Updates: 2/9/2026
Washington state legislature 2026 - what's actually going on
SESSION STATUS:
- Day 27+ of 60-day session (started Jan 12, ends ~March 12)
- First Policy Committee Cutoff: February 5 (PASSED)
- House of Origin Fiscal Committee Cutoff: February 9 (TODAY)
- House of Origin Floor Vote Cutoff: February 17
POLICE & PUBLIC SAFETY:
BAN ON POLICE FACE COVERINGS (SB.5855) - PASSED SENATE - Would prohibit cops from wearing masks/balaclavas while interacting with public. Sparked by ice raids. Senate passed it Jan 28. Moving to House. Would take effect in June if signed.
$100 MILLION POLICE HIRING GRANTS (SB.5060) - Covers 75% of new officer salaries for 36 months. Ferguson's priority. Cities must implement 0.1% sales tax or already have a similar tax to have access to funds.
SHERIFF/POLICE CHIEF REQUIREMENTS (HB.1399/SB.5974) - New standards: minimum age would be 25, background checks to be performed, must maintain peace officer certification. Sheriffs union is PISSED, calling it unconstitutional.
PUBLIC DEFENSE CRISIS (SB.5404) - Making the state actually fund public defenders. WA is one of only 2 states that doesn't fully fund them, leading to overworked defenders and constitutional violations.
FLOCK LICENSE PLATE CAMERA REGULATION (SB.5550) - PASSED SENATE - Senate approved regulations for automated license plate readers Feb 4. Moving to House.
NO SECRET POLICE ACT - Requiring law enforcement to be identifiable during arrests.
BODY CAMERAS FOR ICE ENCOUNTERS (HB.2648) - ADVANCING - Passed House Community Safety Committee. Requires local police to turn on body cams when encountering federal agents doing immigration enforcement and report encounters to their agency.
ICE HIRING BAN (HB.2641) - DEAD - Bill that would've prohibited hiring former federal immigration agents hired under Trump after Jan 20, 2025 died in committee Feb 5.
GUN CONTROL:
PERMIT TO PURCHASE (HB.1163) - Requiring state permit before buying firearms, like a dozen other states have.
EXPANDING GUN-FREE ZONES and setting BULK PURCHASE LIMITS.
REQUIRING GUN STORAGE IN CARS/HOMES, as well as more REGULATIONS FOR GUN DEALERS.
SOCIAL MEDIA & CHILDREN:
ADDICTIVE FEEDS BAN (HB.1834/SB.5708) - ADVANCING - Attorney General Nick Brown's priority. Would ban addictive feeds for minors, prohibit push notifications overnight/during school hours. Modeled on California law that survived 9th Circuit challenge. Stalled in House in 2025 but has renewed momentum.
PARENTAL CONSENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA (SB.6111) - DEAD - Bill requiring parental consent for minors under 17 to create social media accounts died at first cutoff.
CHILD INFLUENCER PROTECTIONS (HB.2400) - DEAD - Bill protecting children in monetized online content (family vlogs) died at first cutoff. Would've allowed young adults to request deletion of childhood videos.
PORNOGRAPHY ACCESS RESTRICTIONS - DEAD - Bipartisan bill to restrict children's access to online pornography died at first cutoff.
EDUCATION:
PARENTAL RIGHTS INITIATIVES - Two super controversial initiatives coming that would give parents access to ALL school curriculum, allow parents to see mental health counseling records from school counselors. Often called a rewrite of last year's controversial HB.1296.
HOMESCHOOL AGE REQUIREMENT (SB.6261) - DEAD - Would've lowered homeschool attestation requirement from age 8 to age 6. WA is only state that waits until age 8.
CANNABIS:
HOME GROW LEGISLATION (HB.1449/SB.6196) - ADVANCING - Senate Labor & Commerce passed home grow bill Feb 4. Allows adults 21+ to grow 6 plants per person, max 15 per household. Includes controversial amendment allowing local jurisdictions to ban home grow in residential zones. Moving to fiscal committee. WA is currently one of only 4 adult-use states that still criminalizes home grow (and the only one where it's a felony).
LOCAL CANNABIS TAX (SB.6328) - REANIMATED - 2025 Republican bill scheduled for hearing Feb 5 in Senate Ways & Means. Would allow counties OR cities (not both) to impose up to 2% additional excise tax on retail cannabis sales for up to 7 years.
CANNABIS HOSPITALITY EVENTS - ADVANCING - Referred to House Appropriations. Must advance by Feb 9 fiscal cutoff or be designated NTIB (necessary to implement budget).
CANNABIS TAX OVERHAUL (HB.2433) - Would replace WA's 37% excise tax (highest in nation) with weight and THC potency-based rates.
HIGH-THC CANNABIS TAX INCREASE (HB.2075) - Would increase excise tax specifically on high-THC products.
TAXES AND BUDGETS:
MILLIONAIRE INCOME TAX - Nearly 10% tax on people making over $1 million/year, would raise $3 billion annually. super controversial since WA has never had an income tax and it might violate the state constitution. republicans threatening lawsuits.
PAYROLL TAX ON HIGH EARNERS (HB.2100) - 5% tax on employers for employees making over $125k/year to fund "well Washington fund" for healthcare/education/human services.
HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING RESET - 10% tuition cuts for 3 years starting fall 2027, expanding Washington college grant eligibility.
PAID PROTESTER TAX - Would tax temporary staffing agencies that provide "paid protesters" at protests.
BULLION TAX REPEAL (HB.2093) - Republicans trying to eliminate the sales tax on gold/silver, saying it's driving coin shops out of business.
REVERSING 2025 TAX INCREASES (HB.2101) - Rolling back recent tax hikes to keep investment local.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - there are so many of them:
AI COMPANION CHATBOTS (SB.5984/HB.2225) - Regulating AI chatbots for minors after child suicides linked to AI. Prohibits romantic partnerships with minors, requires hourly notifications that it's not human. private right of action included. Tech industry is pushing back heavily on this.
AI IN SCHOOLS (HB.2481/SB.5956) - Requiring human oversight of AI systems in schools, addressing surveillance, risk scoring, and automated discipline of students. Protecting kids from being flagged by gun detection AI that mistakes chips bags for weapons.
REGULATIONS FOR AI: Use in therapy, specifically mental health treatment.
HEALTH INSURANCE: Regulating AI insurance authorization decisions for medical procedures.
TRAINING DATA TRANSPARENCY - Requiring disclosure of what data is used to train AI models.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AROUND AI - Allowing unions to negotiate how AI is used in workplaces.
GROCERY STORE AI SURVEILLANCE - Regulating facial recognition and surge pricing based on AI.
WILDFIRE & ENVIRONMENT:
WILDFIRE PREVENTION FUNDING: Fighting $60 million cut to wildfire resilience budget. $125 million per biennium for forest health.
CLEAN ENERGY GRID EXPANSION, as well as a SEMI TRUCK EMISSIONS CLIMATE PUSH.
HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT:
COMMERCIAL TO RESIDENTIAL CONVERSION (SB.6026) - Governor's priority - allowing mixed-use and residential in commercial zones without rezoning. Abandoned strip malls and big-box stores could become housing.
SHORT-TERM RENTAL TAX (SB.5576) - Up to 4% excise tax on Airbnbs to fund affordable housing. Was statewide, amended to let local governments decide. Airbnb has pumped $4 million into PAC to kill it - spending 1/5 of what the tax would generate just to prevent local governments from having the option.
PARKING REFORM - Already passed in 2025, now implementing rules reducing parking requirements that drive up housing costs.
IMMIGRATION AND LABOR:
IMMIGRANT WORKER PROTECTIONS (HB.2105/SB.5852) - Requiring employers to give workers notice if ice does an i-9 audit of legal work status.
FARMWORKER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (SB.6045/HB.2409) - Would bring farmworkers under Public Employment Relations Commission jurisdiction. Farmworkers have been excluded from National Labor Relations Act protections since 1935.
MINIMUM WAGE $17.13/HOUR - Already in effect Jan 1, 2026. Highest in the nation. Some cities higher (Seattle $21.63, Seatac $20.74).
32-HOUR WORKWEEK (HB.2611) - DEAD - Would've required overtime pay after 32 hours/week. Food, hospitality, and farm industries opposed. San Juan County implemented 32-hour week for county employees in 2023: 18% decrease in sick calls, 216% increase in job applications, $2 million saved.
STRIKING WORKERS GET UNEMPLOYMENT - Already in effect. strikers can collect up to 6 weeks of unemployment benefits after strike starts.
PAID FAMILY LEAVE EXPANSION - Job protection after only 180 days (down from 12 months). Minimum leave reduced to 4 hours (from 8 hours).
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION - Healthcare facilities must investigate violence incidents promptly and update prevention plans annually.
ISOLATED WORKER PROTECTIONS - Panic buttons and safety measures for janitors, housekeepers, security guards who work alone.
HEALTHCARE & VACCINES:
STATE VACCINE AUTHORITY (SB.5967/HB.2242) - Governor's priority. Allowing WA dept of health to make vaccine recommendations independent of cdc/federal government. Response to trump politicizing CDC, does NOT create new mandates.
ALREADY IN EFFECT:
MEDICAL DEBT CREDIT REPORTING BAN - Medical debt can't be reported to credit agencies.
BLOOD TYPE ON DRIVER'S LICENSE (SB.5689) - Voluntary blood type info on state IDS.
TRANSPORTATION & ROADS:
RECKLESS DRIVING REDEFINED (SB.5890) - 30+ mph over speed limit = reckless driving charge.
RECKLESS INTERFERENCE WITH EMERGENCY OPERATIONS (HB.2203) - New driving offense for blocking emergency vehicles.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE:
POLITICAL AFFILIATION HATE CRIME (SB.5830) - Making it a Class C felony to assault someone based on their political beliefs.
JUVENILE DETENTION OVERCROWDING - Allowing youth transfers to state prisons and community facilities in certain cases.
EARLY RELEASE FOR YOUTH OFFENDERS - Allowing people convicted before age 18 to petition for early release at age 24.
DUI LAB EXPANSION - Allowing more labs to perform toxicology tests to speed up cases.
CONSUMER & BUSINESS ALREADY IN EFFECT:
NICOTINE/VAPE TAX - 95% excise tax on ALL nicotine products including synthetic nicotine, vapes, pouches. A $7 product now costs $15.06 after taxes.
PLASTIC BAG FEE INCREASE - Minimum charge raised from 8 cents to 12 cents per bag.
RANDOMS:
DIAPER CHANGING STATIONS - Already in effect. Mandatory in all new/remodeled public buildings costing $15k+.
GRAY WOLF RECLASSIFICATION - Downgrading from "endangered" to "sensitive" status.
DISCOVER PASS PRICE HIKE - Increasing from $30 to $45 for state parks access, would be the first increase in 14 years.
For more information, visit leg.wa.gov