5996, sponsored by Senator Kevin Van De Wege, which would have created a fund for wildfire prevention and suppression through tax increases on insurance companies.
In the last days of session however, the Legislature did pass $830 million dollars in new revenue in the 2019/21 biennium including:
The $52.4 billion Operating Budget spends an additional $2 billion, 17% more than the last biennial budget to fund Democratic priorities including:
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a priority for Governor and presidential candidate Jay Inslee ultimately failed in the last week of session. In addition to the many other climate wins this session – such as a 100% Renewable Energy Policy for Electricty Generation (SB 5116), Clean Buildings Policies (HB 1257) and a phase out of Hydrofluorocarbons in refrigeration and air conditioning (HB 1112) -- presidential candidate Jay Inslee can also campaign on passage of “Cascade Care,” a public option health insurance policy that directs the state to contract with private insurers to provide plans on the individual market with the state capping reimbursement rates for providers at 160% of the Medicare rate. The plan is designed to aid the 4% of insurance customers shopping for a policy on the state exchange who neither receive workplace insurance benefits nor qualify for subsidized plans. The consumer costs for these plans have increased by double digits each of the past few years. Inslee says he is “hopeful that this can be an example for the rest of the country,” but the Washington State Medical Association has warned their members will not participate, dramatically limiting patient access to care. The plan is also opposed by the Washington State Hospital Association and Kaiser Permanente.
Both sides of the aisle recognized the work of outgoing Speaker of the House Representative Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) on Sunday evening. House Democrats announced on Wednesday, April 24th that they will delay the election of a new Speaker until the summer, easing tensions within the caucus. Speaker Frank Chopp (D-Seattle), the longest reigning Speaker in the United States will step aside a few days after Sine Die, at which point Speaker Pro Tem, Representative John Lovick (D-Mill Creek), will temporarily assume duties of Speaker. A number of people are rumored to be interested in the position, including Representatives June Robinson (D-Everett), Monica Stonier (D-Vancouver), Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma), Gael Tarleton (D-Ballard) and John Lovick (D-Mill Creek). Chopp has said he will return to status as a rank and file member after serving twenty years as Speaker.
Below are the specific bills we worked on and tracked this year that passed the Legislature. After the Governor completes his work (signing or vetoing legislation – including the final budgets), I will send detailed reports with impact of laws and work for next session.
Bill Details |
Status |
Sponsor |
Priority |
Position |
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2SHB 1087 (SSB 5331) |
Long-term services & support |
Del to Gov |
Jinkins |
High |
Concerns |
Concerning long-term services and supports. Puts in place a new 0.58 percent payroll tax on all employees to fund this program. |
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SHB 1102 (SSB 5134) |
Capital budget 2019-2021 |
Del to Gov |
Tharinger |
High |
Support |
Concerning the capital budget. |
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ESHB 1109 (SB 5153) |
Operating budget |
Del to Gov |
Ormsby |
High |
Neutral |
Making 2019-2021 biennium operating appropriations. |
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ESHB 1160 (SSB 5214) |
Transportation budget |
Del to Gov |
Fey |
High |
Support |
Making transportation appropriations for the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium. |
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EHB 1219 (SB 5195) |
Real estate taxes/housing |
C 73 L 19 |
Walen |
Medium |
Concerns |
Providing cities and counties authority to use real estate excise taxes to support affordable housing and homelessness projects. |
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E3SHB 1257 (2SSB 5293) |
Energy efficiency |
Del to Gov |
Doglio |
High |
Concerns |
Concerning energy efficiency. |
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SHB 1377 (SSB 5358) |
Housing dev./religious orgs. |
Del to Gov |
Walen |
Medium |
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Concerning affordable housing development on religious organization property. |
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SHB 1399 (SSB 5449) |
Paid family & medical leave |
C 13 L 19 |
Robinson |
Medium |
Neutral |
Concerning paid family and medical leave. |
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Municipal B&O tax apportion. |
C 101 L 19 |
Frame |
Medium |
Support |
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Simplifying the administration of municipal business and occupation tax apportionment. |
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SHB 1406 (SB 5646) |
Affordable housing/sales tax |
Del to Gov |
Robinson |
Medium |
|
Encouraging investments in affordable and supportive housing. |
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2SHB 1424 (SB 5069) |
CTE course equivalencies |
Del to Gov |
Steele |
High |
Support |
Concerning access to state career and technical course equivalencies. |
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ESHB 1450 (ESSB 5478) |
Noncompetition covenants |
Del to Gov |
Stanford |
Medium |
Concerns |
Concerning restraints on persons engaging in lawful professions, trades, or businesses. |
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HB 1568 (SB 5570) |
Port district worker dev. |
Del to Gov |
Chapman |
Medium |
Support |
Concerning port district worker development and occupational training programs. |
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Wage and salary information |
Del to Gov |
Dolan |
Medium |
Concerns |
|
Concerning wage and salary information. -- primary reason for bill was to ensure that employers could not require applicants to disclose prior salary history on both new hires and promotions. |
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SHB 1798 (SB 5870) |
Short-term rentals |
Del to Gov |
Ryu |
Medium |
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Concerning short-term rentals. |
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Urban residential building |
Del to Gov |
Fitzgibbon |
High |
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Increasing urban residential building capacity. |
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Green transportation |
S Pres Signed |
Fey |
Medium |
Concerns |
|
Advancing green transportation adoption. |
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K-12 education funding |
S Pres Signed |
Sullivan |
High |
Concerns |
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Levy Lid Lif |
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Workforce education |
Del to Gov |
Hansen |
High |
Oppose |
|
Imposes a .3 surcharge on some service businesses and increases the B&O for some tech companies to 2.0% to create a workforce education investment to train Washington students for Washington jobs. |
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Budget stabilization account |
Del to Gov |
Ormsby |
High |
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Making expenditures from the budget stabilization account for declared catastrophic events. |
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Financial institutions tax |
S Pres Signed |
Tarleton |
High |
|
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Relating to tax revenue. |
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E2SSB 5116 (2SHB 1211) |
Clean energy |
Del to Gov |
Carlyle |
High |
Concerns |
Supporting Washington's clean energy economy and transitioning to a clean, affordable, and reliable energy future. There are significant concerns over the resulting cost increase for electricity as a result of this bill. Several "off ramps" have been included in the bill to measure economic impact. |
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School levies |
H Spkr Signed |
Wellman |
High |
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Raises the property tax levy lid for school districts. |
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ESB 5334 (HB 1306) |
Common interest ownership |
Del to Gov |
Pedersen |
High |
Support |
Concerning the Washington uniform common interest ownership act. - reduces liability for contractors who build condominiums |
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Tiny houses |
Del to Gov |
Zeiger |
Medium |
|
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Concerning tiny houses. |
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ESSB 5526 (E2SHB 1523) |
Individual health ins market |
Del to Gov |
Frockt |
Medium |
Concerns |
Brief Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill (As Amended by Committee) ?Requires the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to develop standardized health plans. ?Requires the Health Care Authority to contract with health carriers to offer standardized qualified health plans. ?Requires the Health Care Authority to develop a plan for premium subsidies for individuals purchasing coverage on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. ?Requires the Insurance Commissioner to submit an annual report on the number of health plans available per county on the individual market. |
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ESSB 5825 (HB 1899) |
Tolling/I-405, SR 167 & 509 |
Del to Gov |
Hobbs |
High |
Support |
Addressing the tolling of Interstate 405, state route number 167, and state route number 509. |
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Tax preferences |
Del to Gov |
Rolfes |
High |
Oppose |
|
Eliminating or narrowing certain tax preferences to increase state revenue for essential public services. |
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Grad. real estate excise tax |
Del to Gov |
Nguyen |
High |
Oppose |
|
Establishing a graduated real estate excise tax. |
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Travel agents & tour ops/tax |
Del to Gov |
Rolfes |
High |
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Relating to fiscal matters. |
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