By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
As mentioned last week, February 4th was the first session cutoff, with hundreds of bills failing to pass out of policy committees in the chamber in which they started. Then it was a quick rush to the fiscal committee cutoff, which is today.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee chose to work a bit longer on Thursday and Friday nights, while the House Appropriations Committee opted for long committee meetings AND a Saturday schedule full of public hearings and executive action.
Expect an update after today’s fiscal committee deadline and check the end of this report for the list of bills that are “dead” after the policy committee cutoff.
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Click here for Marie’s comprehensive bill tracker and details report for Week 5 of the 2026 Legislative Session.
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Good news!
On February 4th, led by Chair April Berg, D-Mill Creek, the House Finance Committee unanimously adopted a substitute bill to HB 2257, exempting K-12 schools, school districts, and educational service districts from all new services taxes created in Chapter 422, Laws of 2025 – ESSB 5814.
The bill also would exclude presentations given by nonprofit organizations, like PTAs, from the definition of live presentations. It also would exclude incidental, ensemble, and large group instruction from the definition of live presentations, along with a few other changes of interest. Listen here to the discussion around the vote to adopt the substitute bill.
The bill bypassed House Appropriations and has been referred to the Rules Committee.
Over in the Senate, the Senate Ways & Means Committee has scheduled the companion, SB 6113, for a vote today during their executive session. No amendments have been posted at the time of this report, but we’ll update everyone once information is available.
What’s happening with WSPTA’s Top 5 Priorities?
Closing the Funding Gaps
- SB 5858 would restore the Transportation Safety Net for Special Passengers. It is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee and is not scheduled for a hearing or a vote. The $13 million that the Legislature has funded in the past could just be a budget proviso, so we aren’t giving up yet.
- Similarly, SB 5918 would increase funding for Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs (MSOC) by $100 per student or $100,000, whichever is greater. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee but is languishing in Senate Ways & Means. Like the Special Passengers Safety Net, if they chose to fund this MSOC, it could be done in the budget as well.
- As reported last week, the companion, HB 2147, is in House Appropriations and hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing. The House reportedly is waiting to see if the Senate includes funding in its budget.
- HB 2116 would make changes to school districts’ maximum per student levy amounts and to Local Effort Assistance (LEA). At the February 5th public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee, testifiers were surprised by a substitute bill that removed any increases in Calendar Year (CY) 2028 for LEA and moved up from CY30 the option for districts to levy $3.00 per $1,000 assessed value and a $2.00 per $1,000 assessed value for LEA eligible districts. Many districts are calling foul, since this would create a LEA cliff for many in the 2028-29 school year unless the legislature acts this year or in 2027. The bill was removed from executive action for Saturday, February 7th and is considered “dead” as written.
As a reminder, in the 2025 legislative session HB 2049 originally had both an LEA and levy enhancement for districts. The levy enhancement included an additional $500 per student on the $2.50 per $1,000 assessed value or $2,500 per student (adjusted for inflation), while districts receiving LEA would get an “inflation enhancement” of $150 in CY26 and an additional $250 in CY27. When the 1% limit on property tax increases was removed from the bill in the House Finance Committee, the bill still included the “inflation enhancement” and an additional $200 in each of the 2030 and 2031 calendar years. Notice that it skipped CY28 and CY29, which at the time districts were told would be handled later.
Then, on the House floor, LEA was stripped from the bill with a promise that the inflation enhancement would be in the budget and legislators would return in 2027 to put the LEA increases into statute. The 2025-27 operating budget did include the $150 for CY26 and the $250 for CY27, but nothing was carried forward for the 2027-29 biennium.
Governor Bob Ferguson’s proposed 2026 supplemental operating budget scaled the $250 inflation enhancement back to $150, so the total enhancement for CY27 would be $300 not the $400 previously promised by the Legislature. But again, neither the Ferguson budget proposal nor the 2025-27 enacted budget carried forward the LEA inflation enhancement funding.
Under the initial HB 2116, the state LEA threshold would have been increased to $2,600 per pupil beginning in CY28 and increased by inflation. In addition, beginning in CY30 the tax rate to calculate LEA would have been changed from $1.50 to $2.00 per $1,000 assessed value. And annual inflation enhancements of $520 per pupil would have been added to the LEA threshold in CY30 and CY31. In CY31, the maximum LEA would be capped at a combined levy/LEA level of $5,035 per pupil, to be increased thereafter for inflation. With the substitute, the $2.00 per $1,000 assessed value per student change would be moved forward to CY30 and the inflationary enhancements would be removed. According to a chart prepared by House Appropriations Committee staff, many districts would need to pass a levy at a rate of $2.00 per $1,000 assessed value to get less LEA than they are under the CY26 level.
The public hearing on the bill and the substitute served as an opportunity to shine a light on the issue facing LEA-eligible districts and the Legislature, and the need to address the widening gap between levies and levy equalization across the state.
Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis
2SHB 1634 would create a framework to provide school districts and public schools with assistance in supporting student behavioral health. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House Appropriations Committee today.
SB 6224 would require the Governor to establish a leadership council to address children and youth health and wellness issues and coordinate efforts to implement the Washington Thriving Strategic Plan. The bill was referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee but has not been scheduled for a hearing so is likely dead. The House companion bill, HB 2429, was heard in the House Appropriations Committee on February 5 and was voted out of committee on Saturday, February 7th with two amendments to reduce the fiscal note.
Supporting Funding, Inclusion and Supports in Special Education
SHB 1795, addressing restraint or isolation of students in public schools and educational programs, has been pulled to the floor so it will be eligible for a vote by the full House before the February 17th deadline.
SHB 2557 would require a school district to provide the student’s parent or guardian with a copy of the special education evaluation report no later than the 35th school day following receipt of consent to evaluate the student, unless an exception applies or the parent or guardian provides a written waiver. The bill was heard on Friday, February 6 and is scheduled for a vote from the fiscal committee on February 9th.
Preventing and Reducing Gun Violence and Suicide
HB 2320 would regulate firearms from 3D printers, computer numerical control milling machines, or digital firearm manufacturing code. The bill has been sent to the Rules Committee.
HB 1152 would establish secure storage requirements for firearms in vehicles and residences. The bill is in the House Rules Committee.
Other bills we’re watching
- On Friday, February 6, the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a two-hour public hearing on SB 6346, which would impose a tax on millionaires. Vice Chair Noel Frame called up panels of testifiers for and against the bill. The companion bill, HB 2724, has been referred to the House Finance Committee but hasn’t been scheduled for a public hearing.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal held a press conference on Thursday, February 5th, calling on lawmakers to consider four main funding buckets for the new tax, including annual funding of $861 million for K-12 education. For a deeper dive into SPI Reykdal’s remarks, click here.
- The Senate Ways & Means committee heard SB 5906 on February 5th. Sponsored by Senator Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island, the bill would prohibit immigration enforcement officers from entering nonpublic areas of schools and other locations without a judicial warrant or court order. The bill is scheduled for a vote from the fiscal committee on Monday, February 9th.
- Another bill we’re keeping an eye on is HB 2489. The bill would prohibit local governments from enforcing laws that criminalize, penalize or otherwise prohibit a person from engaging in “life-sustaining activities” (as defined in the bill, including shelter) on public property, like public school grounds, unless the local government can demonstrate that adequate alternative shelter space was available at the time and place of the conduct, with certain exceptions. The bill passed out of the House Housing Committee and is in Rules.
Bills that failed to pass by the policy cutoff
The following bills didn’t meet the February 4th deadline to pass out of the policy committees:
- HB 2098 would have eliminated the $75 million cap for the workforce Education Investment surcharge imposed on select advanced computing businesses; expanded income eligibility ranges for the Washington College Grant award and reduced resident undergraduate tuition operating fees at higher education.
- HB 2112 would have restricted access to online sexual material harmful to children for individuals under the age of 18 and would have established age verification requirements for commercial entities that publish or distribute sexual material harmful to children on the Internet.
- HB 2138 would have created a structured literacy program, including other requirements. (Structured literacy exists in HB 1295, which is in House Rules)
- HB 2142 would have replaced statutory references to alternative learning experiences with remote and hybrid learning.
- HB 2180 would have made requirements relating to hiring coaches who have been convicted of crimes against children.
- HB 2286/SB 6060 would have created alternative routes to social worker licensure.
- HB 2459 would have allowed all school districts to site schools outside of the Urban Growth Areas.
- HB 2519 would have required utilities to reduce their utility bill for school districts.
- HB 2666 would have identified African American studies curricula for students in grades 7-12.
- SB 5828 would have allowed impact fees to be used for operating costs if a district is in binding conditions.
- SB 5849 would have made financial education a graduation requirement for the class of 2033.
- SB 5870 would have established civil liability for suicide linked to the use of artificial intelligence systems.
- SB 5910 would have allowed school districts to share certain information during levies and bond campaigns.
- SB 5920 would have limited public records requests to school districts and given them the authority to create a supplementary cost schedule for requests that are overly burdensome in terms of the amount of information requested, staff time, materials produced, or other administrative or overhead costs.
- SB 6051 would have allowed school district boards of directors to grant waivers to nearly every school requirement.
- SB 6111 would have required providers offering certain social media services to register and verify the ages of users creating accounts; also would have required parental consent for a minor under 17 to create an account, other restrictions.
- SB 6125 would have stabilized enrollment decline for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.
- SB 6232 would have created the Washington state board of licensed mental health counselors.
- SB 6285 would have eliminated certain unfunded mandates.
- SB 6310 would have removed insurance and utilities from MSOC and would have required the state legislature to pay the bills.
- SB 6320 would have eliminated for-profit online providers and eliminated per student LEA payments for any student who gets their instruction through an online ALE program.
Advocacy in Action
- Beth Cogan, testified in favor of SHB 2557 in the House Appropriations Committee on Friday, February 6. Beth shared with committee members how having an advance copy of her child’s evaluation report for special education services would help her be prepared and ready for a meeting with the school district. Listen to Beth here.
The Week Ahead
February 9th is the deadline for bills to pass out of fiscal committees. Attention will turn to floor action February 10 through February 17th.
Here is next week’s schedule (subject to change); all hearings can be viewed on TVW:
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 2/9 @ 10:30am
- HB 1634– Exec Session – Providing school districts and public schools with assistance to coordinate comprehensive behavioral health supports for students. (Support)
- HB 2365– Exec Session – Advancing digital opportunities for all. (Support)
- HB 2266– Exec Session – Encouraging permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency shelters. (Monitoring)
- HB 2557– Exec Session – Providing parental access to special education evaluation reports.
- HB 2438– Exec Session – Establishing the supporting our early education degree seekers scholarship.
- HB 2593– Exec Session – Addressing school district accounting, budgeting, and reporting requirements.
- HB 2597– Exec Session – Concerning remedies for violations of federal constitutional rights occurring during immigration enforcement.
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 2/9 @ 10:30am
- SSB 6239– Exec Session – Requiring arbitration for tort claims against the state of Washington and its subdivisions.
- SB 6346– Exec Session – Establishing a tax on millionaires.
- SB 6162– Exec Session – Concerning property tax reform.
- SB 6113– Exec Session – Concerning taxes administered by the department of revenue.
- SB 6347– Exec Session – Undoing the recent changes to the estate tax.
- SB 5762– Exec Session – Increasing the statewide 988 behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention line tax.
- SSB 5901– Exec Session – Providing school construction assistance program facilities support for on-base schools.
- SB 6052– Exec Session – Establishing a statewide digital transcript data-sharing environment.
- SSB 5969– Exec Session – Reducing duplication between high school and beyond plans and individualized education program transition plans.
- SSB 5906– Exec Session – Establishing data and personal safety protections within areas of public accommodation for all Washington residents. (Support)
- SB 5963– Exec Session – Modifying funding for the passport to careers program and eligibility for the Washington college grant. (Support)
Transportation (House) – HHR B and Virtual JLOB – 2/9 @ 1:30pm
- HB 2251– Exec Session – Concerning climate commitment act accounts.