2024 Legislative Recap
Washington State Legislative Session for 2024 is the second portion of the 2 year 2023/4 biennium and was held in Olympia, WA from Jan 8 – Mar 7 2024. Each chamber (Senate and House) prefiles and files legislative bills inside committees, holds briefings, public testimony and then potentially move them to the chamber floor for caucus, debate and votes. Governor Inslee’s 2024 Supplemental Budget: The primary legislative objective during session is to pass the state’s Supplemental Capital, Operating, and Transportation Budgets. During the first year of the biennium, legislators work to pass the state’s 2-year budget and then they come back in the second year to adjust spending for current economic conditions.
The State & its Money Capital Budget – Funding allocates $1.3 billion for various construction projects across the state. Major funding includes schools ($200 million allocated to various programs), behavioral health facilities ($83 million), and affordable housing ($128 million designated for the Housing Trust Fund to support low-income housing projects).
Operating Budget – During the 2023 session, the legislature passed a $69.8 billion operating budget and is increasing spending by another $2.1 billion, as outlined in their Supplemental Operating Budget released during the 2024 session. Significant spending items include education, opioid and public safety, housing and homelessness, and behavioral health support
○ Transportation Budget – The Supplemental Transportation Budget passed this year increased spending by $1 billion from last year, totaling a $14.6 spending package.
The important cutoff deadlines were as follows: Jan 31 – House of Origin Policy Cutoff, Feb 5 – House of Origin Fiscal Cutoff, Feb 13 – House of Origin Floor Cutoff, Feb 21 – Opposite House Policy Cutoff, Feb 26 – Opposite House Fiscal Cutoff, March 1 – Opposite House Floor Cutoff, March 7 – Sine Die (end of session)
This year, our enrolled Member Advocates of Cosmetologists of Washington United voted to hire our contract lobbyist, Brooke Davies, for session only. Last year they voted to hire her for the entire year- and it goes without saying how expensive working with a lobbyist can be. After crunching the numbers and reviewing expenses and cashflow, they made the prudent decision in line with recommendations from the Board of Directors that COWU contract with her for a shorter period. This is why pooling our collective resources is so important through membership, sponsorship and donation so we may continue to have “boots on the ground” in Olympia when we need it most. The other advantage we have is that our Legislative Lead, D’Arcy Harrison, registers as an unpaid lobbyist to support Brooke and our work in Olympia. She is regularly called upon for insight in legislator meetings as well as testifying in committee hearings. Every Friday afternoon during session- the legislative committee meets for a weekly debrief on developments in the legislature for interested Member Advocates.
BILLS WE MONITORED THIS SESSION: High Priority: HB 1358, SHB 1360, HB 2094, HB 2109, SB 5987
SHB 1095 (SSB 5109) Wage replacement, HB 1644 (SB 5482) Margin tax Concerning the margin tax, HB 1889 Professionals/immigration, HB 1894 (SB 5897) Business licensing, HB 2095 (SB 5988) Concerning gift certificates as unclaimed property, SB 5482 (HB 1644) Margin tax Concerning the margin tax, SB 5897 (HB 1894) Business licensing service, SB 5988 (HB 2095) Concerning gift certificates as unclaimed property.
BILLS WE SUPPORTED PASSING THIS SESSION:
- HB 2109: Permanent Cosmetics License (Testified in Support)
- SHB 1097: Cosmetics Testing on Animals
BILLS WE OPPOSED THIS SESSION:
- SB 5987: Improving consumer protection on gift certificates (Testified in Opposition)
The Result
The Positive: The end of this process bore out that we were successful in halting the progress of SB 5987 that aimed to raise the minimum cash out on gift certificates/cards from $5 to $50 as well as mandating the ability to combine payment. Read the testimony here.
The Disappointment: Unfortunately, our attempt to support Rep Ryu to pass higher educational and licensure requirements for Permanent Cosmetics/Tattoo did not make it out of committee (HB 2109). It outlined a tiered license at 100 hrs, 200 hrs for work around mucus membranes of the face and 300 hours for previous tattoo sites/corrective work. Read the testimony here. The legislators were up until 2.30 am at deadline duking it out over striking workers unemployment insurance. Due to short session and battling priorities to clean up the budget – those were at odds with a new license holding a significant Fiscal note. We hope to try again next year!
SIDENOTE: One of our enrolled Member Advocates, Frank Trieu, alerted the trade association to the National Board of Education Rule Making/Negotiating Committee work to review changes to federal code regarding accreditation requirements surrounding Distance Learning. They proposed to eliminate “Asynchronous Delivery” for clock hour schools like cosmetology sector schools. D’Arcy Harrison testified in support of continuing access to distance learning. Read the testimony here.
HIGHLIGHT ON INITIATIVES that the WA Legislature opted to make in to law:
- Initiative 2113 is NOW LAW: would roll back restrictions on police pursuits and allow law enforcement to chase suspects if they believe there is reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law. It would also allow pursuits if a person poses a threat to the safety of others.
- Initiative 2111 IS NOW LAW: would ban the state and local jurisdictions from taxing personal income.
- Initiative 2081 IS NOW LAW: would give parents the right to examine their child’s textbooks and curriculum; receive their child’s school records, including medical and disciplinary records, within 10 days; and receive notification when medical services are offered or arranged, among other things.
INITIATIVES UP FOR BALLOT IN NOVEMBER 2024:
I-2117 (works to repeal the two-year-old Climate Commitment Act), I-2109 (works to repeal the
capital gains excise tax), and I-2124 (which repeals the Washington Cares Fund) will all be on the
ballot in November.
HELPFUL LINKS:
The Washington State Legislative Website