The House of Origin cutoff was on Wednesday, March 12. Today marks the 61st day in the 2025 105-Day Legislative Session. Legislation that didn’t make it through their chamber of origin by cutoff are likely dead for the year with the exception of NTIB bills (necessary to implement the budget) which as the name suggests, are bills that have revenue attached and could be needed to pass a financially stable budget. We are now looking to the proposed budgets which could be released as early as next week, but more likely in 2 weeks. Wednesday, April 2 by 5:00 p.m. will be the Opposite House Policy Committee Cutoff.
Attached is and updated report of top Priority Bills after the House of Origin cutoff.
HB 1217 – Rent Control
The residential and commercial real-estate industry opposes HB 1217 especially the caps on rent. This bill would limit rent increases to 7 percent during any 12-month period and prohibits rent increases during the first 12 months of a tenancy for tenants subject to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act or the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA), with certain exemptions. It also establishes rent increase notice requirements and tenant termination provisions when the landlord increases rent above amount allowed. The bill passed off the House Floor this week with a 53-42 vote.
HB 1217 is now scheduled for a hearing next week in Senate Housing Committee on Wednesday, March 19 at 1:30 pm in the JA Cherberg Building Room 4.
We urge you to Oppose HB 1217 by testifying, signing in CON or providing written testimony. Below are links for your grassroots efforts in opposing the legislation:
- Testify in-person, click here
- Testify virtually, click here
- To Submit written testimony, click here
- To Provide opposition to be noted for the legislative record, click here
HB 1296 – Parental Rights
A controversial bill that was debated for more than 6 hours and passed the House of Origin Cutoff was HB 1296. This legislation modifies the recent voter approved I-2081 and makes changes to delineated rights of parents and legal guardians of public-school children.
Known as the “Parental Bill of Rights” HB 1296 gives parental and legal guardian rights specified to include the right to enroll their child of qualifying age in a public school, regardless of sincerely held beliefs, housing status, immigration status, English language proficiency, or disability, and to provide for the instruction of their child through an approved private school or home-based instruction. This bill passed on party lines around 2:30 am on this Thursday, March 13 with 131 proposed amendments, and only 7 amendments that passed.
The bill was referred to the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee and has a hearing scheduled on Thursday, March 20 at 10:30 a.m.
Governor Bob Ferguson Statement on the Governor’s Emergency Powers
In a press release on Tuesday, March 11, Governor Bob Ferguson provided a statement on limiting his own emergency powers. He will terminate any declared state of emergency after 60 days upon request from leaders of three of the four legislative caucuses.
In addition, Ferguson said he’d call a special session of the Legislature if an emergency has been in place longer than 120 days while the Legislature is not in session to give lawmakers “the opportunity to terminate an emergency order or declaration.”
You can view, his press release here.
We will keep you updated on important and relevant legislation throughout the session.
If you are wanting or asked to testify on a bill, please click this link on instructions and helpful hints on the testimony process.