Washington Wraps 2022 Legislative Session: What Made It Through

OLYMPIA, WA — The final day of the 2022 legislative session came Thursday, leaving lawmakers scrambling to wrap up nearly two months of work and fighting to push bills past the finish line at the last minute.

A bill doesn't become law until it gets Gov. Jay Inslee's signature, and indeed the governor is scheduled to take action on dozens of bills Friday, but as of Thursday no more new legislation can be sent to the governor's desk, killing off all unfinished or stalled-out bills. Governor Inslee has up to 20 days to sign legislation delivered to his office within the final five days of the legislative session.

Here's a look at a few things that made it through the legislature this year:

A $1.5 billion investment in infrastructure

One of the later bills to make it out of the legislature this year was SB 5651), the supplemental capital construction project. It sets aside a total of $1.5 billion to fund a number of critical projects, including $440 million for grants to build affordable housing, of which $300 million will go to rapid housing. It also sets aside 98 million for behavioral health and crisis stabilization programs.

“This budget takes on the most pressing issues facing our state,” said Sen. David Frockt (D-Seattle), vice chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee and the Senate’s lead capital budget writer. “More than one third of this 1.5 billion budget goes toward building facilities to address the homelessness and mental health and substance abuse crises affecting us in Seattle and around the state. Over the two-year budget cycle, we will have invested more than a billion dollars in these areas, which has to be a record."

Other spending includes $100 million to replacing or seismically retrofitting school buildings in high seismic areas or in tsunami zones, and $251 million to environmental protection projects.

“Providing safe places for children to learn is one of the state’s most serious responsibilities,” Frockt said. “The risk of an earthquake or tsunami may seem small at any particular place and time, but multiplied by all the communities in potentially geologically active areas across our state, this problem is urgent.”

A ban on high-capacity magazine sales

After a lengthy and spirited debate, the Washington state Legislature on Friday voted 55-42 in favor of Senate Bill 5078, which prohibit sales, attempted sales and distribution of all gun magazines with a capacity for more than 10 rounds. Notably, it would not bar gun owners from possessing those high-capacity magazines and would not force current owners to relinquish them.

The bill now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee's desk for final approval. If it receives his signature, Washington will become the tenth state to restrict high-capacity magazines.

Critics have threatened a legal challenge, calling the bill unconstitutional, but similar gun magazine bans have been upheld by federal courts of appeals seven times, which the Attorney General's Office says sets a strong precedent in favor of the ban.

Read more: Ban On High-Capacity Magazine Sales Clears Washington Legislature

A first-in-the-nation alert system for missing or murdered Indigenous women.

Last week the legislature signed off on an proposal to create an alert system for missing or endangered Indigenous women.

Indigenous women and people go missing and are murdered at rates higher than any other ethnic group in the United States, according to the Attorney General's Office. In Washington specifically, indigenous women are over four times more likely to go missing than white women, a study by the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle found. They are also two and a half times more likely to experience sexual assault, and nearly half of Indigenous women in America have been raped, beaten, or stalked, according to state data.

If House Bill 1725 receive's Inslee's signature it would create a new alert system similar to current "silver alerts" — issued when vulnerable adults go missing — broadcasting information about the missing person on message boards and highway advisory radio messages, and sending information to local media for distribution.

Read more: WA Leg Approves New Alert System For Missing Indigenous Women

Lowered health care costs

A pair of bills, SB 5610 and SB 5736, passed the legislature in the past week and aim to make health care more affordable for struggling Washingtonians. The first, by requiring insurance companies to count prescription coupons used by a patient as part of the patient’s cost-sharing requirement.

“Patients often rely on coupons to afford lifesaving drugs that are only offered at exorbitant prices,” said Sen. David Frockt (D-Seattle), the bill’s sponsor. “For many chronic conditions, there are no cheaper alternatives.”

The second would add coverage for Intensive Outpatient Programs and Partial Hospitalization Programs to Washington state’s Apple Health Medicaid plan starting in 2024. Both programs offer care to children with severe behavioral health needs.

“We are in a global child and adolescent mental health crisis. Expanding the availability of outpatient and partial hospitalization programs is an important step to allow our behavioral health system to provide better care for children,” Frockt said. “We should not have children boarding in emergency rooms waiting for beds and inpatient treatment. One of the best ways to avoid that is to increase access to care that doesn’t require full hospitalization.”

A price cap on insulin

Last month, the state Senate passed SB 5546, which proposed capping the cost for insulin at $35 per month. Friday, that bill wound up on the governor's desk, having made its way through the rest of the legislative process.

Back in 2020, the legislature passed a bill capping patients' out-of-pocket cost for insulin at $100 per month, but that bill had been set to expire at the start of next year. Now that the newer legislation has Inslee's signature, the $100 cap has been reduced to $35, and will last another full year, through to Jan. 1, 2024.

A bill to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen catalytic converters

House Bill 1815, sponsored by Rep. Cindy Ryu (D-Shoreline), adds more strict rules for buyers to document catalytic converter purchases and imposes new fines aimed at warding off illegal sales.

"This bill became stronger because colleagues engaged with the industry, the Governor's Office and law enforcement agencies every step of the way," Ryu said in a statement Wednesday. "With the Governor's signature, the new law can help reverse the spike in catalytic converter thefts, and the Washington State University work group will help inform further efforts the state can take to protect people from this crime."

Western Washington and elsewhere in the nation has seen a rapid rise in catalytic converter thefts in recent years, which thieves target for the value of the precious metals housed inside the devices.

Read more: Catalytic Converter Theft Deterrent Bill Heads To Inslee's Desk

Clarification on previous police accountability bills

Last year, the legislature passed House Bills 1054 and 1310, two hefty police reform laws. The first "established requirements for tactics and equipment used by peace officers" by putting limits on when tear gas can be deployed and when officers can use choke holds or engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects. The second established a statewide standard for police use of force. Both were met with a strong, negative response from police and law enforcement agencies, who claimed the new regulations were overly restrictive.

In response to that pushback, this sesson lawmakers put forth HB 1719 and HB 1735, both of which the Governor signed Friday. The first, HB 1719, clarifies that the state's ban on .50 caliber weapons only applies to rifles, and that officers can still use beanbag rounds or less-lethal munitions launchers

The other bill, HB 1735, lowers the bar for officers to use physical force, which can now be used in behavioral health circumstances, for involuntary treatment commitments, in instances of child welfare, and similar circumstances.

Supporters for both bills came from the Washington Fraternal Order of Police, the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, and the Washington Association of Designated Crisis Responders. Proponents have argued that the two bills are necessary to protect officers as they make arrests, but others aren't so sure: ACLU police practices attorney Enoka Herat previously told The Stranger the rollbacks were "a dangerous step backward" that would hobble police accountability.

Offering more free school meals to students

House Bill 1878 will require all of Washington's public schools to participate in the USDA's Community Eligibility Program if eligible, and gives them the money to pay for the program's free school meals.

"Food is health," said Rep. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane), the bill's sponsor. "Consistent access to nutritious food is a part of how we protect kids from getting sick while ensuring they have the fuel they need to learn, grow, and play, and free school meals are the most effective way to ensure that all of our kids are getting the food they need to thrive."

The USDA's Community Eligibility Program is available to select schools with a high number of students whose households receive assistance from SNAP, or medicaid, are struggling with housing stability, or are in foster care, to apply and receive free meals to all of the school's students.

"This means more students will get the nutrition they need while removing the stigma and barrier that impacts their learning," Inslee said at Friday's signing.
Currently, 491 Washington schools participate in the program, and 9 more are in the process of joining, but HB 1878 will expand the program to an additional 626 schools.

Here's a look at a few things that did not make it through:

A tax holiday bill cutting sales tax for three days in September

House Bill 2018 would have created a "tax holiday" in fall, removing sales tax this year from Sept. 3 to Sept. 5 for certain purchases under $1,000. HB 2018 received strong support in the House, passing on a 91-7 vote, but stalled out in the senate.

Read more: Tax Holiday Bill Would Cut Sales Tax For 3 Days In September

An effort to address Washington's housing crises by loosening zoning restrictions

HB 1782, also called "The Homes for WA Act", would have re-legalized the construction of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in specific locations— and allowed for even more construction near busy transit sites. Similar legislation recently passed in Oregon and California, and Gov. Jay Inslee specifically requested HB 1782 as a way of following in their footsteps and addressing housing demand.

Unfortunately for Inslee and other supporters, HB 1782 did not make it out of the House of Representatives in time to be considered by the Senate.

Read more: 'Homes For WA' Housing Choice Bill Fails To Clear Legislature