The March 12 House of Origin cut-off saw the demise of dozens of bills NFIB had been tracking this session. We’re now down to just under 30 bills we’re following, and 10 of those have either been amended or are innocuous enough for us to be neutral.

Week in Review

The House worked all day Saturday (March 8), but a threatened Sunday session was changed to pro forma. That’s where only a few members of leadership take to the floor for a few minutes to handle routine procedural matters. Both chambers continued with floor sessions this week in the lead up to Wednesday’s deadline.

In the House, hours (and hours and hours) were spent behind closed doors in caucus, with members taking to the floor late in the day to begin debate on the most contentious bills. As you likely saw covered in the media, hotly controversial issues like gun control and parental rights ended in partisan votes held in the dark of night. The Senate, in stark contrast, accomplished its work largely within normal business hours and in a much more congenial manner.

A few committee meetings were held Thursday and Friday. Committee action will resume in earnest Monday.

The Week Ahead

A number of priority bills will be heard next week. Please sign-in on the following consistent with NFIB’s position. The process is fairly quick. Just use the links provided. Thank you in advance for helping to stop the four bad bills and supporting the one good bill on next week’s hearing list. All bills are available for you to sign-in now.

— Monday, March 17: Senate Labor & Commerce
HB 1788, Workers’ comp benefit increase. Please sign-in CON.

— Tuesday, March 18: House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee
SB 5041, Unemployment benefits for striking workers. Please sign-in CON.
SB 5463, Workers’ comp self-insured employers and TPA mandate. Please sign-in CON.

— Wednesday, March 19: Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee
HB 1409 — “Clean fuels” mandate. Please sign-in CON.

— Thursday, March 20: Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee
HB 1382 — All Payer Claims Database federal rule update. Please sign-in PRO.

Past Weekly Reports

— March 8: Bill Giving Striking Workers UI Benefits Passes Senate

— February 28: Lawmakers Trying to Skirt Federal Law on Unemployment Benefits

— February 21: Minimum Wage Bills Dead For Now

— February 15: NFIB Members Turn Out in Force to Oppose Minimum Wage Bill

— February 8: Minimum Wage Bills Coming Up for First Hearings 

— January 31: Entrepreneurs called on to testify on upcoming legislation by signing-in

— January 25: NFIB Testifies Against Giving Striking Workers Unemployment Benefits

— January 18: Washington State Legislature Begins 2025 Session