Looking for a summary of our Top Bills?
These are the bills we deem major and significant. Click the image below.
Are you looking for a summary of our Top Bills for 2026? These are bills we deem major and significant. If so, use the filter below.
Bill Summary
House Bill 2058 requires private entities that receive public grant funds to undergo an approved third-party audit and publicly disclose how those dollars are used. Under the bill, any private organization receiving state or federal grant money must hire a third-party auditor approved by the state auditor to conduct a comprehensive review. The audit must detail the total public funds received, provide an itemized accounting of expenditures, evaluate financial statements and budgets, verify proper allocation, and assess whether funded programs achieved their intended goals. It also requires a determination of whether the spending has genuine community buy-in, defined in part by local government support or other visible public endorsement.
The measure caps administrative expenses at less than 15 percent of grant funds to ensure the bulk of taxpayer money goes directly toward services rather than overhead. Additionally, grants cannot simply roll over year after year; entities must reapply and receive fresh approval annually, encouraging performance-based funding. The audited entity must cover the cost of the audit and submit it to the state auditor within six months of the fiscal year’s end. The state auditor is required to publish all audits online, ensuring full transparency for taxpayers. By pairing fiscal accountability with outcome evaluation, the bill strengthens trust between government, non-profits, and the public.
Bill Summary
HB 2087 creates a comprehensive legal framework for the sale and regulation of travel insurance in Washington, establishing clear definitions, licensing categories, marketing rules, and enforcement standards. It distinguishes travel insurance from cancellation fee waivers and travel assistance services, clarifying that waivers and assistance services are generally not insurance. The bill defines key actors and products such as travel retailers, travel administrators, limited lines travel insurance producers, group and blanket travel insurance, and travel protection plans that may bundle multiple features. It requires travel retailers selling under a limited lines producer to provide core disclosures, maintain a state-filed registry, train staff on ethical sales and required disclosures, and restrict unlicensed employees from giving technical advice or interpreting coverage.
It assigns responsibility to the limited lines travel insurance producer (as the insurer’s designee) for retailer conduct and compliance, strengthening accountability for point-of-sale practices. It sets premium tax sourcing and reporting rules so insurers document residency or principal place of business and report only the portion allocable to insurance, not non-insurance services. It allows a single bundled price for travel protection plans if consumers receive clear pre-purchase disclosure of included components and fulfillment materials that delineate each component and contact information. It establishes consumer protections such as required access to policy terms, disclosures about whether coverage is primary or secondary, and a mandatory “free look” cancellation/refund window (generally 10–15 days after delivery of fulfillment materials, absent trip start or a filed claim). Finally, it prohibits negative option or opt-out selling of travel insurance during trip purchase and makes it an unfair trade practice to sell a policy that could never pay claims or to market blanket travel insurance as “free.”
Bill Summary
As a bipartisan bill, House Bill 2088, known as the Dietitian Licensure Compact, would allow licensed dietitians from other states to practice in Washington without needing to obtain additional licenses, and vice versa. This bill enhances licensure portability, meaning qualified dietitians could more easily provide services in multiple states, especially through telehealth, which is essential in expanding access to nutrition care in underserved and rural areas.
HB 2088 reduces administrative burdens and costs for both states and professionals. Dietitians will no longer have to pay for and maintain multiple licenses in different states, freeing up resources that can go toward patient care. It also provides flexibility for military families who move frequently and often face delays in accessing specialized healthcare due to licensing issues.
This compact protects public health and safety by maintaining high standards for licensure. All participating dietitians must meet rigorous educational, professional, and ethical requirements. States retain control over their own licensure standards and have full authority to investigate and discipline licensees who violate their regulations. HB 2088 is progress both parties can support because it helps to modernize healthcare, expand access to nutrition and wellness services, and reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers.
Bill Summary
House Bill 2090 is a bipartisan bill that empowers Washington to meet its clean energy goals by formally integrating advanced nuclear energy into the state’s energy strategy. It directs the Washington Department of Commerce to create a framework funded by non-state sources, meaning it carries no burden to taxpayers. Rather than relying solely on intermittent sources like wind and solar, which require vast land areas and massive infrastructure build-outs, this bill highlights the efficiency and reliability of modern nuclear technologies—particularly small modular reactors (SMRs). These systems can deliver stable, 24/7 clean power at a higher capacity factor than solar and wind, helping ensure grid reliability during peak winter demand or cloudy, windless days. HB 2090 supports cleaner air, energy independence, and the creation of high-paying, skilled jobs, especially in regions like the Tri-Cities, which already have a strong nuclear and research workforce. It’s a smart, future-focused investment in the state’s energy security and climate resilience.
-
Taxes & Financial
Reinstating the tax exemptions for the sale of precious metals and bullion.
Bill Summary
House Bill 2093 restores Washington’s longstanding tax exemption for precious metal bullion and monetized bullion—an exemption that existed for many years and is common in the majority of U.S. states. Furthermore, the previous exemption did no measurable harm to state revenues. This exemption isn’t a giveaway—it’s a competitive necessity. Most states—including Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and many others—already exempt precious metal bullion from sales and B&O taxes. When Washington collects these taxes, customers take their business online or out of state, hurting our local dealers without generating any meaningful revenue as Washington loses both the sale and the tax. Reinstating this exemption keeps these transactions and jobs here at home and ensures that Washington’s bullion and coin dealers can compete fairly with businesses in neighboring states that do not tax these transactions.
In addition, taxing the purchase of bullion penalizes ordinary residents seeking financial stability and protection against inflation by using gold and silver as part of their personal financial security plan. This puts Washington residents at a disadvantage compared to consumers elsewhere. This bill removes that unnecessary burden and ensures that Washington residents are not penalized for making prudent savings decisions. Lastly, HB 2093 still taxes dealer commissions, preserving revenue from actual business activity while exempting the underlying metal value—matching established best practices for commodities markets. Supporting HB 2093 restores a proven policy that supports small businesses, protects consumers, and aligns us with national standards—all with minimal impact to state revenue.
Bill Summary
HB 2094 strengthens public safety, improves professional standards, and saves taxpayer money by requiring coroners to be appointed rather than elected. The role of a coroner is highly technical, requiring medical, legal, and investigative expertise—not political skills. Yet in most counties, this crucial position is still filled through partisan elections, where qualifications vary widely and turnover can result in inexperienced individuals assuming responsibility for complex death investigations. HB 2094 modernizes this outdated system by moving all counties to an appointment model—already used successfully by the largest counties and allowed in the smallest. Appointing coroners ensures that counties choose professionals based on training, experience, and competence rather than campaign activity or name recognition. It creates more consistent and reliable medicolegal investigations statewide, promoting accuracy in determining cause of death and supporting law enforcement, public health monitoring, and grieving families.
In addition, this bill also avoids the ongoing costs of conducting countywide elections for a position that should not be political. By removing an unnecessary elected office, HB 2094 reduces administrative expenses, simplifies county government structure, and ensures taxpayers’ dollars are used more efficiently. Supporting this common-sense reform means supporting a more accountable, more effective, and more fiscally responsible medicolegal system for every community in Washington.
-
Crime & Public Safety
Addressing the issuance of confidential identification to investigators employed by the office of the attorney general.
Bill Summary
House Bill 2096 authorizes the Department of Licensing to issue confidential driver’s licenses and identicards to investigators employed by the Office of the Attorney General for undercover or covert operations. While presented as a narrow tool, the bill expands the use of government-issued false identities beyond traditional law enforcement agencies into a civil enforcement office with broad and growing authority. It provides minimal statutory guardrails, leaving key decisions about eligibility, oversight, and internal controls largely to agency rulemaking rather than clear legislative standards. The measure risks normalizing the use of state-issued confidential identification in nontraditional contexts, potentially blurring the line between criminal investigation and civil regulatory enforcement. Concentrating this power in the Attorney General’s office raises concerns about transparency and accountability, especially given that the same office sets enforcement priorities and would oversee its own investigators’ use of these credentials.
The bill does not require independent review, reporting to the legislature, or regular audits to ensure the authority is not overused or misapplied. It also creates precedent pressure for additional agencies to seek similar confidential identification authority, steadily expanding undercover powers across state government. Public trust in state-issued identification systems depends on strict limitations and clear public accountability, both of which are thinly addressed here. Existing law already provides law enforcement agencies with undercover tools when genuinely necessary, making this expansion unnecessary. For these reasons, House Bill 2096 poses avoidable risks to oversight, civil liberties, and public confidence, and should be opposed.
Bill Summary
Here is another attempt to tax businesses yet again, which hurts jobs and families, and it drives businesses out of the state. The bill introduces county taxes on top of already existing state and city taxes. House Bill 2097 would allow Washington counties to impose their own business and occupation (B&O) taxes, a significant shift that would create new layers of taxation and regulatory complexity. Introducing county-level B&O taxes could place added financial pressure on small and mid-sized businesses already subject to state and city regulations. The bill sets a minimum small-business exemption of $20,000 in annual gross income, which some critics view as too low to meaningfully protect very small enterprises.
Although the bill caps county B&O rates at 0.0020 unless voters approve a higher rate, we suggest that this is just the beginning — a “toe in the door,” so to speak — in order to increase the tax in the future. Some observers note that rate increases are explicitly contemplated, creating uncertainty about future tax burdens. The required referendum process for imposing or raising the tax also concerns some critics, who argue that the seven-day petition window is unusually short and may limit meaningful public engagement. Such concerns suggest that HB 2097 could introduce uncertainty for businesses, uneven taxation across counties, and increased administrative burdens without clear assurance that the new tax authority would be applied consistently or equitably.
Bill Summary
This is another tax bill on technology companies. HB 2098 restructures Washington’s higher-education funding system by significantly increasing the “workforce education investment surcharge” on select advanced-computing companies beginning in 2026. The new surcharge rate will be six times higher than the previous rate (from 1.22% to 7.5%), dramatically expanding the tax burden for large technology-sector firms. HB 2098 also strengthens compliance requirements and authorizes steep penalties for businesses the Department of Revenue concludes are attempting to avoid the surcharge.
Raising the surcharge to 7.5 percent risks discouraging advanced-computing companies from expanding or basing operations in Washington, potentially undermining the very tech-driven economy that makes such revenue possible. That is, the bill undercuts the source from which taxes originate. The bill’s expanded auditing powers may also be viewed as burdensome and adversarial toward businesses operating across complex corporate structures. While the bill aims to improve affordability and access, its dependencies and revenue structure raise questions about sustainability, fairness, and unintended economic consequences.
-
K–12 Education
Expanding access to the early childhood education and assistance program for military families.
Bill Summary
House Bill 2099 expands access to Washington’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program by creating targeted eligibility pathways for children from military families. The bill allows children of service members to enroll even when household incomes exceed traditional ECEAP thresholds, as long as space is available and funding is appropriated. It recognizes that military families often face unique disruptions—such as deployments, relocations, and single-parent households—that can negatively affect early childhood stability and school readiness. By explicitly including military status as a prioritization factor, the legislation aligns state early learning policy with the real-world challenges faced by those who serve.
The bill preserves the program’s core mission by maintaining priority for lower-income and high-risk children and by excluding military-family slots from the state-funded entitlement. This ensures expansion does not displace the most vulnerable children already eligible under current law. The measure also relies on evidence-based risk factors tied to kindergarten readiness, reinforcing a data-driven approach to enrollment decisions. Its sunset date and phased implementation provide safeguards and allow lawmakers to evaluate outcomes before making the policy permanent. Supporting military families in early education strengthens family readiness, workforce stability, and long-term student success. For these reasons, HB 2099 represents a balanced, responsible, and values-driven investment and deserves support.