SB 6343 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Providing tax relief to Washington residents impacted by the atmospheric river and winter weather event.

SB 6343 provides property tax relief to Washington homeowners whose property was damaged or destroyed by the atmospheric river and winter weather events. It allows for reduced property valuations and tax refunds if the property lost over 20% value in a declared disaster area, with refunds calculated based on days remaining in the tax year after the damage. The bill also creates a three-year tax exemption for physical improvements to single-family homes rebuilt after qualifying disasters, limited to the value reduction amount. This relief applies to properties in areas declared disaster zones by the governor or county authority, with applications due by October 1, 2026, for recent weather events.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 2, 2026 Last action Mar 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from a Senate Bill to a Substitute Bill, primarily involving procedural updates and the removal of specific tax relief provisions for flood restoration projects. The original text included new sections to exempt flood restoration materials from sales tax and property tax, but these were deleted in the substitute version. The substitute bill retains the core property tax relief for homeowners damaged by natural disasters but simplifies the act by removing the sales tax exemption and related administrative sections.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed; it no longer provides sales tax exemptions or creates new administrative sections for flood restoration projects, focusing solely on property tax relief.

SCOPE

Deleted new sections that would have exempted materials and labor for flood restoration projects from sales tax (previously Sec. 2 and Sec. 3 of the original bill).

REQUIREMENT

Removed the requirement for the Department of Revenue to remit sales tax refunds to qualifying purchasers on a quarterly basis.

ENFORCEMENT

Deleted provisions requiring the department to audit applications and maintain records for flood restoration tax exemptions.

TIMELINE

Changed the bill's reading date from February 2, 2026, to February 9, 2026, reflecting its movement to a substitute stage.

TECHNICAL

Updated the sponsor attribution to reflect that the bill is now sponsored by the Senate Ways & Means Committee rather than individual senators only.

Condensed the bill text by removing the separate sections dedicated to sales tax exemptions, leaving only the property tax amendment and general effective dates.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

50–1

Passed

Total votes 51

Feb 17, 2026

D Democratic31

30 Yea 1 Nay

96% Yea

R Republican20

20 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

FIN - Majority; do pass.

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Finance at 8:00 AM.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (50-1)

senate

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.

upper

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors