Source: Boswell Consulting, Feb 15, 2020
Week Five
We are now 5 weeks into the 2020 legislative session and have officially passed the halfway mark. Only 27 days remain for bills to complete the necessary steps to become law. Tuesday of this week marked the second cutoff, in which bills with a budget impact greater than $50,000/year had to be passed out of their respective fiscal committee. All the legislation that survived this deadline and last week’s policy committee cutoff now have until next Wednesday, February 19th, to receive and pass a chamber-wide vote in their house of origin–either the Senate or the House of Representatives. That leaves only 8 days of floor action between the fiscal and House of Origin cutoff. Given the shorter window of floor action this year and the huge volume of bills, it is likely that many will die awaiting a floor vote. Budget writer Senators and Representatives are also gearing up to release their versions of the 2020 Supplemental Operating, Capital, and Transportation budgets, likely in another two weeks.
The controversial proposal to allow King County to levy a tax on employees who make over $150,000 a year is still alive. A group of Seattle-based advocates led by Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant came to campus this week to protest including language in the legislation that would block the city’s authority to impose additional taxes on business. Although the details are unclear at this time, we expect the contents of the bill to change if the bill leaves the House. There have been a series of closed door negotiations between stakeholders all week in addition to broader stakeholder meetings involving local governments, business, labor, and advocates. We expect to see language as a result of these negotiations made public by Wednesday of next week.
On Wednesday, a King County Superior Court judge made an initial ruling that rejected most of the legal challenges to November’s Initiative 976: $30-car tabs. The judge threw out the claim that the measure was unconstitutional because of a misleading ballot title or multiple subjects. The legislature continues to debate whether this year’s supplemental transportation budget needs to fill the entire hole created by the passage of I-976. Next week the House Transportation Committee will hear three potential revenue bills aimed at filling the hole.
The legislature continues to consider several significant environmental proposals. Two different bills that would address the Washington State Supreme Court’s notable recent ruling on the Clean Air Rule are still alive. The House and Senate version differ somewhat but would both reverse the Court’s decision and grant the Department of Ecology the power to regulate indirect and direct emitters of greenhouse gases. Two bills from last session, the Governor’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard legislation and a Cap & Invest proposal led by Seattle Democrat Reuven Carlyle, also remain in play. It is unclear at this time which, if any, of these proposals has emerged as a priority for Democratic leadership.
Bill Status
| Bill # | Abbrev. Title | Short Description | Status | Sponsor | Position |
| E2SHB 1110 (SB 5412) | Greenhouse gas/transp. fuels | Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation fuels. | S Environment, En | Fitzgibbon | |
| SHB 2248 (SB 6223) | Community solar projects | Expanding equitable access to the benefits of renewable energy through community solar projects. | H Rules R | Doglio | |
| 2SHB 2311 (SB 6272) | Greenhouse gas emissions | Amending state greenhouse gas emission limits for consistency with the most recent assessment of climate change science. | H 2nd Reading | Slatter | |
| HB 2322 (SB 6497) | Transp. budget, supplemental | Making supplemental transportation appropriations for the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium. | H Trans | Fey | |
| HB 2324 (SB 6248) | Capital budget, supplemental | Concerning the capital budget. | H Cap Budget | Tharinger | |
| HB 2325 (SB 6168) | Operating budget, supplement | Making 2019-2021 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations. | H Approps | Ormsby | |
| SHB 2486 (SB 6318) | Electric marine batteries | Extending the electric marine battery incentive. | H Approps | Lekanoff | |
| SHB 2586 (SB 6496) | Electrification | Concerning the electrification of homes and buildings. | H 2nd Reading | Ramel | |
| SHB 2892 | Greenhouse gas emissions | Authorizing the department of ecology to regulate greenhouse gas emissions associated with persons who produce or distribute fossil fuel products that emit greenhouse gases in Washington. | H Approps | Fitzgibbon | |
| SB 5811 (HB 1999) | Clean car standards & prog. | Reducing emissions by making changes to the clean car standards and clean car program. | H Env & Energy | Nguyen | |
| SSB 6135 | System reliability/energy | Concerning system reliability under the clean energy transformation act. | S 2nd Reading | Sheldon | |
| SB 6168 (HB 2325) | Operating budget, supplement | Making 2019-2021 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations. | S Ways & Means | Rolfes | |
| SB 6248 (HB 2324) | Capital budget, supplemental | Concerning the capital budget. | S Ways & Means | Frockt | |
| SSB 6628 | Greenhouse gas/fossil fuels | Concerning emissions of greenhouse gases. | S 2nd Reading | Carlyle |
Dead Bills
| Bill # | Abbrev. Title | Short Description | Status | Sponsor | Position |
| SHB 1796 (SB 5730) | Comm. property/clean energy | Concerning commercial property assessed clean energy and resilience. | H Local Govt | Doglio | |
| HB 2495 | Energy recovery facilities | Concerning the use of electricity from energy recovery facilities using municipal solid waste under the Washington clean energy transformation act. | H Env & Energy | Shewmake | |
| HB 2515 | Transp. electrification | Concerning the electrification of transportation. | H Trans | Macri | |
| HB 2652 | Renewable ammonia | Concerning renewable ammonia. | H RDev, Ag&NR | Doglio | |
| HB 2756 | Metering infrastructure | Concerning advanced metering infrastructure. | H Env & Energy | Shea | |
| SSB 5134 (SHB 1102) | Capital budget 2019-2021 | Concerning the capital budget. | S Rules X | Frockt | |
| SB 6222 (2SHB 2405) | Comm. property/clean energy | Concerning commercial property assessed clean energy and resilience. | S Environment, E | Lovelett | |
| SB 6223 (SHB 2248) | Community solar projects | Expanding equitable access to the benefits of renewable energy through community solar projects. | S Environment, E | Lovelett | |
| SB 6272 (2SHB 2311) | Greenhouse gas emissions | Amending state greenhouse gas emission limits for consistency with the most recent assessment of climate change science. | S Environment, E | Das | |
| SB 6318 (SHB 2486) | Electric marine batteries | Extending the electric marine battery incentive. | S Transportation | Liias | |
| SB 6496 (SHB 2586) | Electrification | Concerning the electrification of homes and buildings. | S Environment, E | Lovelett |