Budget & Taxes

passed · Washington · Senate Mar 12, 2026

SB 5286: Concerning policing costs driven by proximity to state hospitals.

Senate Bill 5286 establishes a community partnership program between the Department of Social and Health Services and the city of Medical Lake to support policing efforts at Eastern State Hospital and adjacent areas. It also formally recognizes and continues an existing partnership with the city of Lakewood for Western State Hospital. The bill mandates annual state funding for these programs, with amounts determined in the biennial budget based on anticipated service levels and costs. Furthermore, it requires the department to collect data from both cities on fund usage and call responses, submitting an annual report to relevant state offices.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesMandates annual state funding for policing partnerships at state hospitals, ensuring continued fiscal support for public safety services within budget framework.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

Track

passed · Washington · Senate Mar 12, 2026

SB 5649: Creating a Washington state supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program.

SB 5649 establishes the Washington state supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program to enhance the state's ability to compete in global trade. The bill creates a collaborative process involving state agencies and various supply chain stakeholders to set priorities for infrastructure investments. It also creates a dedicated account in the state treasury to provide grants and revolving loans. These funds are for public ports and federally recognized tribal governments with port operations, to improve ground and maritime transportation and facilities. Projects must align with goals such as economic, safety, or environmental benefits for freight movement, and sustaining international trade.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesCreates dedicated treasury account for infrastructure grants/loans, allocating state funds to support supply chain projects and public ports.85% confidence ✓ TransportationSupports TransportationFunds port infrastructure (a transportation component) via grants/loans for public ports and tribal governments, directly advancing transportation infrastructure investment.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

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passed · Washington · Senate Mar 12, 2026

SB 5647: Providing a real estate excise tax exemption for the sale of qualified affordable housing.

Senate Bill 5647 establishes a new exemption from the real estate excise tax for the sale of properties designated as "qualified affordable housing." This means that sellers of these specific types of affordable homes would not be required to pay this tax. The bill achieves this by amending the existing state law that defines what constitutes a "sale" for real estate excise tax purposes, adding this new category of exempt transactions. This policy change aims to reduce the tax burden associated with the sale of affordable housing.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesExempts affordable housing sales from real estate tax, reducing burden on lower-income sellers, aligns with tax relief for middle/lower income.95% confidence ✓ HousingSupports HousingExempts affordable housing sales from real estate tax, reducing seller costs to encourage development and increase affordable housing supply.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

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passed · Washington · Senate Jan 12, 2026

SB 5797: Enacting a tax on stocks, bonds, and other financial intangible assets for the benefit of public schools.

SB 5797 enacts a new tax on certain financial intangible assets, such as stocks and bonds, in Washington State. The bill levies a tax of $0.34 for every $1,000 of true and fair value of these assets. It primarily affects individuals and artificial persons with over $50,000,000 in taxable financial intangible assets, while exempting retirement savings, college savings, and ownership interests in private companies. Revenues generated from this tax are dedicated to the education legacy trust account to support public schools, early learning, child care, and higher education.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesImposes tax on high-value financial assets to fund public schools via education legacy trust, directly advancing education funding under Budget & Taxes.90% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill imposes tax on financial assets to fund public schools via education legacy trust account, directly increasing education funding.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

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passed · Washington · Senate Jan 12, 2026

SB 5458: Concerning newspapers and eligible digital content.

Senate Bill 5458 updates tax exemptions for businesses involved in newspaper and digital content publishing. The bill directly affects entities that primarily derive their income from printing or publishing newspapers, or from publishing specific types of digital content. It defines "eligible digital content" as electronic publications issued at least monthly, featuring written content with identified authors or sources. Businesses claiming this tax exemption must file an annual performance report, and the exemption amount may be reduced by certain expenditures.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesUpdates tax exemptions for newspaper/digital publishers, providing tax relief to qualifying businesses under Budget & Taxes policy.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

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signed · Washington · Senate May 23, 2025

SB 5801: Concerning transportation resources.

SB 5801 amends Washington's fuel tax structure to generate revenue for transportation infrastructure. Starting July 1, 2025, it adds a 6-cent-per-gallon tax on regular fuel and a 3-cent tax on special fuel (with an additional 3-cent tax on special fuel beginning July 1, 2027). The bill also mandates annual 2% increases to regular fuel tax rates starting July 1, 2026, and to special fuel rates starting July 1, 2028. These changes directly affect fuel licensees (businesses selling fuel) and will increase costs for consumers purchasing gasoline or special fuels. The legislation repeals outdated tax provisions and establishes new funding mechanisms to support state transportation system development.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesAdds fuel taxes to generate revenue for transportation infrastructure, directly funding public services through increased taxation.95% confidence ✓ TransportationSupports TransportationBill explicitly imposes fuel taxes to generate revenue for transportation infrastructure, directly funding road and transit projects per its summary.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

signed · Washington · Senate May 20, 2025

SB 5357: Concerning actuarial funding of pension systems.

SB 5357 modifies the actuarial funding process for several Washington state public pension systems, affecting retirement plans for public employees, teachers, and law enforcement, among others. A key provision updates the long-term economic assumptions used by the state actuary for valuation purposes, effective July 1, 2025. These changes include lowering the assumed inflation rate from 3.5% to 2.75% and the investment rate of return from 8% to 7.25%. The bill also sets specific funding goals for different pension plans and suspends contribution rates for Public Employees' Retirement System Plan 1 and Teachers' Retirement System Plan 1 during the 2025-2027 and 2027-2029 fiscal biennia.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesBill updates pension funding assumptions to more conservative rates (lower inflation/investment returns), promoting fiscal responsibility by ensuring adequate long-term pension funding through prudent budget planning.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

signed · Washington · Senate May 20, 2025

SB 5138: Concerning public facilities districts.

Senate Bill 5138 updates the authority of public facilities districts (PFDs) to impose lodging taxes. It revises the minimum number of lodging units required for tax applicability and introduces new tax structures for PFDs in counties with populations over 1.5 million that operate convention and trade centers. These specific PFDs can impose lodging taxes up to 7% in their largest city and 2.8% in other areas. The bill also authorizes an additional 2% lodging tax, expiring by July 2029, specifically to repay obligations related to convention center projects. PFDs imposing this additional tax must make annual payments to the state, with provisions for loans if unable to meet these payments due to debt.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesBill authorizes increased lodging tax rates (up to 7% + 2% expiring 2029) for PFDs, strengthening tax authority to fund public facilities and convention centers.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

signed · Washington · House May 20, 2025

HB 2081: Modifying business and occupation tax surcharges, rates, and the advanced computing surcharge cap, clarifying the business and occupation tax deduction for certain investments, and creating a temporary business and occupation tax surcharge on large companies.

House Bill 2081 modifies Washington's business and occupation (B&O) tax structure, affecting various businesses operating in the state. It increases B&O tax rates for several business activities, including extraction, manufacturing, retail sales, and digital goods. The bill also establishes a temporary B&O tax surcharge for large companies with annual revenues exceeding $250 million. Additionally, it clarifies the B&O tax deduction available for certain business investments.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesIncreases B&O tax rates for multiple sectors and adds temporary surcharge on large companies ($250M+ revenue), generating additional state revenue to support budget priorities.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes

signed · Washington · Senate May 20, 2025

SB 5794: Adopting recommendations from the tax preference performance review process, eliminating obsolete tax preferences, clarifying legislative intent, and addressing changes in constitutional law.

Senate Bill 5794 aims to improve how tax preferences are managed in Washington state. It implements recommendations from the state's tax preference performance review process, which evaluates the effectiveness of existing tax exemptions. The bill eliminates several tax preferences identified as obsolete or unused and clarifies the legislative intent behind others. This includes updating specific tax code sections and modifying effective or expiration dates for certain industries, such as manufacturing of seafood and dairy products.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesEliminates obsolete tax preferences, closing loopholes and improving tax code management per performance review process.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Budget & Taxes