2026 Legislative Debrief
Written by Brooke Davies and D’Arcy Harrison
Brooke Davies (COWU legislative lobbyist) and D’Arcy Harrison (President & legislative lead) work collaboratively during session to communicate with Member Advocates, COWU leadership and our social media channels to help enact or battle legislation proposed in the legislature. Regularly throughout session, the legislative committee meets with Brooke to receive updates and field discussion around legislation with Member Advocates.
2026 is the shorter “back half” of what is called the BIENNIUM where the part time WA legislature has a 2yr legislative cycle. Last year in 2025 was a 4 month legislative session & budgetary year. The 60-day 2026 legislative session officially adjourned on Thursday March 12th at 8:26pm. This session ultimately 267 bills passed the legislature and are on their way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law you can view the full list of bills that passed this session here. The Governor also has the option to veto a bill entirely or veto a specific section or appropriation within a bill. The Governor may not veto a word or sentence within a section of a bill. To see a full list of bills that have already passed the legislature and have been signed by the Governor, click here. As a reminder this is the end of the biennium so any bill that did not pass will need to be reintroduced as a new bill in 2027.
Bills we engaged in with WA Legislature:
SB 5968 (companion HB 2198),sponsored by Sen. Krishnadasan (D), broadens existing permitting law to cover all state-issued “credentials,” requires agencies to populate and maintain a centralized online credential catalog, and mandates data reporting and decision deadlines tied to potential fee refunds for late processing. SB 5968 passed the Senate and made it all the way to the House floor calendar. This would have further codified into law an executive order made by Governor Ferguson in 2025 regarding expedient issue of licensing. STANCE: SUPPORT. Unfortunately it failed to advance this session.
SB 5828 (companion HB 2567 & SB 6209) would have amended legislation passed in 2025 regarding severely limiting which students in secondary education receive the WA College Grant. The re-introduced “fix it” legislation and subsequent attempted amendment was intended to restore the WA College Grant for 2yr trade schools like cosmetology schools. The amendment was not accepted and the bills did not advance out of Committee.
REGULATIONS:
Reminder: The Cosmetology Compact is active in 2028. Budget will not be allocated currently to implement.
The TEXTURED HAIR Law (HB 1874 that was passed in 2025) is now in its rulemaking phase. To participate get updated:
https://dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/cosmetology/news-and-updates-cosmetologists
DOL RULES COORDINATOR:
https://dol.wa.gov/about/rulemaking/current-activity
The Textured Hair Law: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/1874.SL.pdf
The 2026 Supplemental Operating Budget increases spending in the 2025–27 biennium to $80.2 billion Near General Fund–Outlook (NGF-O) and $157.3 billion in total budgeted funds, reflecting adjustments to maintain existing programs and address rising service costs. The budget includes $1.7 billion in NGF-O maintenance level increases to sustain current obligations—primarily driven by higher costs in Medicaid medical assistance, Working Connections Child Care, and long-term care services—as well as $621 million in net policy-level NGF-O investments. The agreement relies on several balance sheet actions, including an $880 million transfer from the Budget Stabilization Account (rainy day fund), assumed agency savings and reversions, and updated revenue projections. Following these adjustments, the budget is projected to end the 2025–27 biennium with a $231 million NGF-O ending balance and $1.3 billion in total reserves, while maintaining compliance with the state’s four-year balanced budget requirement. Looking ahead, the outlook assumes additional revenue in future years, including from legislation such as the proposed “millionaire’s tax” (ESSB 6346), which is expected to significantly increase resources in the 2027–29 biennium. As we head into the interim this is a major election year with the entire 98 seats in the House of Representatives up for election and half of the 49 members of the Senate, 25 seats are up for election. Many legislators have announced retirements or plans to run for different offices.
Due to budget issues, thankfully we did not suffer another wipe out of the Professional Licensing + Dept of Cosmetology funds for accounting purposes as we did in 2025. The DOL has given us a heads up that after 2027, they will be reviewing if license renewal fees need to be increased for our sector. There is never a guarantee we can stop renewal fee increases but as an association, we continuously advocate on behalf of licensees and lowering “barriers of entry” to the profession.
To review current RCW + WACS for Cosmetology: https://dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/cosmetology/laws-and-rules-cosmetology
Get Engaged in this Work! Enroll now as a MEMBER ADVOCATE or SPONSOR of the 501 c6 trade association