Legislative Update

WA Fairs Session 2024 Report –

The 2024 Legislative Session adjourned sine die Thursday, March 7, ending the 60-day second session of the 68^th Legislature. In total, nearly 4,000 bills were introduced during the 2023-24 biennium, nearly 40% more than in the 2021-23 biennium.

In terms of state operating funds, the Legislature added $2.14 billion (+3.1%) to the budget it adopted last year, for a new total of $71.9 billion for the biennium. With the additions to the budget, the Legislature continued its focus on the intertwined issues of housing, homelessness, and mental health, along with enhanced support to address opioid misuse, and funds to address school staffing levels with a focus on paraeducators and administrative staff. Caseloads for state services accounted for about half of the new spending with new policy adjustments accounting for the rest.

During the last weeks of the session, attention turned to six Initiatives to the Legislature, each of which had been certified by the Secretary of State. The Legislature chose to take up three, passing I- 2081 concerning parental rights relating to their children’s public school education; I-2111 concerning; ban on local governments ability to assess and income tax; as well as I-2113 concerning vehicular pursuits by police officers. This leaves three initiatives for the November elections: a repeal of provisions of the Washington Climate Commitment Act (I-2117); the ability for individuals to opt out of the tax that supports the state’s WA Cares Fund (I-2124); and a repeal of the state’s capital gains tax (I-2109).The presence of these initiatives, and the legislature’s decision on how to deal with them, was the biggest issue of 2024.Voters will now have their say on the remaining three in November.

Specific to issues related to Washington Fairs, both the Operating and Capital Budget assistance fairs receive remained unchanged.Not a surprise given the “short” 60-day session when smaller adjustments are made to the budget.Our focus will come this fall as we lay the groundwork for success in 2025.

As for policy legislation, looking at the list below we saw five different pieces of legislation introduced this year or carried forward from 2023. The ticketing bill met a similar fate to last session with hearings in the House but never passing before the required cutoff. We can expect the legislation to be brought back next session.The only bill that did pass specifically dealt with the Southwest Washington Fair.The bill was almost technical in nature, clarifying a statute to allow the fair to account for funds in a more efficient manner.

Monitoring Bills