WSNA’s legislative priorities for 2025

The Washington State Legislature kicked off Jan. 13 with a tough road ahead. The session is scheduled to run through April 27 unless a special session is called.

The state is facing an expected $12 billion budget shortfall, so conversations will largely be focused on revenue and cuts. The state is required to have a balanced budget by the end of the 105-day session.

The state is also undergoing a lot of change with a new governor, new attorney general, new insurance commissioner, and dozens of new legislators with committee assignments still being worked out.

During the interim, WSNA worked with stakeholders to create the five legislative priorities below:

1. Workplace violence (HB 1162 / SB 5162): 
   Our proposal would take the work being done by workplace violence/safety committees to the next natural step by requiring a more regular and detailed review of WPV incident-related data by the committee, as well as required reporting of this data within the committee and annual updates to the safety plan based on this regular review of data.

2. Mergers and acquisitions in healthcare: 
   The goal is to assure accessibility and affordability of services and to ensure mergers, acquisitions, and contracted affiliations do not result in reduced access to quality, affordable care and services.

3. Unemployment insurance for striking or locked-out workers: 
   Washington should join New York, New Jersey and Maine in allowing workers to access unemployment insurance after more than two weeks on strike. This bill, being led by the Washington State Labor Council, will help discourage economic hardship as a bargaining strategy and promote good-faith contract negotiations.

4. ESA credentialed school nurse in every Class I school district:  
   Our proposed legislation would require that all Class I school districts (2,000+ students) employ at least one Educational Staff Associate certified school nurse in the district. The School Nurse ESA certificate requires a bachelor’s degree in nursing. This bill is being led by our affiliate the School Nurse Organization of WA (SNOW).

5. Equal reimbursement for services provided by ARNPs: 
   Currently, commercial health plans withhold up to 15% of the reimbursement for services provided by advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) and physician assistants. These insurance plans keep this as profit instead of using it to reduce premiums paid by patients and employers. This bill would change that and is being led by our affiliate ARNPs United.

Jessica Hauffe is director of Government Affairs at WSNA.