Editorial: What lawmakers accomplished in a quick 60 days

By The Herald Editorial Board

Considering the time available during the 60-day short session that concluded Thursday, state lawmakers in Olympia still managed to make considerable progress on a range of issues before them, passing about 340 of the 1,200 bills it started with in January.

Here’s a look — referencing recent coverage by the Washington State Standard — at some of what was accomplished in policy and the supplemental budget, to be followed next week with a look at what lawmakers should give further consideration to next year when they’ll have an additional 45 days to ponder legislation. Many bills still are awaiting a signature from Gov. Jay Inslee, in his final year of his three terms.

Supplemental budget: Lawmakers approved an additional $2.1 billion in spending to the $69.8 billion budget it passed last year, split between maintenance of existing programs and new policy investments in numerous departments. As well, there’s $25 million in the capital budget, allocated for school and health center projects, as reported Friday by The Herald’s Jenelle Baumbach.

Education: Funding was a major focus, with $333 million in the operating budget added for school transportation, the state’s free meals program, and a step-up in funding for special education to pay for special services, train teachers and better meet the gap between what districts pay and what the state provides for those students.

Another $306 million was allocated in the capital budget for school construction aid, including a considerable bump in what the state provides for construction of schools. The budget sets aside $79 million to increase reimbursement for school construction projects to $375 per square foot, up from $272 per square foot. The catch remains, however, that districts must first convince 60 percent of voters in a bond election for school construction projects, before that money is made available. As part of that $306 million, $114 million is earmarked for smaller, usually rural districts, that do have problems passing bonds. And $68 million will bolster efforts to expand offerings at career and technical education facilities.

Climate: The state’s landmark climate legislation and its program to auction carbon emission allowances will add about $249 million in investments to the $2 billion allocated in last year’s budget for investments to electrify transportation, including EV-charging stations, hybrid-electric ferries, zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles used in shipping; rebates and assistance for home weatherization and energy-efficient heat pumps; and strengthening of the state’s air pollution monitoring network to better identify sources of pollution and methods to address them.

About $150 million in the new funding will go toward one-time $200 credits for low- and moderate-income families’ electric bills, to be distributed by September. Cynics, in particular those looking to repeal the Climate Commitment Act this November with Initiative 2117, criticized the timing of the credit so close to the election. But such rebates — recognizing the cost increases to consumers from the auctions — have previously been identified as a potential use for the such carbon tax programs.

Lawmakers also passed a bill that authorizes the state to merge its carbon market with those in California and Quebec, Canada, which is expected to stablilize the market’s auction prices for emissions, which in its first year exceeded initial projections.

Citizen Initiatives: Presented with six citizen initiatives, the Legislature debated and approved three of them, leaving the other three to be considered by voters in November. The effect of each of the three, however, may be minimal.

Lawmakers approved:

Initiative 2111, which prohibits the state and local governments from imposing taxes on personal income. The initiative changes no law, but puts current sentiment against a state income tax down on paper. The drawback being that it locks the state into considerable reliance on unpopular property taxes and the regressive sales tax.

Initiative 2081, establishing a parent’s bill of rights to assure parents have access to public school materials, including curriculum and their children’s medical records. Again, much of that is already provided in state and federal law, but it may make availability of the material more widely known.

Initiative 2113, which will return state law on police pursuits to the policy that was in place before reforms and legislative adjustments that followed, regarding when police can engage in a high-spewed vehicle pursuit, looking to reduce deaths and injuries that sometimes result from the pursuits. Depending on an agency’s own policies, officers will again be able to pursue if they have reasonable suspicion a car occupant has violated any law. Currently pursuits are limited to violent offenses, sex offenses, domestic violence, impaired driving or attempting to escape arrest.

Debate on this issue may not be over, however. Also in the supplemental budget is $400,000 for further study on police pursuits, including collecting and analyzing data on the chases with a report and recommendations due back to the Legislature by June 2025.

Public safety: Lawmakers made policy changes and budget investments to retain and hire more law enforcement officials, including a $15,000 longevity bonus for State Patrol troopers with 26 years of service, and legislation to allow Dreamers — those in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — and other green card holders to join law enforcement agencies in the state.

Gun safety: The Legislature added to laws adopted in recent years regarding gun safety measures; this year adding to the locations where possession of firearms is barred, including libraries, zoos, aquariums and transit stations. Another bill will require gun owners to report loss or theft of a firearm to police within 24 hours.

Retirement savings: Lawmakers reached concurrence on the session’s final day, authorizing the Washington Saves program, for automatic individual retirement account deductions from paychecks for those workers whose employers don’t offer a pension or 401(k) program. Employees can opt out of the program but could more easily invest a portion of the paycheck into a savings and investment fund for retirement.

Octopus farming ban: Noting studies that have found octopi are highly intelligent and sentient sea creatures, state lawmakers voted to ban the farming of octopus by votes of 70-27 in the House and 29-20 in the Senate. No such farms had been reported as being under proposal, but eight-legged aquaculture is now foreclosed. We’ll assume that it’s still legal for octopuses to garden in the shade.