2025 Quaker Voice Priority Bill Tracker

2025 Priorities Sheet

Human Rights Task Force tracking page

The House and Senate are both adjourned until Thursday, March 27.

Current Action Items

Additional action items appear on the Human Rights Task Force tracking page.

Six of the progressive revenue bills are ready for you to sign in PRO in House and Senate fiscal committees. See the Economic Justice section for titles.

Attend a town hall in the next week or two with your state legislators. Check on their websites for time, date, and location. This is a great time for you to raise your own issues and find out what they did for you in the first half of the session. Here are some questions you might ask, as suggested by the Balance Our Tax Code Coalition, our major partner on progressive revenue issues.

The big action now is moving to the budgets (both House and Senate budgets have been introduced) as well as a suite of bills introducing new, progressive revenue to help cover the costs. Early projections of the state budget showed a significant deficit and the possibility of major cuts to important programs. New revenue is needed. For that revenue to be “progressive,” the targeted sources need to be the state’s wealthiest individuals or companies. The Washington state constitution forbids a progressive income tax, that is, one where rich people pay higher rates than poor people.

See the Economic Justice section of this page for the list of revenue bills. For budget basics, see fiscal.wa.gov.

Criminal Justice Priorities

HB 1131. Concerning clemency and pardons.

Changes Clemency and Pardon Board from five to ten members, which must include persons with lived experience as an incarcerated individual or has worked with formerly incarcerated persons or successful community reentry.

  • Passed in the House.
  • Passed by the Senate Committee on Human Services on March 25.
  • Referred to Ways & Means

SB 5098. Restricting the possession of weapons in public places where children are likely to be present.

Restricts the possession of weapons on the premises of state or local public buildings, parks or playground facilities where children are likely to be present, and county fair facilities. 

  • A second substitute passed the Senate.
  • Public hearing was held in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary on March 18.
  • Passed by the committee on March 26.

SB 5219. Concerning partial confinement eligibility and alignment.

SB 5219 would provide the possibility of up to 18 months of partial confinement at the end of a sentence, which could help with adjustment to life outside and thus improved re-entry and reduction in recidivism

  • Passed the Senate.
  • Public hearing in the House Committee on Community Safety on March 18.
  • Passed by the committee on March 26.

Economic Justice Priorities

HB 1217. Improving Housing Stability

This bill limits the size of rent and fee increases, requires advance notice of increases, and establishes a landlord resource center among other provisions to address the rental crisis in Washington. Nearly 50 percent of households in Washington now spend more than 30% of household income on rent, constricting household funds available for food, education, healthcare and transportation. Arguments pro and con are summarized in the Bill Report, pages 6-9.

  • Current status:
    • House: HB 1217 has already passed in the House.
    • A public hearing was held in the Senate Committee on Housing on March 19.
    • The bill passed the Housing Committee on March 26 with amendments.
    • It has been referred to Ways & Means.
  • Senate companion SB 2222 will not move further. The House version is now the vehicle.

SJM 8004 Concerning Universal Healthcare

This is a letter Washington to the U.S. Congress asking for a waiver to pursue our own universal healthcare plan. The previous priority bills, HB 1445/ SB 5233 Developing Washington State Health Trust, are not moving forward this year.

  • Current Status:
    • SJM 8004 passed the Senate.
    • A public hearing was held in the House on March 21.
    • Passed by the committee on March 26.

Progressive revenue bills

A third Economic Justice priority is progressive revenue. A suite of bills has now been introduced, including one that reduces the current regressive sales tax. The Economic Justice Working Group has recommended all these bills for support:

  • HB 2046. Creating fairness in Washington’s tax by imposing a tax on select financial intangible assets. Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Finance. Sign in PRO before 7 am on April 3.
  • SB 5794. Adopting recommendations from the tax preference performance review process, eliminating obsolete tax preferences, clarifying legislative intent, and addressing changes in constitutional law. Scheduled for public hearing in Ways & Means. Sign in PRO before 3 pm on March 31.
  • SB 5795. Reducing the state sales and use tax rate. Scheduled for public hearing in Ways & Means. Sign in PRO before 3 pm on March 31.
  • SB 5796. Enacting an excise tax on large employers on the amount of payroll expenses above the social security wage threshold to fund programs and services to benefit Washingtonians. Scheduled for public hearing in Ways & Means. Sign in PRO before 3 pm on March 31.
  • SB 5797. Enacting a tax on stocks, bonds, and other financial intangible assets for the benefit of public schools. Scheduled for public hearing in Ways & Means. Sign in PRO before 3 pm on March 31.
  • SB 5798. Concerning property tax reform. Scheduled for public hearing in Ways & Means. Sign in PRO before 3 pm on March 31.

Information resources: Watch the coalition briefing on the bills here. Slides for that briefing are here. More detailed information is available here.

Environmental Stewardship Priorities

SB 5284: Improving Washington’s Solid Waste Management Outcomes

This bill would reduce plastic waste by requiring producers of packaging to create a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) under supervision of the Department of Ecology. PROs are effective because they make producers of packaging responsible for reducing the amount of packaging produced and increasing the amount being reused, composted, or recycled. Residential recycling collection would be provided wherever residential garbage is collected. See the fact sheet here.

  • Current status
    • Senate SB 5284 — This bill has passed the Senate and is now making its way through the House.
    • Public hearing was held in House Committee on Environment & Energy on March 17.
    • Scheduled for executive session on March 31.
  • Companion bill House HB 1150 — Passed out of House Environment and Energy on Feb 11 and by Appropriations on February 26. This bill will stay on hold for this session; the Senate bill is now the vehicle.

HB 1483: Right to Repair

The Right to Repair bill requires manufacturers of digital electronics to make repair information, parts, and tools available to independent repair businesses and makes it possible to salvage working parts from nonfunctional tech. It would reduce e-waste by allowing users to repair and extend the lives of their computers, tablets, cellphones, and appliances. Consumer costs would go down; used electronics would go to people who need them. Manufacturing of new products, with associated greenhouse gas emissions and resource extraction, would be reduced. See the factsheet here.

  • Current status
    • House HB 1483 — Passed by the House on March 4. Referred to Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology.
    • Public hearing was held at 8 am on March 26.
    • Scheduled for executive session on April 1.
  • Senate companion — SB 5423 was passed by the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology on February 21. It will not be moving forward this session because the House version has become the vehicle. On March 17, it was placed in the Senate Rules “X” file.

NOT MOVING FORWARD THIS YEAR [listed in order of bill numbers]

HB 1125: Judicial Discretion Act

This bill would allow incarcerated persons who have already served a long time to petition for a second look, with a re-sentence at the discretion of the original sentencing court.

  • Final status: The bill was not moved to a vote on the House floor. Next session, it will be reassigned to a policy committee for a new hearing.

HB 1178: Unstacking Sentencing Enhancements

Mandatory enhancements to base sentences can add many years in prison and are typically stacked on top of each other.  HB 1178 provides judicial discretion to serve enhancements concurrently.  It eliminates the sentencing enhancement for drug violations committed in protected zones.  These provisions would greatly reduce racial inequity. 

  • Final status: The bill was not moved to a vote on the House floor. Next session, it will be reassigned to a policy committee for a new hearing.

HB 1274: Resentencing without Juvenile Offenses

For a person being sentenced today, certain specified previous convictions as a juvenile are not counted (scored) in determining the length of sentence.  HB 1274 would make this procedure retroactive, by reducing sentences for persons already incarcerated, by not counting offenses as a juvenile that are no longer being scored for new convictions.

  • Final status: The bill was not moved to a vote on the House floor. Next session, it will be reassigned to a policy committee for a new hearing.

HB 1380 Objectively Reasonable Regulation of Use of Public Property

This bill acknowledges that a growing number of Washington state residents face displacement due to lack of affordable housing. Currently there is a “patchwork of legislation” regulating the use of public land. This legislation requires that regulation of the act of sitting, sleeping, or keeping warm, though not with the use of fire, on public land open to the public be objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner and consider health and safety of all citizens.  This legislation would allow individuals to sue municipalities over restricting tent encampments. Arguments pro and con are summarized in the Bill Report, pages 3-5.

  • Final status: The bill was not moved to a vote on the House floor. Next session, it will be reassigned to a policy committee for a new hearing.

HB 1445/ SB 5233 Developing Washington State Health Trust

The Health Trust would ensure that all Washington residents could enroll in “nonprofit health insurance providing an essential set of health benefits including dental, vision, mental health and pharmacy. Currently many Washington residents are either uninsured or have high co-payments and deductibles leading to increased debt due to medical expenses. The health plan administered by the Washington Health Trust would correct some of the inequities of the most vulnerable, including the unhoused, the uninsured and the unemployed.

  • Final status. Was not heard in its policy committee in either House or Senate.

SB 5066 / HB 1056: AG Investigations of Law Enforcement Agencies

SB 5066 grants authority to the WA State Attorney General (AG) to investigate systemic violations of the state constitution and laws by local law enforcement agencies and sue them.  Currently, this investigative authority is limited to the federal Dept. of Justice, which lacks the time and resources to do this on the local level.  Many other states have provided their attorneys general with this authority. 

  • Final status:
    • Senate — passed out of Senate Law & Justice Feb 6. Referred to Senate Ways and Means. It was scheduled for executive action on Friday, February 28, but no action was taken. The bill will not move forward this year.
    • House — Public hearing in House Civil Rights & Judiciary on Feb 11. Was scheduled for executive session in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary but it was removed from the schedule. This version of the bill will not be going forward this year.
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