Essential information on each bill is below. For more details, click on the bill number – e.g., “SB 5000.” The new page will show the progress of the bill, videos of debate, and the link to send a comment to your legislator about the bill.
Bill Summary
House Bill 1426 proposes amendments to existing law and creates new sections regarding civil protection orders, specifically focusing on impaired driving. The bill defines various terms related to abuse, neglect, and harassment, establishing criteria for different types of protection orders. It outlines procedures for petitioning, issuing, renewing, modifying, and enforcing these orders, including provisions for ex parte orders and full hearings. Furthermore, it details specific relief the court can grant, such as restrictions on firearm possession and alcohol consumption, and sets penalties for violations. Finally, the bill mandates training for law enforcement on impaired driving protection orders.
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Health Care
Improving access to appropriate mental health and substance use disorder services.
Bill Summary
House Bill 1432 bill seeks to improve access to mental health and substance use disorder services in Washington by updating the state’s mental health parity law. It requires health carriers to make medical necessity determinations based on objective patient needs and align these with accepted standards of care. The bill introduces new definitions and standards for mental health services, mandates coverage for these services, and prohibits different treatment limitations for mental health compared to medical services. It also establishes that utilization review processes must adhere to these standards and prevents health carriers from denying coverage based on assumptions about public entitlement programs. Key amendments include prohibiting utilization management for initial evaluations and a set number of treatment visits, ensuring clinical review criteria are evidence-based, and imposing penalties for non-compliance.
Additionally, the bill enhances grievance and appeal processes for mental health services, requiring health carriers to approve coverage if they do not respond to grievances within specified timeframes. It mandates that carriers assist enrollees in the appeal process and ensures accessibility for individuals with language or literacy barriers. The legislation also eliminates prior authorization requirements for certain behavioral health services starting January 1, 2027, and establishes new standards for prior authorization processes, including specific timelines for decisions. The bill empowers the insurance commissioner to adopt necessary rules for implementation, including data testing for compliance with treatment limitations, and sets a timeline for implementation with certain existing laws being repealed on the same date.
Bill Summary
House Bill 1434 proposes amending Washington state law to officially recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays. Under the current draft of the legislation, the bill would list both the existing and proposed state holidays, explain how each holiday is observed, and clarify procedures for observing holidays that fall on weekends. It also details paid and unpaid leave for state employees, allowing additional leave for religious reasons, and recognizes various commemorative days without granting them official holiday status.
Other states, including New York and Michigan, have sponsored similar legislation. In recent years, some school districts on the East Coast have expanded school calendars to include Muslim and Hindu holidays. For example, New York added Diwali (the Hindu “Festival of Lights”) as a school holiday last year. It is worth noting that Muslims comprise less than 1% of both Washington State’s population and the U.S. population, yet there is ongoing discussion about officially recognizing certain Muslim holidays at both state and local levels.
As a Christian organization existing within what we consider a Christian nation, we cannot support the proposed legislation for several reasons. First, Easter—arguably the most prominent Christian observance—does not have federal or state holiday status. Christmas, historically celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ, is increasingly referred to as a “winter holiday” by schools and federal organizations to avoid offending non-Christians. In similar fashion, we believe designating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays would offend Christians and other religious groups in Washington State.
While House Bill 1434 aims to acknowledge and accommodate the diversity of religious observances, our organization maintains that creating additional state holidays for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha is unnecessary. If this bill were to pass, how many other religious groups will press to have their unique celebrations recognized as state holidays?
Bill Summary
House Bill 1435 proposes a Washington state law creating a grant program to aid local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring new officers. This bipartisan legislation allocates $100 million to the Criminal Justice Training Commission to fund up to 75% of entry-level officer salaries and benefits for up to 36 months, requiring a 25% local match. The program aims to increase community policing and public safety, with strict reporting requirements on application numbers, funding amounts, and hiring outcomes. The bill outlines specific grant application processes and criteria, including reporting requirements for grant recipients. Finally, the commission must annually report to the legislature on the program’s progress and effectiveness. Governor Ferguson has stated that funding law enforcement is a high priority.
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Safety
Incentivizing cities and counties to increase employment of commissioned law enforcement officers.
Bill Summary
Violent crime in Washington State has reached 25-year highs and the state ranks last in the nation for law enforcement officers per capita. House Bill 1436 aims to incentivize cities and counties in Washington to increase the number of commissioned law enforcement officers by creating a new sales and use tax mechanism. This legislation allows counties and cities to impose a 0.10 percent sales and use tax specifically dedicated to hiring additional commissioned law enforcement officers.
The tax is in addition to existing taxes and will be collected by the state Department of Revenue at no cost to local jurisdictions. Importantly, if a local jurisdiction already has more law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents than the national average, they can use the generated funds for broader criminal justice purposes, which can include activities like domestic violence services and programs aimed at reducing interactions with the criminal justice system. The bill also includes provisions to expand basic law enforcement training, requiring the commission to provide at least 27 training classes in fiscal year 2026 and 28 classes in fiscal year 2027, with the legislature expected to appropriate sufficient funding to support these efforts.