From LWVWA 2/15/26 Legislative newsletter

Since the fiscal committee cutoff on Feb. 9, the House and Senate have been busy moving bills from their respective Rules Committees to the floor for votes and passing legislation for the opposite chamber to consider. The cutoff for floor action is this week, Tuesday, Feb. 17—it all moves so quickly in a short session!

Already some committees are holding public hearings on bills that have passed the opposite chamber; but this will become the focus of their work between Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, which is the cutoff for consideration of bills from the opposite chamber in the policy committees.

SB 5975, Lead in Cookware—Oppose Rollbacks! Providing consumer access to safe cookware and interstate and international trade certainty in the regulation of lead in cookware, would roll-back provisions in recent law requiring lead-free cookware. Led by Senator Harris and Representative Low, this bill would negate provisions in legislation passed last year. SB 5975 has moved to the Senate floor calendar and is awaiting consideration.

Contact your Senator HERE and ask them to vote NO on SB 5975 when it comes up for a floor vote.

SB 5947 Establishing the Washington health care board. This bill would lay the groundwork for Universal Health Care Coverage in Washington by creating a Washington Health Care Board to design and implement a plan to provide all medically necessary health care services for all residents of the state. It would take effect when a federal waiver is received to establish a state-based universal health care plan and federal funding is available to support implementation. This bill was placed on second reading by Rules on Feb 10. It needs to be approved on the Senate floor by Feb 17 to move forward.

Contact your Senator HERE to urge a YES vote on SB 5947 to support establishing a Washington Health Care Board when it comes up for a floor vote. 

SB 6071. Make Insurance Companies Accountable for Timely Health Care Payment Accounting! Modernizing overpayment recovery requirements (formerly Standardizing overpayment recovery requirements). Unless there is fraud, this bill would require insurance companies to request refunds from health care providers in writing and within 12 months of when a claim was paid (within six months for mental health and substance use disorder services). The request must state why a refund should be given. This would protect the financial viability of health care providers by assuring consistency in payments from insurance companies. This bill was placed on second reading in Rules on Feb 4 and must be approved by the Senate by Feb 17 to move forward.

Contact your Senator HERE to urge a YES vote on SB 6071 to modernize health care overpayment recovery options when it comes to the Senate floor.

Support the Millionaire’s Tax. It is widely known that the state budget is in crisis, without sufficient revenue to cover the costs of services that are badly needed. SB 6346, commonly called the “millionaires’ tax” would generate significant new revenue (estimated at $1-3 billion annually) to offset the budget gap of approximately $2.3 billion, while also making the state’s very regressive and unfair tax structure more equitable. This bill is expected to be pulled from the Rules Committee and put on the Senate floor agenda for a vote on Monday, February 16. Please let your Senator know immediately that you want them to vote YES on SB 6346. On Feb. 6, LWVWA President Karen Crowley testified in support of SB 6346. Read her testimony HERE. Find more information the bill HERE. 

Contact your Senator HERE and urge them to vote YES on SB 6346.

Our election systems are under threat. As the US Supreme Court considers weakening protections for free and fair elections by diminishing or eliminating Section 2 of the federal Voting Right Act, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) will be one of the last ways communities can make sure that their voices are heard. RCV helps reduce vote splitting, increase voter participation, promote civil campaigns, reflect voter preferences more accurately, and support effective local governance. It also helps break down the structural barriers communities of color and language-minority voters face in electing candidates of choice.

HB 2210, Protecting local representation by strengthening and securing fair elections in local governments, recognizes that local governments need clear and flexible authority to adopt alternative election systems like ranked-choice voting (RCV) and proportional representation. This bill is currently in Rules 2 review and needs to be brought to a floor vote.

Contact your House representatives HERE and urge them to pass HB 2210 to let the people choose RCV so that everyone feels representatives

For additional action items, which help pass or defeat bills the League supports or opposes on specific issues, click on the see all action alerts, and take action on the ones you are most interested in. Thank you for your support for the League’s issues! There are many more action alerts in this weeks legislative newsletter! Get the LWVWA Legislative newsletter delivered direct to you by subscribing here.