Lawmakers Begin Filing Bills for the 2025 Legislative Session

The 2025 legislative session starts on January 13, 2025. During the last biennium, over 3,000 bills were introduced into the Washington State legislature for consideration. The upcoming session is a “long” session, scheduled to last 105 days. In addition to normal legislative duties, the House and Senate are expected to agree on three different budget packages.

The Washington State legislature must create three main budgets: an operating budget, a transportation budget, and a capital budget. The operating budget is the largest, funding schools, human services, government operations, and other priorities. The transportation budget funds infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and public transportation. The capital budget funds construction projects, such as public buildings and infrastructure. Once all is said and done, the governor will have final approval.

There is one major challenge: Washington's budget faces significant difficulties, with an estimated gap between $10 billion and $12 billion expected in the next two budget cycles. This shortfall could rise to nearly $15 billion if new public employee contract costs are included. The state operates on a two-year budget, with the current one ending on June 30, 2025, already balanced, but the next budgets will not be. This situation is not entirely unexpected, as the last session's supplemental budget revealed that spending exceeded tax revenues. State lawmakers and Governor Jay Inslee used reserves and federal pandemic aid to address previous deficits.
​
As of December 16, there were 130 prefiled bills. Prefiled bills include HB 1017, designating November 22 as “Kimchi Day,” and SB 5020, providing property tax relief for senior citizens.

If you want to look and track prefiled bills, you can do so here.