Transcript Highlights:

• This can make scheduling hearings, most of which are multi-day hearings, difficult.
• Currently, PCHB hearings are scheduled out about 14 months in advance, although only about 7% of appeals
• Procedural rules allow the board to schedule a secondary hearing date sooner if the calendar opens up
• The Growth Management Hearings Board kind of has a cyclical work schedule in which there are times of

Bills: HB2426 , HB2373 , HB2416

Committee: House Environment & Energy

Keywords: pollution control, efficiency, appeals process, environmental regulation, hearing board, electric utility, energy assistance, low-income households, monthly bill assistance, energy equity, waste management, energy, climate action, environmental regulations, fair treatment, renewable energy, sustainability, 904, all

Transcript Highlights:

• from a non-network provider if the provider agrees to be paid according to the department's fee schedule
• home, to seek a provider farther away if that provider is willing to accept the department's fee schedule
• which then limited access to care in different areas, particularly rural areas, because the fee schedule
• appropriate credentials to treat patients under Washington state law and that you agree to both the fee schedule

Bills: HB2091 , HB2105 , HB2218 , HB2107 , HB2137 , HB2243 , HB2264

Committee: House Labor & Workplace Standards

Keywords: public employers, employee information, bargaining representatives, labor relations, union representation, immigrant worker protections, immigrant rights, worker protections, I-9 audit, Form I-9, employment eligibility verification, workplace raid, federal immigration inspection, employer notice, anti-retaliation, retaliation, Attorney General enforcement, private right of action, labor law, workplace rights

Transcript Highlights:

• Seattle Children's, when we left there, scheduled us back for psychiatric therapy and also scheduled
• flexibility for the Department of Health to develop recommendations for adult and childhood vaccine schedules
• It's critical to build and revise the vaccine schedule in a transparent, thoughtful, and data-driven

Summary: The committee heard testimony on three health care bills. HB 1496 would cap charges for electronically stored medical records at $50 for patients and certain authorized recipients, while removing a free-copy provision tied to SSI/SSDI appeals and changing attorney fee language to “prevailing patient.” Supporters, including patient advocates, attorneys, and injured workers, said current record fees can reach thousands of dollars and block access to justice; opponents, including hospitals, home care providers, and records vendors, argued the bill would not cover the labor and HIPAA compliance work involved in large third-party requests and could shift costs to providers and patients. The bill remained in hearing with testimony continuing after the committee moved through other bills. HB 2182 would change how the Department of Corrections distributes its stockpile of mifepristone and misoprostol, removing the requirement that the medications be sold at cost plus a $5 fee and instead allowing, but not requiring, payment while directing DOC and the Department of Health to coordinate distribution to providers and facilities. The prime sponsor and supporters said the bill is needed so the state’s stockpile does not go unused or expire and to remove barriers to access for abortion and miscarriage care; opponents argued the bill subsidizes abortion, raises legal and taxpayer concerns, and should be rejected. Public testimony on HB 2182 was closed after hearing from both supporters and opponents. HB 2196 would require certain fully insured health plans to cover IVIG for PANS and PANDAS, with initial and medically necessary follow-up courses, and would bar denials based on prior treatment, age, out-of-state care when unavailable in Washington, or treatment guidelines that only address psychiatric symptoms. The sponsor, families, and physicians described severe, sudden-onset symptoms in children and said IVIG can be life-changing after other treatments fail, while insurers warned the mandate could add to already rising premiums and noted the treatment can be very expensive. HB 2242 would shift vaccine and preventive-service recommendation authority from federal bodies to the Department of Health, while preserving no-cost coverage for preventive services and updating the reference date for protected services; the governor, insurance commissioner, public health officials, and many physicians supported it as a way to preserve access amid federal instability and rising vaccine-preventable disease, while questions focused on whether the bill would change school or daycare requirements, which staff said it would not.

Transcript Highlights:

• That means we'll be able to continue monitoring ahead of the federal schedule that exists and continue
• The federal rule currently has this schedule, which says you're supposed to be doing that initial monitoring
• So we provide no-cost allowances to EITEs on a schedule specified through 2034.
• So we provide no cost allowances to EITEs on a schedule specified through 2034.

Summary: The committee held a work session covering PFAS regulation and impacts, no-cost allowance allocation for emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries (EITEs), and regional resource adequacy and data center load growth. Senator Victoria Hunt was welcomed as a new member. The Department of Ecology reviewed Washington’s Safer Products for Washington PFAS work, including completed restrictions on PFAS in outdoor furniture, carpets, rugs, stain/water-resistant treatments, and newer rules adopted in November restricting PFAS in most apparel, cleaning products, and automotive washes, with reporting requirements for some other products such as cookware and firefighting gear. Ecology also described Cycle 2 PFAS reviews now underway, including artificial turf and paints, and answered questions about compliance, online sales, sell-through periods, and how Washington’s approach differs from broader bans in states like Maine and Minnesota. The Department of Ecology also presented on PFAS in biosolids, describing a 2024 sampling study, limitations in testing methods, and a 2025 statutory amendment requiring additional sampling between 2027 and 2028 and a report to the legislature in 2029. The Department of Health then updated the committee on PFAS in drinking water, reporting that most Group A public water systems have completed sampling, that 317 sources and 188 systems are expected to exceed new contaminant levels, and that treatment costs for public systems are estimated at about $970 million, leaving a large funding gap; members also asked about private wells, health effects, bathing exposure, and home filters. The Board of Health’s new state action levels are being aligned with federal MCLs, and the department said it expects to continue monitoring and notification under state rules. Ecology also briefed the committee on no-cost allowance allocations to EITEs under the Climate Commitment Act, explaining the leakage-mitigation rationale, the current allocation schedule through 2034, and a forthcoming report on policy options for 2035-2050; members asked about industry barriers, competitiveness, and whether facilities might leave the state. Finally, E3 presented a regional resource adequacy study showing rising load, retirements outpacing additions, limited winter reliability value from wind, solar, and batteries, and a projected shortfall beginning in 2026 that could grow to about 9,000 MW by 2030 if planned projects are not built. The presentation emphasized winter cold-weather events, hydro variability, the importance of permitting and transmission, and longer-term options including nuclear, geothermal, hydrogen, carbon capture, and long-duration storage. EPRI then introduced its DC Flex initiative, which is studying how data centers can provide flexible load through workload shifting, cooling optimization, and on-site backup or bridging resources to reduce grid stress and protect ratepayers.

Transcript Highlights:

• And that always leads to more work, and it seems like that's on your schedule.
• years the legislation has been trying to figure out the way to do this, so maybe the implementation schedule
• years the legislation has been trying to figure out the way to do this so maybe the implementation schedule
• and getting OSPI here probably The implementation schedule and getting OSPI here probably staff would

Summary: The Capital Budget Committee heard presentations from the Department of Commerce, the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), and a consultant on the School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) study. Commerce officials described their agency’s role in housing, energy, local government, broadband, and other capital programs, and reported on a $5 million pilot under Senate Bill 5200 that used trusted community messengers and technical assistance to help historically excluded organizations prepare for capital funding. They said 18 organizations received direct support and 79 smaller projects were also funded, but emphasized that statutory match rules, reimbursement-based payments, site-control requirements, insurance and audit costs, and extensive contracting rules remain major barriers. Commerce outlined efforts to expand outreach, digital modernization, internal contracting improvements, tribal MOUs, and innovation centers, and members asked about small business support, housing program placement, and outreach to Eastern Washington and communities of color. RCO described its grant programs for recreation, conservation, education, and salmon/orca recovery, and reviewed equity work done before and after a 2021-23 proviso. The agency had already created a small-communities carve-out in youth athletic facilities, piloted stipends for advisory committee members, and reduced match requirements where allowed. Under the proviso, RCO completed an equity review and a planning program that funded 54 projects across 34 counties, with many applicants being new or long-absent grantees. Staff said the review led to changes in scoring criteria, clearer application guidance, more objective data measures, expanded technical assistance, and targeted community engagement. Members asked about application burden, project sizes, outreach, and how the agency is broadening participation and representation on advisory committees. The final presentation summarized a planning study on SCAP, which examined rising construction costs, fragmented grant programs, local funding barriers, and uneven district capacity. The report recommended nine major changes, including stronger planning support, a new minor-modernization category, a mechanism to use unused funds more quickly, an education-specification prototype, a SCAP enhancement program for low-capacity districts, acceptance of non-SCAP funds, phased modernization, streamlined D-form and reimbursement processes, and revisions to the SCAP formula to better account for grade-band differences, enrollment projections, and regional cost factors. Additional recommendations included ongoing monitoring and evaluation, facilities-impact reviews, matching SCAP increases to construction-cost inflation, earlier locking of funding estimates, flexible program spaces, and updated statewide building-condition assessments. No votes were taken during the meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• including language arts and the content area between English and the Partner Language through different schedules
• We've been scheduling those office hours in the morning and the afternoon with quite a bit of attendance
• We're actually 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and it looks like folks are almost ready to go, but I thought
• Just a note that if you had seen older versions of the agenda on Friday, we're actually scheduled to

Transcript Highlights:

• The schedule behind tab 1 shows the audit finding and the city's responses.
• So, and I understand you waived $5.5 million in fees, but if you never changed your fee schedule, then
• I get it, but there's a much different schedule for replacing a five-ton unit for a landlord than there
• Town council meeting scheduling notices, agendas, and minutes needed to be improved to ensure compliance

Summary: The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee first heard a long-running audit finding involving Daytona Beach’s unexpended building permit funds, which have exceeded the statutory limit for several years and were reported at $10.8 million in the most recent audit. Mayor Derek Henry and city staff said the city has analyzed the fund, adopted a corrective action plan, waived more than $5.5 million in permit and inspection fees over several periods, and used some excess funds for a training facility rehabilitation and a proposed City Hall expansion. Committee members repeatedly questioned whether the city was simply trying to spend down the money, raised concerns about the legality and necessity of proposed expenditures, and asked about interest earnings, truck purchases, and the lack of detailed tracking for training-facility use. The city said an Attorney General opinion allows construction of a new building for building-code functions but not purchase of an existing building, and that if the city cannot comply through permissible construction it would have to return the funds. No vote was taken, but members expressed strong frustration and urged the city to resolve the issue quickly and lawfully. The committee then received the Auditor General’s presentation on the Town of Greenville, which found 31 findings and described pervasive control failures, possible fraud, waste, and abuse. The findings covered elections and quorum issues, conflicts of interest, late or missing financial disclosure forms, related-party transactions, poor meeting notices and minutes, council involvement in day-to-day operations, missing ethics training, budget and accounting deficiencies, weak bank reconciliations, improper utility billing and rates, grant compliance problems tied to a grocery store project, personnel and compensation issues involving the town manager, late vendor payments, weak procurement and P-card controls, vehicle-use and property-control problems, public records issues, and IT/fraud-policy weaknesses. The auditor said the review focused mainly on October 2022 through February 2024 but went back further for some grant-related matters. Greenville’s mayor and staff said the audit reflected actions of a previous administration and that the current council and staff have already adopted seven new policies to improve procurement, financial controls, inventory management, grant oversight, and ethics. They said the town has a new manager and clerk, that the former manager was terminated, and that the town referred matters to FDLE, which is investigating. Committee members asked about the manager’s salary increase, severance, P-card use, and whether the town should consider consolidation or dissolution. The mayor said the town is on a better path, that most of the prior leadership has been voted out, and that the town is working with auditors and an outside accounting firm to correct the problems.

Transcript Highlights:

• Just quickly, I know you have a very packed and busy schedule this morning.
• This year, we are scheduled to do $10 million in contract maintenance.
• These four years are scheduled and physically constrained; all these projects are funded on this list
• We have a drainage project scheduled to be let this year, and it's showing FY 26.

Transcript Highlights:

• I know that Representative McClintock is excused today, given her day job schedule.
• I know that Representative McClintock is excused today, given her day job schedule.
• I want to remind members of the committee that we are scheduled to take a forestry tour on October 15th
• I want to remind members of the committee that we are scheduled to take a forestry tour on October 15th

Summary: The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held an interim work session focused on Washington agriculture’s viability, workforce, and competitiveness. Director Derek Sanderson of the Washington State Department of Agriculture and WSU Dean Raj Kosla described the size and diversity of the state’s farm sector, declining farm numbers, major export markets, and pressures from labor costs, low commodity prices, trade barriers, drought, regulatory burdens, and pests and disease. Kosla emphasized WSU’s land-grant role in education, research, and extension, including precision agriculture, broadband needs in rural areas, and the need for state support to help producers adopt new technologies and train the next generation of agricultural workers. Members asked about retaining farmland, increasing workforce capacity, and the role of precision agriculture. Kosla said precision agriculture can help address labor shortages and water scarcity, but adoption is limited by cost and rural broadband gaps. He explained precision agriculture as tailoring inputs to the right place, time, amount, and manner, and said WSU is working on low-cost sensor technologies and other innovations. Members also asked about how widely precision agriculture is used and whether it improves farm bottom lines; Kosla said adoption varies by tool and that he would follow up with more data. The committee then heard from Dr. Randy Fortenberry of WSU’s Impact Center on an agricultural competitiveness study and the effects of tariffs and trade. He reported that Washington’s competitiveness has generally declined relative to peer states in dairy, grapes, hops, apples, and wheat, with potatoes as the main bright spot. Surveyed producers said a substantial share of revenue is tied to regulatory compliance, with labor-related costs a major driver, and small diversified farms reported land access, capital, and profitability as bigger barriers than regulation. On trade, Fortenberry said Washington agriculture is highly export-dependent and vulnerable to retaliation, citing past losses in wheat, apples, pulses, and cherries when tariffs disrupted markets, while noting current uncertainty around China and India. The committee asked follow-up questions about compliance time, peer-state comparisons, and regulatory burdens; no votes were taken, and the department said it plans an interim report by the end of the year and a final report by June 2026.

Transcript Highlights:

• So I can assume then say if 10 of the regions are in compliance or on schedule, they're going to press
• ahead on this schedule and the others are going to be left behind and try to catch up.
• My, my, my concern is the risk in the schedule.
• Um, that's my concern from an overall strategic schedule to when you dive down to the different regions

Committee: House Legislative Health & Human Services Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh, on behalf of Commissioner Tolmes, I send his regrets that he had a scheduling conflict and was not
• Tolmes, I I send his regrets that he had Tolmes, I I send his regrets that he had a<00:26:03.600><c> scheduling
• 04.559><c> and</c><00:26:04.960><c> was</c><00:26:05.279><c> not</c><00:26:05.440><c> able</c> a scheduling
• conflict and was not able a scheduling conflict and was not able to<00:26:05.919><c> be</c><00:26:06.080

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• The challenges and hardships in scheduling and completing required inspections and tests are real and
• The challenges and<00:33:38.159><c> hardships</c><00:33:38.640><c> in</c><00:33:38.960><c> scheduling
• </c><00:33:39.440><c> and</c> and hardships in scheduling and and hardships in scheduling and completing

Committee: House Labor

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Can't pay them on the Schedule C scale to keep up with other agencies that do so.
• We start them at the very bottom of Schedule C, at about $55,000, $53,000.
• Other state agencies will say if you have four years worth of experience we'll buy you up on schedule
• goes through an administrative process at the state office of administrative hearings and that is scheduled

Committee: House Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• But if it were to become a requirement, they would have very little time to adjust their schedules, hire
• that there could be that continuity of learning and just the ability for families to manage their schedules
• Master schedules are being put together right now.
• I mean, we know the mechanics of it, but from a uniform salary schedule and a uniform application period

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And so, um, for example, um If if a project gets behind schedule for whatever reason, it can move into
• those individual groups that, that look at providing services to our veterans, actually have a fee schedule
• So there is a group of folks that will be able to charge some things, you know, there's no schedule of
• That some have already been referred directly to us, so we'll be scheduling those in the near future.

Committee: House S/C on Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• also, to my understanding, the low-income tax credit is to remediate the fact that our income tax schedule
• c><00:47:12.160><c> income</c><00:47:12.559><c> tax</c><00:47:13.559><c> um</c><00:47:14.200><c> schedule
• </c> the fact that our income tax um schedule the fact that our income tax um schedule right<00:47:14.920

Keywords: 910, house, all

Summary: The House convened with 47 members present, read the journal, and received Senate communications, including notice that House Bill 1440, HD1 had passed third reading in the Senate and that several Senate bills were transmitted and passed first reading by title. Members also made introductions recognizing guests for Working Families Day 2025, including advocates and organizers, and welcomed visitors from Khu Valley, as well as family members and community advocates in the gallery. The bulk of the meeting was devoted to the order of the day and adoption of numerous standing committee reports and accompanying bills, many of which were passed by voice vote or consent calendar. Several members registered reservations or opposition on specific measures, with comments focused on fertility coverage and the prepaid health care system, low-income tax policy, youth safe spaces and runaway youth, prenatal care for non-citizens, and fireworks regulation. In a few cases, members requested that their remarks be entered into the journal, and one member clarified a vote change on SCR 972 after the vote had been read. The House also took third-reading votes on additional bills listed on later pages, with the majority and minority caucuses announcing their votes and a few named no votes on particular measures. No resolutions were introduced for action. During announcements, members wished Representative Amato and staff members happy birthday. The House then voted to keep the journal open until midnight for further committee reports and transmitted bills, and finally recessed until 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 4th.

Transcript Highlights:

• Some could come biweekly, and then we also do intensives because first responder schedules are, you know
• do intensives because first then we also do intensives because first responder<00:24:30.559><c> schedules
• c> are</c><00:24:31.480><c> you</c><00:24:31.600><c> know</c><00:24:31.799><c> all</c> responder schedules
• are you know all responder schedules are you know all over<00:24:32.240><c> the</c><00:24:32.399><c>

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• We're working through that, and we're in the process of scheduling meetings with stakeholders to work
• Let's see, the next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 10th at 1 p.m.
• scheduled for Monday March 10th at 1 pm scheduled for Monday March 10th at 1 pm does<00:31:01.679><c>

Keywords: 958, all

Summary: The Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee met on February 10 with a quorum present, approved the minutes, and then reviewed a long agenda of agency regulations, most of which were accompanied by staff-suggested amendments for drafting conformity under KRS Chapter 13A. The Department of Financial Institutions’ 808 KAR 9:10, the Secretary of State’s 030 KAR 2:11, the Office of the Attorney General’s 04 KAR 5:10, the Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology’s emergency 201 KAR 17:120, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ 301 KAR 2:41, the Department for Environmental Protection’s 401 KAR 47:110 and 48:320, the State Police regulations 502 KAR 1:012 and 1:121, the Department for Public Health’s 902 KAR 4:15, the Department for Medicaid Services’ 907 KAR 1:15, and the Department for Community Based Services’ 921 KAR 1:400 were all discussed and, where applicable, staff amendments were approved without objection. The Workplace Standards emergency regulation 803 KAR 2:320E was also presented without amendment, and the Department of Insurance’s 806 KAR 9:360 was taken up but ultimately deferred at the agency’s request. Several regulations drew brief substantive discussion. The Fish and Wildlife rule on foxhound training enclosures was explained as expanding both commercial and non-commercial provisions for training with dogs involving red fox and coyotes, with enclosure standards intended to protect wildlife inside and outside the facilities. The environmental protection rules were tied to House Bill 478 and addressed permit-by-rule timelines, reporting, and operating standards for certain construction and demolition debris landfills, including sites up to two acres; members asked whether these facilities were private or municipal, and staff said they were a mix, often tied to private demolition contractors or single projects. The State Police fee increase for hazardous materials endorsements was described as reflecting a federal TSA fee change, and the witness estimated the new fee at about $23. The most extended debate concerned the Board of Education’s 704 KAR 3:535 on full-time virtual and remote learning programs. The agency amendment would cap enrollment in such programs at 10% above a district’s prior-year in-person enrollment, while also clarifying accountability, staffing, and monitoring requirements. Education officials said the cap was intended to address concerns about district capacity and student performance, and they cited Cloverport as an example of a district with high virtual participation and participation-rate issues. Members expressed concern that the amendment was too open-ended for regulation and suggested the issue might be better addressed in statute; no motion was made to adopt the agency amendment, so the regulation was left to proceed to the committee of jurisdiction. The Department of Insurance also discussed implementation of Senate Bill 188, saying it had received more than 3,000 complaints since the law took effect and was still working through enforcement and complaint processing before asking to defer its PBM licensing regulation.

Transcript Highlights:

• She said they in turn followed and passed a law scheduling a substance with that incorrectly spelled
• drug we in turn followed and um pass a drug we in turn followed and um pass a law<00:10:55.800><c> scheduling
• c> a</c><00:10:57.160><c> substance</c><00:10:57.839><c> with</c><00:10:58.040><c> that</c> law scheduling
• uh a substance with that law scheduling uh a substance with that incorrectly<00:10:58.760><c> spelled

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs met on its 3:15 p.m. reconsideration and hearing agenda. The committee first reconsidered SB 1379 on emergency preparedness and voted to pass it with amendments. The amendments would require HEMA to submit a report to the Legislature on a community readiness centers plan, including public and private sites, funding sources, partnerships, stakeholder coordination, and projected annual funding, due 20 days before the 2026 Legislature convenes. The committee also made technical and fiscal-related changes, including blanking out certain amounts in the bill and committee report while retaining recommended amounts there, and changing the effective date language. The committee then voted unanimously to adopt the amended recommendation. The committee heard SB 1364, which makes emergency appropriations for law enforcement personnel costs. The Department of Budget and Finance supported the bill but said the figures in oral testimony would be slightly higher than those in written testimony and that updated numbers would be emailed later in the week. Because the exact figures were not yet available, the chair deferred decision-making to February 7, 2025. The committee also heard SB 1451 on critical infrastructure, SB 1452 on the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, SB 1149 on hate crimes reporting, SB 1321 on the Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, and SB 1341 on energy industry information reporting. For SB 1451, testimony was split, with support from state law enforcement and opposition from the Public First Law Center, which argued the information was already protected under existing law; the committee later adopted a motion to pass the bill with amendments, including a narrower definition of critical infrastructure information and a revised effective date. SB 1452 received support from law enforcement and prosecutors, with a requested cleanup amendment to correct a federal drug-name spelling issue; decision-making was postponed to allow the department to provide language. SB 1149 drew substantial testimony both for and against; supporters emphasized better hate-crime data collection and transparency, while opponents raised concerns about definitions and free speech. The committee adopted amendments and passed the bill, with the chair summarizing the move from the older UCR system to NIBRS and noting a public dashboard expected by September 30, 2025. SB 1321 was passed with amendments shortening the oversight coordinator term from four years to three years, though one senator voted with reservations in favor of a longer term. SB 1341 was passed as is after brief support testimony, and the committee adjourned after completing the agenda.

Transcript Highlights:

• The appointment of other standing committees, assignments, and the new committee meeting schedule will
• assignments and the new<01:12:29.960><c> committee</c><01:12:30.960><c> meeting</c><01:12:31.400><c> schedule
• </c><01:12:31.880><c> will</c><01:12:32.040><c> be</c> new committee meeting schedule will be new committee
• meeting schedule will be published<01:12:32.639><c> in</c><01:12:32.800><c> today's</c> Members, we're

Keywords: 1183, house