Mar 15, 2021
Last week the 2021 Washington State legislative session reached its halfway point. At this point, all bills must have been passed out of their house of origin and now go to the oppose house for consideration. GSBA’s endorsed bills have largely been successful so far.
You can look up the full bill text and summaries of any of this legislation here.
The Gender Affirming Treatment Act (SB 5315) to prevent discrimination against transgender and gender-diverse Washingtonians passed the Senate with a vote of 30-17, and moves on the House!
Several business-related bills are now on track in the Senate, including efforts to defer property taxes during the pandemic (HB 1332), reduce barriers to professional licenses (HB 1399), and supporting the Workforce Education Investment Act (HB 1504).
Most, though not all, of the police legislation has passed out of its house of origin. Some of the bills have been amended from their original form. This story in the Seattle Times details some of that progress. GSBA continues our support of HB 1089 (compliance audits), HB 1267 (independent investigations), HB 1310 (use of force), SB 5051 (de-certification of police), SB 5066 (duty to intervene), and SB 5259 (law enforcement data collection).
GSBA is also supporting the Fair Start for Kids bill (HB 1213), which would support childcare and early learning providers and the families who need to access their services. HB 1320 modernizes domestic violence protection orders, which GSBA has supported in the past. Two bills focused on equity and anti-racism in K-12 schools (SB 5044) and higher education (SB 5227) have both moved on to the House with bipartisan majorities.
