April 28, 2025
The 2025 legislative session ended last night—and not a minute too soon! The BIAW External Affairs and lobbying teams battled hard for the home building industry and Washington families this session with a few successes in an otherwise rough year for businesses and families in Washington.
Here it is by the numbers.
105
Total number of days the Legislature was in session this year.
1,905
Total number of bills introduced by the House and Senate in those 105 days.
421
Total number of bills passed this session.
Building industry bills
48
Number of pages of bills your BIAW advocacy team was tracking this session.
7
Good building industry bills that passed this session.
- HB 1096 - Increasing housing options through lot splitting
- SB 5559 - Streamlining the subdivision process inside urban growth areas
- HB 1403- Simplifying condominium construction laws
- HB 1576- Historic landmark designations
- SB 5611 – Allowing permitting of residential housing in commercial areas for the purposes of redevelopment
- HB 1414 – Directing the Careers and Technical Education work group to recommend more opportunities for students to get work experience
- SB 5408 – Providing an opportunity to update a job posting that violates Washington’s wage and salary disclosure law without penalty.
6
High-profile non-tax-related bills we killed.
- SB 5360 - Expanding criminal penalties for environmental violations
- HB 1254 - Implementing the flawed wildland urban interface
- HB 1303 – Environmental justice in State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
- HB 1015 - Energy labeling/residential
- HB 1402 – Prohibiting some employers from posting driver’s license requirements
- HB 1155 – Prohibiting noncompete agreements
6
Bad bills we tried to kill—some of which we managed to improve slightly before they passed.
- HB 1213 – Eliminating small business protections in the state’s Paid Family Medical Leave program, resulting in devasting effects for employers with limited numbers of employees
- HB 1217 - Rent control – Originally proposed a 7% cap. Final bill increased the cap to 7% + consumer price index or 10% whichever is lower.
- HB 1308- Penalizing employers who fail to furnish personnel records within 21 days of the request.
- HB 1392 – Putting a premium tax on health plans to fund a new Medicaid program.
- HB 1788 – Increasing workers comp costs by expanding benefits.
- SB 5041 – Unemployment for striking workers—Originally required 12 weeks of benefits, negotiated to four then compromised to six weeks with an extended waiting period
Taxes & spending
$77.9 billion
Washington’s 2025-27 general fund operating budget as approved by the Legislature.
1,366
The number of pages in the 2025-27 operating budget.
$9.37 billion
State tax increases over the next four years approved by the Legislature to fund their budget.
$3 billion
Local tax increases approved by the Legislature.
$2,000
Estimated annual tax increase per family of four in Washington.
$39.7 billion
The amount Washington’s budget has increased in just the last 10 years.
11+
Types of tax and surcharge increases making up the $9.37 billion in new taxes—including:
- A new 0.5% B&O (gross receipts) tax surcharge on all business income in Washington state greater than $250 million annually.
- Smaller B&O tax hikes on a wide-ranging number of business sectors.
- A significant B&O rate increase for businesses in the services category from 1.75% to 2.1% on income over $5 million.
- A B&O tax rate surcharge increase for the financial institutions from 1.2% to 1.5%.
- An advanced computing surcharge increase from 1.22% to 7.5% capped at $75 million.
- Establishing a sales tax on advertising (excluding TV broadcasting, radio, printing, and certain billboard/display promotional activities), temporary staffing, website development, security and targeted IT services.
- A 95% wholesale tax on nicotine products like Zyn.
- Raising the state’s capital gains tax to 9.9% on gains more than $1 million.
- Increasing estate tax rates, most notably raising the tax rate from 20% to 35% for estates greater than $9 million.
- Repealing various preferential tax rates for several business sectors.
- Imposing an excise tax on the banking and sale of zero-emission vehicle credits by a manufacturer beginning with the 2024 model year.
Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis!
Thank you to BIAW members
We appreciate everyone who took time from their busy schedules to:
- Join us at Builder Legislative Day
- Testify on bills
- Sign-in each week
- Speak to reporters
- Show up for rallies
- Speak at news conferences
Thank you for all your hard work this legislative session!
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