SB 5117 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Protecting agriculture.

SB 5117, the "FEAST Act" (Food Economics, Availability, and Security Over Time), creates a new state policy framework to support Washington's agricultural sector. It requires the state to analyze the fiscal impact of proposed legislation on agricultural businesses, including regulatory cost changes, and produce written fiscal notes for lawmakers upon request. These notes must detail annual impacts for the first two years and a six-year forecast, focusing on how policy decisions affect farmers' ability to produce food. The bill directly affects agricultural entities (like farms and processors) and state agencies responsible for drafting and reviewing legislation. It does not change existing agricultural regulations but establishes a process for evaluating future policy impacts.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill Substitute Bill · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to reflect its progression from the Senate floor to a committee substitute version, updating the reading date and sponsorship attribution. Substantively, the text was streamlined by removing the original 'policy' language in favor of a 'findings' declaration and deleting the requirement for agencies to conduct specific agricultural economic assessments, while also reducing the referenced sections of the new chapter from four to three.
Scope change
The bill's scope was narrowed by removing the mandate for agencies to perform agricultural economic assessments on significant actions. Additionally, the scope of the new chapter was reduced from four sections to three sections.
REQUIREMENT

Removed the requirement for agencies to conduct agricultural economic assessments and the related deadlines for publishing lists of significant actions.

Changed the legislative declaration from a 'policy' to a 'finding' and added language acknowledging the pressure on the agricultural community.

SCOPE

Reduced the referenced sections of the new chapter from Sections 1 through 4 to Sections 1 through 3, effectively removing the assessment requirements from the final chapter.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill header to reflect the substitute version, changed the reading date to 02/21/25, and updated sponsorship attribution to include the committee.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
4
Committee
6
Jan 12, 2026
Introduced
By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.
upper
Feb 21, 2025
Committee
Referred to Ways & Means.
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
And refer to Ways & Means.
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Minority; without recommendation.
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources at 1:30 PM.
upper
Jan 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources at 1:30 PM.
upper
1 primary · 10 co-sponsors

Sponsors