Governor signs package of bills covering housing, wildfire mapping, voting pilots and worker protections

The governor signed a broad package of bills in a public ceremony, briefly describing each measure and posing for photos.

The measures presented included a mix of consumer-protection, housing, public-safety and administrative changes. Among the bills the governor described were proposals to: prohibit certain forms of cosmetic product testing (House Bill 10 97); allow more flexible water-rights use within the Columbia Basin Project (House Bill 17 52); expand a property-tax exemption for government-owned timberland (House Bill 18 18); shorten abandoned-vessel sale notice requirements (House Bill 19 19); and direct the Department of Transportation to test drone-based graffiti removal technology (House Bill 19 89).

The ceremony also included bills affecting courts and elections. The governor said House Bill 19 92 will increase Whatcom County Superior Court judges from four to five, and Senate Bill 58 36 will raise Clark County Superior Court positions from 11 to 12. For elections, Senate Bill 62 69 will establish a pilot in the secretary of state’s office to explore voter-identification methods other than signature, limited to certain special elections and requiring annual progress reports with a final report due Dec. 31, 2028.

On labor and consumer measures, the governor described Senate Bill 60 07 as adding protections for grocery-store workers when companies merge and requiring notice and a viability analysis before closing stores in food deserts. He also signed Senate Bill 60 88, which exempts minor-league baseball players from state hour-and-wage laws to reflect a recently reached collective bargaining agreement, and Senate Bill 58 08, which allows interest arbitration under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act for public safety telecommunications positions.

House Bill 24 67 was highlighted as a portability improvement for the Washington Cares Act, "to make Washington Cares Act benefits available to workers who have opted to pay into the program, but who no longer reside in Washington state," the governor said. The governor credited the Long Term Services and Supports Trust Commission for recommending the change.

On natural-resource and safety issues, the governor described Senate Bill 61 20 as requiring the Department of Natural Resources to establish and maintain a statewide wildfire hazard map and county-level baseline wildfire risk maps, citing the state’s increasing exposure to fire activity because of climate change.

Several education and school-funding items were part of the package: Senate Bill 58 52 narrows the Safety Net Oversight Committee’s scope to reviewing expenditures so school districts are not penalized for certain application errors; the governor also signed bills that expand eligibility for college aid for students receiving food assistance and that adjust how Safety Net awards are administered.

The bills were presented in quick succession during a signing event that involved sponsors, staff assistance and brief remarks by the governor. The ceremony included repeated photo opportunities and expressions of gratitude to sponsoring legislators; no committee debate or roll-call votes took place at the event.

The governor offered brief, bill-specific descriptions on the record during the event and thanked the sponsors by name for each measure. The ceremony concluded after the governor signed the final bills and posed for photographs.