Week 3 in Olympia: Lobby Day recap and priorities updates

The third week of the 2026 Washington State Legislative Session marked a transition in the legislative process, as committees began moving beyond the preliminary stage of holding public hearings on newly introduced bills. This period, known as the “executive session” phase, is a critical juncture in which committees thoroughly evaluate proposed legislation. During executive sessions, members debate the merits and potential impacts of each bill, consider and adopt amendments, and ultimately take formal votes to determine whether a measure should advance to the next stage of the legislative process. This stage is especially important because it allows lawmakers to weigh public input received during hearings against policy considerations, political priorities, and fiscal implications.

Looking ahead, the House of Origin policy committee process ends next week on February 4. The focus will then shift towards bills that carry a fiscal impact and have been passed along to fiscal committees where they will be reviewed and deliberated to assess their budgetary consequences for the state. The deadline to pass bills out of fiscal committee is February 9. Those that are passed will head to Rules committee and from there potentially headed to the floor for full chamber votes from February 10-17.

WSNA’s Lobby Day event took place on Thursday, January 29 in Olympia. More than 70 nurses joined us from across the state to meet with Legislators about WSNA’s 2026 Legislative Priorities. Overall, nurses met with 76 legislative offices, reporting back valuable information about legislators' positions on our legislative priorities. Check out the 2026 WSNA Lobby Day photo gallery to see nurse power in action.

We would be remiss not to touch on the death of Alex Pretti, RN and AFGE Local 3669 member, who was killed at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis on January 24. Lobby Day participants came together to hold a moment of silence for Alex Pretti, then later proceeded to the Capitol donning black ribbons in solidarity honoring Alex. You can read WSNA’s full statement on the killing of Alex Pretti here.

Both HB 2155 and SB 5904 continue to move through the Legislature with broad support. On January 28, SB 5904 has passed out of the rules committee and now awaits a vote off the Senate floor. On January 30, HB 2155 was passed out of the House Healthcare & Wellness Committee.

Next steps: SB 5904 now awaits a vote off the Senate floor, after which it will move to House to repeat the policy committee process. HB 2155 now waits to be passed to the House Rules committee.

SB 5951 unanimously passed out of the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K12 Education on January 29, with amendatory language. The amendment language authorizes schools to stock and administer a supply of albuterol and relies on the current Department of Health process to create a standing order.

Next steps: HB 2360 is scheduled for a vote out of the House Committee on Education at 1:30pm on February 2. SSB 5951 has been passed to the Senate Rules committee.

This priority does not have a specific bill number tied to it. Instead, it is focused on impending cuts to healthcare due to an estimated $2.3 billion budget deficit we are facing over the next two years. This budget deficit does not include the estimated $3 billion the state will lose in Medicaid cuts every year as result of the passage of HR 1 at the federal level in July 2025.

That said, it is important to note that Washington state has consistently ranked among the most regressive tax systems in the US, often cited as second only to Florida in terms of how heavily our tax structure burdens low and middle-income households. Our goal with this priority is to emphasize the importance of dependable access to healthcare and message to legislators that we must solve this problem once and for all. Protecting and preserving access to healthcare needs to be a top priority for lawmakers. Below is an overview of a few tax proposals discussed in Olympia this past week.

On Monday and Wednesday, the Legislature heard several bills that could start to address the state’s unbalanced tax structure. The bills below are part of a broader effort to phase out certain corporate tax exemptions while redirecting tax benefits to support state revenue and create other newly proposed exemptions.

• SB 6231 focuses on data center tax exemptions, narrowing eligibility, limiting new certificates for equipment and server infrastructure, imposing employment and sustainability requirements, and setting expiration dates for existing exemptions to ensure these tax benefits align with current economic priorities.
• SB 6228 eliminates the longstanding exemption for businesses that warehouse and resell prescription drugs, replacing it with a 0.5 percent business and occupation tax and providing clearer definitions for these operations.
• HB 2175 would establish a temporary sales and use tax exemption for nonprofit organizations that provide free durable medical equipment to patients, allowing them to purchase necessary items without paying state retail sales or use tax.

We will continue to keep you updated on discussions taking place in Olympia this session around proposed cuts to healthcare and addressing our unbalanced tax structure.

HB 2471 and SB 6117 were both passed out of their respective committees. While this is positive momentum, the bill still faces an uphill battle due to the high cost of implementation. Fiscal analysis shows an estimated annual state cost of more than $400,000. This cost will grow if the NLRB ceases to exercise its jurisdiction over private sector employees, thereby triggering this bill.

Next steps: HB 2471 and SB 6117 both move to the fiscal committees in their respective chambers, House Appropriates and Senate Ways & Means.

The legislature considers hundreds of bills outside our own legislative priorities. Here is a list of bills we’re watching as they move through the legislative process that may impact members. We will continue adding bills to this list as we move through the legislative session. You may click on any of the links below to learn more about each bill and where it is at in the legislative process.

• NEW! HB 2073 - Funding health insurance premium assistance.
• NEW! HB 2683 - Promoting transparency and efficiency in health carrier relations with health care providers and facilities.
• NEW! HB 2498 - Concerning nursing education program standards.
• SB 6134 - Concerning notice to striking workers applying for unemployment insurance benefits of potential overpayment assessment upon receipt of retroactive wages. 
• SB 6115 – Concerning comprehensive cancer education programs.
• HB 1812 - Concerning patient-centered equitable access to anesthesia services and reimbursement.
• HB 2250 - Concerning residency requirements for charity care.
• HB 2577 - Concerning hospital inspections.
• SB 5947 - Establishing the Washington health care board.
• SJR 8206 - Amending the Constitution to establish a right to affordable health care.
• SB 5823 - Concerning patient advocates.
• SB 6292 - Establishing a joint legislative executive committee on health care financing.
• HB 2382 - Concerning excise taxes on cigarettes, vapor products, and tobacco products.
• HB 2289 /SB 5998 - Making 2025-2027 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations.
• HB 2264 - Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for workers separated from employment because of employer-initiated layoffs or workforce reductions.
• HB 2110 - Concerning personnel for ambulance service interfacility specialty care transports.
• HB 2113 - Concerning the supervision of diagnostic radiologic technologists, therapeutic radiologic technologists, and magnetic resonance imaging technologists.
• HB 2122 - Requiring hospitals to offer immunizations for influenza in certain cases.
• HB 2152 - Permitting the medical use of cannabis by qualifying patients in specified health care facilities.
• HB 2144 - Requiring notices to employees when electronic monitoring is used to assist employers conducting performance evaluations.
• HB 2303 - Prohibiting employers from microchipping employees.
• HB 2345 - Concerning contributions in the state paid family and medical leave program.
• HB 2157 - Regulating high-risk artificial intelligence system development, deployment, and use.
• HB 2225 - Concerning regulation of artificial intelligence companion chatbots.
• SB 5956 - Addressing artificial intelligence, student discipline, and surveillance in public schools.
• HB 2106 - Requiring carriers to provide substantive notice to health care providers and health care facilities about significant contract modifications.
• HB 2329 - Concerning midwife supervision of medical assistants and lactation consultants.
• HB 2339 - Concerning the regulation of nursing.
• HB 2148 - Creating the pay it forward program.
• SB 5967 / HB 2242 - Preserving access to preventive services by clarifying state authority and definitions.
• SB 5826 - Concerning access at public postsecondary educational institutions to medication abortion.
• SB 5904 / HB 2155 - Concerning the use of nursing titles.
• SB 6025 - Updating the definition of fetal death.
• SB 5981 / HB 2145 - Protecting patient access to discounted medications and health care services through Washington's health care safety net by preventing manufacturer limitations on the 340B drug pricing program.
• SB 5990 - Expanding the qualifications of those who may serve as a local health officer in rural counties.
• HB 1496 - Strengthening patients' rights regarding their health care information.
• HB 2182 - Improving access to abortion medications.
• HB 2196 - Expanding access to PANDA PANS treatment.
• HB 2105 - Concerning immigrant worker protections.
• SB 6117 - Concerning collective bargaining for employees not covered by the national labor relations act.
• HB 2360 / SB 5951 – Expanding access to albuterol in public and private schools.
• SB 5923 - Concerning critical access hospital designations in Skagit county.
• SB 5845 - Modernizing and clarifying timely payment requirements for health carriers.
• SB 6071 - Standardizing overpayment recovery requirements.
• SB 5852 - Concerning immigrant worker protections.
• HB 2372 / SB 6067 - Concerning workers' compensation benefits.
• HB 2439 - Enhancing public health by modifying cigarette, vapor product, and tobacco product policy.
• SB 5984 - Concerning regulation of artificial intelligence companion chatbots.
• HB 1828 - Authorizing certain health professions to act as physician substitutes for plasma source donation centers.
• SB 6031 - Enhancing public safety and enforcement of crimes that impact insurance.
• HB 2548 - Strengthening health care market standards.
• SB 5652 - Reducing environmental and health disparities and improving the health of Washington state residents in large port districts.
• SB 5917 - Improving access to abortion medications.
• HB 2471 - Concerning collective bargaining for employees not covered by the national labor relations act.
• HB 2261 - Ensuring transparency in credentials and communications between patients and health care professionals.
• SB 6107/HB 2425 - Concerning nursing delegation.
• HB 2098 - Adjusting higher education funding.
• SB 5985 - Concerning endometriosis.
• SB 5993 - Prohibiting interest charges for new and unpaid medical debt.
• HB 2100 - Enacting an excise tax on large operating companies on the amount of payroll expenses above the minimum wage threshold of the additional medicare tax to fund services to benefit Washingtonians and establishing the Well Washington fund account.
• HB 2198 - Improving regulatory efficiency by integrating executive order 25-03, concerning permitting and licensing processes, into chapter 43.42A RCW.

Interested in learning more about the legislative process? See below for resources.

• How does a bill become a law? Find out here.
• How do I read a bill? Click here to learn.
• To view the Washington State Labor Council’s 2026 Legislative Priorities: click here.

• February 4-5 – WSLC legislative reception & conference in Olympia
• February 4 – Policy Committee Cutoff (House of Origin)
• February 9 – Fiscal Committee Cutoff (House of Origin)
• February 17 – Floor Cutoff
• February 25 – Policy Committee Cutoff (Opposite House)
• March 2 – Fiscal Committee Cutoff (Opposite House)
• March 6 – Floor Cutoff
• March 12 – Sine Die (last day of session)
• May 4 – First day to file a declaration of candidacy (to run for elected office)
• May 8 – Last day to file a declaration of candidacy
• May 16 – WSLC COPE convention
• August 4 – Primary election in Washington State
• September 15 – National Voter Registration Day
• November 3 – General election in Washington State