Maddy summaryWashington's SB 5080 requires all public high school students to complete financial education instruction to graduate, beginning with the 2033 class. School districts must provide courses aligned with existing state learning standards by the 2029-30 school year, offering flexible options like regular classes, online learning, or career programs. The bill mandates districts to submit implementation plans by December 2025 and allows individual waivers for students who moved to Washington after previous graduation requirements were met. This applies to all Washington public high schools, including charter and tribal schools, without creating new curriculum but making existing financial education standards a graduation requirement.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summarySB 5704 requires health care entities in Washington to notify the attorney general and health care authority about major mergers, acquisitions, or contracting arrangements. This aims to prevent anticompetitive outcomes that could reduce access to affordable, quality care - particularly for reproductive, end-of-life, gender-affirming, and rural health services. The law mandates review of these transactions to ensure communities maintain or improve access to essential services, with specific protections for marginalized groups affected by past consolidation. It supplements federal antitrust rules by expanding reporting requirements for transactions below federal thresholds.
Maddy summarySB 5359 directs Washington's Department of Commerce to accelerate clean energy project development and transmission planning. It establishes the department as the lead agency to provide information, support tribes and communities, develop community benefit tools, and address siting challenges for projects like battery storage systems. The bill directly affects clean energy developers, local governments, tribes, and communities hosting projects by creating a state coordination framework for faster permitting and equitable benefits. Key provisions include requiring a 2026 report on battery storage best practices and developing guidance for community agreements to ensure local economic benefits.
Maddy summarySB 5479 clarifies that certain incidental uses - like wetlands preservation - on agricultural land do not disqualify the land from tax relief, as long as these uses don’t exceed 20% of the classified land. It affects Washington farmers and landowners who qualify as "farm and agricultural land" under existing tax classification rules. The bill amends definitions to explicitly include compatible incidental activities (e.g., habitat protection) alongside farming operations, ensuring these uses don’t trigger higher property taxes. This change prevents unintended tax increases for landowners maintaining conservation practices integral to farming. The bill is currently pending in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Maddy summarySB 5216 creates a program requiring renewable energy companies (wind/solar projects) to contribute 75% of their eligible tax credits to local school districts or community nonprofits where projects are located. This directly affects qualifying energy businesses and the communities hosting new renewable projects, with contributions due by October 1 each year. Key provisions include a $5 million statewide annual cap on contributions and a $250,000 annual limit per company, with credits available only for projects built after the bill’s effective date through 2034. The program expires December 31, 2036, ensuring local communities benefit from tax revenues generated by nearby renewable energy facilities.
Maddy summarySenate Bill 5178 regulates the sale and transfer of sodium nitrite to protect public health and safety. The bill restricts the sale of products containing over 10% sodium nitrite to only verified commercial businesses, which must provide an employer identification number for purchase. It also mandates specific warning labels, including a skull and crossbones symbol and a clear statement about the dangers of ingestion, on product packaging, advertising, and shipping materials. These measures aim to limit general public access to concentrated sodium nitrite.
Maddy summarySB 5119 expands collective bargaining rights to student-employees enrolled in academic or certificate programs at Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, and The Evergreen State College. It allows these employees to collectively bargain over specific workplace issues like compensation and tuition remission waivers, but excludes topics such as tuition rates, academic calendars, class sizes, and termination for academic reasons. The bill specifies that bargaining units must cover only one institution and cannot include employees already covered under other state labor laws. This legislation directly affects student-employees working at these four public universities who are simultaneously enrolled in academic programs.
Maddy summarySB 5113 establishes a new annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for retirees in Plan 1 of Washington’s Teachers’ Retirement System and Public Employees’ Retirement System, effective July 2026. It uses the Seattle-area Consumer Price Index to calculate yearly increases, capping annual adjustments at 3% and ensuring payments never fall below the original benefit amount. The bill consolidates past COLA costs into a 15-year funding plan while keeping future benefit improvements on a standard 10-year amortization schedule. This directly affects current and future retirees in these systems who have been enrolled for at least one year, providing predictable, inflation-linked increases to their monthly retirement payments.
Maddy summarySB 5204 requires the University of Washington to conduct a three-year study comparing ibogaine-assisted therapy (administered via licensed clinics in Mexico) to standard opioid use disorder treatments. The study will measure outcomes like reduced opioid use, mortality, cravings, and treatment engagement among adults with opioid use disorder. It directly affects the University of Washington, which must design and execute this research, and future patients if the therapy proves effective. The bill does not authorize ibogaine use but aims to evaluate its potential as an alternative to current treatments like methadone or buprenorphine.
Maddy summarySenate Bill 5108 aims to regulate service contracts and protection product guarantees, affecting consumers who purchase these agreements for various personal property. The bill updates and expands definitions for terms such as "administrator," "consumer," and "protection product guarantee." It broadens the scope of what constitutes a "service contract" to include specific services like tire and wheel repair from road hazards, paintless dent removal, windshield repair, and the replacement of motor vehicle keys or key fobs. Additionally, it defines "protection product guarantees" as agreements to repair or replace another product or cover incidental costs if a protective product fails to perform as specified.