Inslee signs package of tribal, education and opioid-prevention bills including fentanyl education and surprise-bill protections

Governor Jay Inslee on the Tulalip reservation signed a series of bills aimed at bolstering tribal programs, expanding opioid and fentanyl prevention education and improving health and consumer protections across Washington.

Among the bills signed at the ceremony, Inslee signed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1956, which the governor described as providing K–12 schools with fentanyl and substance-abuse prevention resources and directing a broader public awareness campaign. "Fentanyl is a scourge in the state of Washington," Inslee said, calling fentanyl "the nuclear weapon of opiates" and saying the signed package is intended to "wrap all of Washingtonians arms around these young people." The ceremony included remarks thanking Maria Trujillo Petty, a grieving mother whose advocacy was cited in connection with the Lucas Penny Act referenced during the event.

Other notable measures signed at the event included: House Bill 1228, establishing grants for dual and tribal language education programs; House Bill 2019, creating a Native American apprenticeship assistance program; House Bill 2135, adding federally recognized tribes to the state Emergency Worker Program; Substitute Senate Bill 6186, improving interagency disclosure to help locate missing and murdered Indigenous people while protecting victim privacy; and Substitute Senate Bill 5986, prohibiting balance billing for ground ambulance services and addressing out-of-network coverage for emergency transports.

The ceremony also produced laws expanding telehealth access (Senate Bill 5481 and Senate Bill 5821), creating a medical-assistant EMT certification pathway (Senate Bill 5940), strengthening maternal-health coverage (Senate Bill 5580), and requiring naloxone and fentanyl test strips and prevention education at institutions of higher education (House Bill 2112). Where specific program or funding details were not discussed at the ceremony, governors’ staff and prime sponsors present noted that implementing agencies will develop the operational guidance.

The governor invited sponsors and tribal leaders to join him for photographs after each signing. The event was ceremonial; it did not record legislative votes or offer formal floor debate. Implementation and administrative rules for the new laws will be the responsibility of the named agencies and boards (for example, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for school-related measures and the Department of Health for public-health campaigns).