Governor signs a package of bills on education, licensing, housing and emergency aid at Capitol ceremony

At a ceremonial signing on the Capitol Campus, the governor signed a batch of House bills covering education, licensing and local-government issues, saying the measures will ease administrative burdens, expand opportunities and help communities respond to disasters.

The governor signed a range of measures including bills to expand notification for high-school dual-credit programs (HB 1146), ban commercial octopus farming (HB 1153), remove U.S. citizenship as a requirement for some professional licenses (HB 1889), and authorize a new state public-assistance program for disasters that do not meet the threshold for a federal declaration (HB 2020). The governor described the physician assistants licensure compact (HB 1917) as a way to expand telehealth and mobility for clinicians and said the leasehold excise tax exemption in HB 2003 could help affordable-housing projects on public lands.

"Happy to sign this bill," the governor said repeatedly while accepting sponsors and standing for photos. On the octopus farm measure, the governor said, "This will ban the captive raising of octopuses in Washington for commercial purposes," and cited concerns about feeding waste, increased fishing pressure and potential antibiotic use harming ecosystems.

Sponsors came forward briefly to describe their bills. Representative Paul and others were recognized for HB 1146, which the governor said will create a more consistent approach to notifying parents, students and guardians about dual-credit opportunities and financial-aid availability. On workforce licensing, the governor said HB 1889 removes a citizenship requirement but keeps "rigorous professional standards and necessary qualification exams," and framed the change as expanding access to teaching, health care and other professions.

Other items signed addressed technical and administrative matters: HB 1880 removes a five-year deadline for architectural licensing exam sections; HB 1974 shortens the holding period for unclaimed human remains to 45 days to ease burdens on small counties and funeral homes; HB 1962 standardizes how voter addresses are updated; HB 2151 reassigns cannabis lab accreditation responsibilities; and HB 2209 designates Lunar New Year as a legislatively recognized day, with students participating in a ceremonial signing.

Several bills touch public safety or natural resources: HB 1961 reclassifies first-degree animal cruelty as a level 3 offense for sentencing consistency; HB 2293 creates a work group to study avian predation on juvenile salmon and recommend control options; and HB 2048 clarifies Department of Corrections responsibilities for supervising certain domestic-violence offenders and requires an internal audit and report by year-end.

Most sponsors thanked the governor and posed for photographs; the event was brief and largely ceremonial, with no floor debate or recorded roll-call votes in the transcript. Photo opportunities included ceremonial keepsakes—students signed a dragon during the HB 2209 signing—before participants were guided out of the rotunda.

What happens next: these measures become law according to their statutory timelines. For bills that change administrative processes, agencies named in the bills (for example, the Employment Security Department, the Office of Independent Investigations, the Department of Natural Resources and the Liquor and Cannabis Board) will implement the statutory changes and any associated rulemaking or guidance.