First bills drop ahead of WA’s 2025 legislative session

By Laurel Demkovich and Jerry Cornfield – Washington State Standard

Washington lawmakers have begun teeing up legislation ahead of the 2025 session.

Monday marked the first day they could pre-file bills. Legislators will have 105 days to push their ideas through the process after the session kicks off on Jan. 13.

There’s no guarantee a pre-filed bill will receive a hearing, the first step on the journey to getting signed into law. Committee chairs make those critical decisions about which bills get an airing and which do not. By pre-filing, lawmakers hope to get their ideas on the radar of those setting agendas for committee meetings.

Here’s a look at a few bills now in the hopper.

Another push to ‘ditch the switch’

If there’s one thing that brings Democrats and Republicans in Washington together, it’s their dislike of the twice-yearly clock switch to and from daylight saving time.

For years, lawmakers have tried and failed to “ditch the switch” with either permanent daylight saving time or permanent Pacific Standard Time. It seems this year is no different.

With Senate Bill 5001, Sens. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, and Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, are joining forces to get Washington to implement permanent standard time. Their proposal is modeled off a similar bill that did not make it through this year.

The Legislature approved a law in 2019 to put the state on permanent daylight saving time, but Congress needs to approve a federal policy before that law can take effect. Switching to permanent standard time, however, does not require federal approval.

“Let’s end this nuisance once and for all,” Wilson said in a statement. “No more springing forward and falling back. Let’s set our clocks one more time and make that the end of it.”

The proposal may still be a long shot. Washington lawmakers will need to work with those in neighboring states to ensure they keep clocks across the region in sync. A similar bill in Oregon also failed earlier this year.

And, though most people agree the switch should go, experts disagree over which option is healthier and safer for humans. Permanent Pacific Standard Time means the sun rises and sets an hour earlier in the summer. In western Washington during June, that would mean the sun sets at around 8 p.m. and rises around 4 a.m.

An immigration battle

Five years ago, with Donald Trump in the White House, Washington passed a law preventing state and local law enforcement agencies from aiding and abetting federal immigration enforcement activities.

Republicans objected but Democrats used their majorities in the House and Senate to approve it. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed it.

Now, with Trump set for a second term as president and vowing mass deportations, state Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, wants to end Washington’s status as a so-called sanctuary state with Senate Bill 5002.

“The Legislature intends to respect and protect the health, safety, and dignity of all immigrant communities by establishing a statewide policy that encourages a collaborative partnership with United States immigration and customs enforcement to address and prevent criminal illegal immigration activities and the criminal organizations that facilitate illegal immigration and related crimes,” he writes in the opening paragraph.

Section 3 is blunt in its purpose: “A state entity, law enforcement agency, or local governmental entity may not adopt or have in effect a sanctuary policy.”

Fortunato should not get his hopes up for a hearing as Democrats hold larger legislative majorities than before and the next governor is a Democrat.

An evergreen bill

Could this be the year Washington officially becomes “The Evergreen State?” Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, sure hopes so.

He is bringing back a bill to make Washington’s unofficial nickname official. Though the proposal has passed the state Senate almost unanimously for the past two years, it has yet to receive a vote in the state House of Representatives.

Washington is widely recognized as “The Evergreen State,” and the phrase appears on license plates, souvenirs and the quarter honoring the state.

“The reference to freshness is supported by foliage that remains green and functional past just one growing season,” the bill language reads.

But no one has ever made the nickname official, at least legally.

If approved, the phrase would join a host of other official state symbols, like the state folk song (“Roll On, Columbia, Roll On”), dance (square dance) and dinosaur (Suciasaurus rex).

A focus on local jails

In late 2023, a task force suggested Washington needed a new independent agency to keep close watch on the operations and conditions of local jails. Democrat Sen. Rebecca Saldaña of Seattle, one of four lawmakers on the panel, responded with legislation to create the Jail Oversight Board within the Office of the Governor.

“This bill will redefine how we navigate our jails, fostering safety and a renewed focus on rehabilitation,” Saldaña said at the time.

It didn’t make it out of the Senate in 2024. Saldaña, with Senate Bill 5005, made it the first bill she introduced for the 2025 session.

Under her bill, the board would meet quarterly and administer a statewide uniform jail reporting system. It would monitor local jails for compliance with statewide standards and publish reports on any findings.

Fentanyl politics

A surge in fentanyl-fueled deaths in the state and across the nation is forcing lawmakers to draw up responses. The first pre-filed bill in the House is intended to be one of those considered.

Republican Rep. Jim Walsh’s offering, in the form of House Bill 1000, would allow courts to impose a tougher sentence for the “knowing delivery or distribution of fentanyl” or precursor chemicals used to illegally manufacture fentanyl.

It also would allow for longer sentences to be imposed on those who peddle a counterfeit substance containing fentanyl that causes “substantial bodily harm, permanent impairment to cognitive functions, or death of another person.”

Walsh introduced the same bill last year but it did not receive a hearing.

In a statement, the Aberdeen representative said the intent of the bill is to make the knowing possession of drugs like fentanyl a felony rather than “a watered-down misdemeanor” under current law.

“This isn’t to punish or stigmatize addicts. It’s to give law enforcement officers and prosecutors the tools they need to clean up our streets and help addicts get clean,” he said.

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