Advocacy Update 1/22/24

The 2024 Washington State Legislative Session is underway! We're tracking these pieces of legislation that could impact the business community:

Gift cards could cost your business

The legislation:
House Bill (HB) 2095 and Senate Bill (SB) 5988

Why it matters:
The proposed legislation would require businesses to remit to the State the balance of any unused gift cards if they are not redeemed within three years of purchase. Businesses would still be obligated to honor the cards if they were subsequently redeemed. The business would have to request reimbursement from the State.

The proposal would cause a tremendous amount of additional paperwork for businesses in both tracking gift card sales and in requesting reimbursement if the cards are later redeemed.

What you can do:
​Send a comment or your position to your legislators.

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Linking Washington's carbon market to the California carbon market

The legislation:
HB 2201 and SB 6058 

Why it matters:
This legislation would open the California Carbon Marketplace up to Washington businesses for the purposes of purchasing carbon credits. It would create a larger marketplace for carbon credits, potentially reducing the cost of carbon credits, which may reduce the pass-through cost to consumers.

​What you can do:
​Send a comment or your position to your legislators.

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Statewide Rent Control

The legislation:
HB 2114 and SB 5961

Why it matters:
The proposed legislation would place a cap on the amount of rent increase during any 12-month period. It would allow a tenant to immediately terminate their lease if a rent increase of 3% was implemented. It also has other limits to fees and restrictions on lease terms.

Rent control would eliminate a landlord's ability to recoup expenses resulting from property ownership costs. In the event of a rent increase, landlords could face additional burdens from terminated lease agreements.

What you can do:
Send a comment or your position to your legislators.

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Restore local control to wind farm siting

The legislation:
HB 2117 and SB 6188 

Why it matters:
These bills would require permitting authorities to consider aerial firefighting and wildfire suppression efforts into consideration when siting utility-scale wind facilities. 

This legislation could limit the size and scope of potential wind farms and provide local jurisdictions more input on siting.

What you can do:
Send a comment or your position to your legislators.

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Do you know of legislation that you'd like to see us address? Contact Matt Murphy, Government and Regional Affairs Director, at [email protected].