Last Wednesday marked the latest in the legislature’s series of deadlines meant to keep the policymakers on track to complete their work by the late-April final adjournment. The “house of origin” cutoff requires House bills to pass the House floor and Senate bills to pass the Senate floor; otherwise, they are unlikely to advance further this year. Following this deadline, House policy and fiscal committees will take up Senate bills for consideration, and House bills will face scrutiny in Senate committees.
Every year, the house of origin cutoff brings anticipation over the “5 PM bill”—the last bill taken up before the deadline. While debate can continue late into the night as long as discussion begins before 5 PM, this final measure often carries symbolic weight. Some years, it’s a hotly debated and controversial issue that stretches proceedings into the early hours; other times, it’s a broadly supported, feel-good resolution.
This year, the House’s 5 PM bill was HB 1296 (Stonier, D-49), a controversial student and parental rights measure that passed along party lines after an intense overnight debate ending at 2:15 AM. Meanwhile, the Senate chose SB 5263 (Pedersen, D-43), a bipartisan special education funding bill, which passed unanimously after an emotional discussion.
Revenue Forecast and Beyond
On March 18 the state’s economists will release a new revenue forecast. This will be the basis for budgets proposed by the House and Senate Democrats. Interestingly, Governor Ferguson has said that the June forecast will be the important one because by then we should have a better understanding of potential federal cuts, particularly to Medicaid. Assuming there is a budget agreement before Sine Die, the legislature might have to come back into session to deal with a deficit caused by federal cuts.
Senate Democrats will release their budget on March 24th, with a hearing on March 25th. This budget will include a combination of cuts, new revenue, and savings. The House is expected to release their budget around the same time, but it’s unclear whether their revenue package will be included in their budget or announced later in session.
Life Science Issues
Much of the legislature’s remaining activity of interest for Life Science Washington members will be focused on the budget and taxes. After the revenue forecast, we will have a better idea of the vulnerability of programs we have been advocating for. This includes protecting core elements of Career Connect Washington that foster industry-supported workforce development initiatives, fully funding the Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment (CARE) Fund, and investing in program and capital projects at our state’s universities that drive high demand degree programs.
Bills that passed their chamber of origin before the cutoff include:
- HB 1483, Right to Repair—we will be working to pass a small technical amendment to clarify the status of medical devices.
- SB 5455, Making technical changes to the Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment Fund
- SB 5594, Biosimilar medicines—pass the Senate unanimously following adoption of amendments agreed to by all stakeholders, including BIO and LSW, relating to prescribing and substitution practices for interchangeable biological products.
Bills that died include:
Have questions, comments, or concerns about these bills or any other pending legislation? Get in touch with LSW’s Public Affairs Manager, Curtis Knapp.