Dead or alive 2: Which bills survived the legislative cutoff?

March 13, 2023

As the House and Senate start considering bills from the opposite chamber, it’s a good time to take a look at what’s dead or alive on the BIAW Government Affairs team’s bill tracking list.

Good bills still alive

• SHB 1245: Increasing housing options through lot splitting
• 2SSB 5290: Concerning consolidating local permit review processes.
• 2SSB 5412: Reducing local governments’ land use permitting workloads by ensuring objective and timely design review for housing and other land use proposals within cities and counties and allowing proposed housing within urban growth boundaries to rely on environmental reviews completed at the comprehensive planning level.
• 2SHB 1110: Increasing middle housing in areas traditionally dedicated to single-family detached housing.
• SSB 5466: Promoting transit-oriented development.
• ESHB 1042: Concerning the use of existing buildings for residential purposes.
• SHB 1293: Streamlining development regulations and establishing a categorical exemption from the State Environmental Policy Act for residential housing units within an urban growth area.
• HB 1308: Concerning high school graduation pathway options, including trades.

The Bad: Bad bills that died

• SHB 1735: Adding net ecological gain as a voluntary element of comprehensive plans under the Growth Management Act (GMA).
• SHB 1078:  Concerning urban forest management ordinances.
• SB 5482 (HB 1644): Implementing a margin tax.
• SSB 5541: Requiring transparency in supply chains.

The Ugly:  Bad Bills Still Lurking

• SB 5452 - Authorizing impact fee revenue to fund improvements to bicycle and pedestrian facilities. 
• ESHB 1589 - Prohibiting Puget Sound Energy from providing natural gas service to commercial or residential locations that do not already have natural gas service or have not applied for natural gas service as of June 30, 2023.
• SSB 5217: Concerning the state’s ability to regulate certain industries and risk classes to prevent musculoskeletal injuries and disorders through ergonomics.
• 2SHB 1181: Adding climate change to the GMA.
• SHB 1068: Concerning injured workers’ rights during compelled medical examinations.
• ESSB 5123:  Concerning cannabis testing for employees.

BIAW continues it’s “Dead or Alive” game this week to test how much our fellow staff members know about our legislative package and how we’re doing. Watch our stories on Facebook and Instagram to see how everyone did!