Click on the links below to learn more about bills currently being reviewed in the state legislature. You can “take action” on these most pressing bills by following the links below. Please sign in as individuals and not as representing the League of Women Voters. Thank you for taking action!

Priority Actions

Support Improved Housing Stability for Tenants

Many landlords have raised rents by exorbitant amounts since the pandemic, and this has exacerbated the homelessness crisis. It has also caused some middle-income families to have to move unexpectedly. HB 2114 would put a limit on annual rent increases that a landlord can normally charge as well as provide additional notice to tenants so they can prepare.

⚠️ Ask the Senate Ways & Means Committee to pass HB 2114 here by February 26.

Correct Past Sentencing Injustices

If someone is convicted of a felony as an adult, their juvenile adjudications (juvenile points) can be used to lengthen the term of their sentence. In 2023, the legislature passed HB 1324, making the inclusion of juvenile points discretionary rather than mandatory. However, the retroactivity provision of the bill was removed, leaving behind between 809 and 1,437 people currently incarcerated with sentences that have been increased by juvenile points. The removal of retroactivity was particularly devastating for communities of color who are the most disproportionately impacted by juvenile points. By reinstating retroactivity, HB 2065 fixes the inherent unfairness of requiring people to serve vastly different sentences for the same offense and addresses the racial disparities contributing to mass incarceration.

⚠️Please ask the Senate Ways & Means Committee to vote YES on HB 2065 here by February 26.

Support Police Accountability

A task force convened by Governor Inslee to look at the issue of police use of deadly force recommended (1) creation of an Office of Independent Investigations and (2) establishment of an Independent Prosecutor's Office. Both steps are necessary to ensure that, when the police take someone's life, they will be treated fairly, but not preferentially. HB 1579 creates an Office of Independent Prosecutions within the Attorney General's Office to prosecute cases referred by the Office of Independent Investigations.

⚠️Please ask the Senate Ways & Means Committee to vote YES on HB 1579 here by February 26.

Support Additional Behavioral Health Funding 
Behavioral health services are important to the well-being of Washington State residents. The House and Senate supplemental budgets each provide some funding for critical behavioral health services, but the final budget must include all of the behavioral health funding each chamber has proposed to best serve Washingtonians. 

⚠️ Ask your Legislators to include funding for the necessary behavioral health services in the final supplemental budget here. 

When this newsletter reaches you, there will be only 11 days left in this legislative session. You will see several action alerts intended for the Senate Ways & Means Committee, whose last day to take action on a very long list of bills is Monday, February 26. That Committee will have worked long hours on Friday and Saturday already, to get through all of the bills referred to it.

The next step, Friday this week—March 1—will be the cutoff for each chamber to pass bills referred to it from the other chamber. In other words, the Senate will have to pass bills from the House and vice versa for the House, by the end of the day next Friday.

After that, only initiatives and alternatives to initiatives, budgets, matters necessary to implement budgets (called “NTIB”, necessary to implement the budget), differences between the House and Senate, and matters incident to the interim and closing of the session will be considered and finalized.

This schedule means that your immediate responses to this week’s Action Alerts will be essential if we are to move our priority bills forward!

Thank you for your interest and for your help.

You can also participate in the Monday morning ACT meetings, at which speakers talk in more depth about specific issues. Register here.

There are eleven days left in the 2024 legislative session, not enough time to get everything done. There is an increased sense of urgency about getting bills passed.

In the week ahead, only Monday is left to get bills out of the fiscal committees to the Rules Committee and then, in many cases, to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. Many bills will not make it to the end.

On March 1, there is another cut-off and after this only the final adjustments will be considered. This includes adoption of the final supplemental budget, any proposals the legislature chooses to make related to the Initiatives that have been presented, and any final agreements on bills for which the Senate and House passed different versions.

For the final budget and for bills passed in different versions by the House and Senate respectively, there will be committees designated to negotiate final outcomes from between the two versions. Those will have to be presented to the House and Senate for a final vote before the last day of session on March 7.

So moving into these last few days, many are optimistic about their bills, some are disappointed and all await final decisions. This is a time of great intensity and hard work for all involved.

LWVWA Legislative Issues From the 2024 Washington State Legislative Session

Click on an issue overview to learn more about the bills the League is following and "This Week's Updates" to read the issue chair's report on this past week. When a "⚠️" appears at the end of an issue, it indicates there are actions to take for this week. Click on the "⚠️" to be taken to our Action Alert page.

Democracy

Elections⚠️| Issue overview |Weekly Update

Money in Politics| Issue overview | Weekly update

Education | Issue overview | Weekly update

Local News and Democracy | Issue overview 

Redistricting | Issue overview |Weekly update

Environment

Climate Crisis and Energy| Issue overview 

Forests⚠️| Issue overview |

Growth Management | Issue overview |Weekly update

Waste Diversion⚠️| Issue overview |Weekly update

Transportation⚠️| Issue overview | Weekly update

Social and Economic Policy

Housing and Homelessness⚠️| Issue overview |Weekly update

Health Care⚠️| Issue overview | Weekly update

Behavioral Health⚠️| Issue overview 

Children's Issues | Issue overview | Weekly update

Early Care and Education of Young Children| Issue overview| Weekly update

Criminal Justice⚠️| Issue overview 

Revenue| Issue overview |Weekly Update

League of Women Voters of Washington
1511 3rd Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA 98101
206-622-8961 | 1-800-419-2596 | www.lwvwa.org

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The League of Women Voters of Washington
1511 Third Ave, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98101
United States

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