Washington State Democracy Legislation & ACTION NEEDED

The Washington State legislative session continues. This is the FIRST year of the biennium, which lasts 105 days, ending on April 27th. All bills introduced this year will carry over to next year if they don't pass this session.

The cutoff deadline for bills to move out of their respective policy committee is this Friday, February 21st. Bills referred to fiscal committees must be moved out by Friday, February 28th, and pass their chamber of origin by March 12th. 

Voter Guidelines under WA Voting Rights Act:

HB 1750 – Creating guidelines for voter suppression and vote dilution claims under the Washington voting rights act.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Feb 5th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 11th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Substitute bill passed out of committee. Referred to House Appropriations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Feb 22nd in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• Prohibits certain political subdivisions from implementing and enforcing any election policy or practice, or to take any action or fail to take any action, that results in, is likely to result in, or is intended to result in a material disparate burden on the ability or opportunity of members of a protected class to vote or participate in any stage of the political process.

• Provides a four-year safe harbor from challenges brought under an abridgment claim for any subsequent actions based on the same election policy or practice for which a court has concluded that the political subdivision's remedy complies with the Washington Voting Rights Act.

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Automatic Voter Registration for Tribal Members:

HB 1713 – Concerning automatic voter registration for tribal members.

Status & Hearings: 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Feb 18th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Upon final execution of a state-tribal compact of this act, the secretary of state must receive and process voter registration information for all members of a tribe from the tribe.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Washington VOICES Act for Ranked Choice Voting

HB 1448 – Increasing representation and voter participation in local elections.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Jan 28 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive session held on Feb 11th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Appropriations on Feb 14th. 

Bill Summary:  

• Also know as the Washington VOICES (Voting Options, Implementation, Compliance, Education & Standards) Act.

• Permits the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in elections for offices in counties, cities, towns, school districts, fire districts, and port districts, and establishes certain requirements for RCV ballot design and vote tabulation.

• Establishes an RCV work group to advise and aid the Secretary of State when developing implementation and support materials for local governments that enact RCV.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Even-Year Elections:

HB 1339 – Shifting general elections for local governments to even-numbered years to increase voter participation.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE.

• Executive session held on Feb 4 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Passed out of committee & referred to House Appropriations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Public hearing held on Feb 13 in the House Committee on Appropriations. You can view the hearing HERE. It has not yet been scheduled for an Executive Session.

Bill Summary: 

• Permits cities, towns, and certain special purpose districts to choose to hold their elections in even-numbered years instead of odd-numbered years.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Jail Voting Access:

HB 1146 – Improving access and removing barriers to voting in jails and state hospitals.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on January 15th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 7th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Appropriations on Feb 12th. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires county auditors to create a Voting Plan (Plan) for each jail and state hospital within the county, including details about how the jail or hospital will help people who are incarcerated register to vote and access and complete a ballot.

• Requires jails and state hospitals to implement their Plans and provide voter registration information, ballot-related information, and ballots to people who are incarcerated.

• Authorizes the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to investigate and bring an action against a county, jail, or state hospital for a violation of this act and authorizes the court to award $25,000 per violation to the AGO for remittance to the Office of the Secretary of State to use towards increasing accessibility for voters in jails and state hospitals.

• Requires the Secretary of State to contract with the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance to identify challenges and make recommendations related to voter registration and voting access for people who are incarcerated in jail or patients in a state hospital.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Act for Civic Engagment:

HB 1147 – Supporting civic engagement for incarcerated and institutionalized individuals in state custody to promote inclusion and rehabilitation.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on Jan 15th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• An executive session was held on Jan 31 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations and the substitute bill PASSED out of committee.  You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Appropriations on Feb 4th.

Bill Summary Substitute Bill: 

• Establishes a right to civic engagement for individuals who are incarcerated or receiving treatment at certain state institutions and provides provisions for enforcement of the right.

• Creates the Civic Engagement Coordinator within the Office of Equity (OEQ) and establishes duties of the OEQ to assist certain agencies in upholding an individual's right to civic engagement.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Voting Rights Restoration:

HB 1196 – Revoking a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Feb 5th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive session held on Feb 11 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Rules on Feb 13th. 

Bill Summary: 

• This bill would revoke a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death.

• It would amend Washington state's RCW (Revised Code of Washington) definition of "infamous crime" as a state crime punishable by death.

• This definition applies for purposes of voter qualifications and does not apply when the term "infamous crime" is used in other titles of the Revised Code of Washington, unless otherwise stated or the context requires otherwise.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Language Access:

HB 1381 – Improving meaningful access to elections by increasing language assistance.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 7th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Substitute bill passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Appropriations on Feb 12th. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• Sets the threshold lower than the federal threshold for when counties must provide language assistance during elections by requiring counties to do so when more than 2.5 percent of citizens in certain language minority groups (LMG) are of voting age or are qualified to register to vote, are limited-English proficient, and have not completed the fifth grade at a rate higher than the national average.

• Requires the Secretary of State to determine which counties are subject to these language assistance provisions.

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Preclearance Guidelines with WA Voting Rights Act:

HB 1710 – Concerning compliance with the Washington voting rights act of 2018.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Feb 5th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 11th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Substitute bill assed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Appropriations on Feb 14th. 

Substitue Bill Summary: 

• Requires certain jurisdictions to obtain preclearance that certain proposed changes to their election systems will not diminish the ability of a protected class to participate in the political process or elect their preferred candidates to office, and does not violate the Washington Voting Rights Act, federal Voting Rights Act, or other provisions of state or federal law, before those changes may take effect.

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Ballot Signature Gathering:

SB 5382 – Concerning requirements pertaining to signatures and addresses of ballot measure petitioners and petition signature gatherers.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing was held on Feb 4 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Scheduled for executive session on Feb 18 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires signature gatherers circulating initiative and referendum petitions to sign declarations, and provides lines on the petition to do so.

• Requires the secretary of state to verify residential addresses when verifying petition signatures.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Expanding Automatic Voter Registration:

SB 5077 – Concerning expansion of voter registration services by government agencies.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Jan 21 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• An executive session was held on Jan 24 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. PASSED out of committee and will be sent to the Senate Rules Committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• PASSED the Senate on Feb 12th! VOTE: yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0 (View Roll Calls). The bill will now move to the House. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires the Governor to decide which additional local, state, federal, and tribal agencies may offer automatic voter registration.

• Authorizes the Health Benefit Exchange to provide Healthplanfinder information to the Secretary of State to facilitate voter registration.

• Clarifies the voter registration process if the Department of Corrections is designated to provide voter registration services.

• Authorizes the Secretary of State to employ online voter registration through agency and other websites.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Election Day Holiday:

HB 1116 – Recognizing election day as a state holiday.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on January 14th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Jan 17th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Passed unanimously and referred to House Appropriations. (Majority Report). You can view the hearing HERE. 

• A public hearing was held on Jan 27 in the House Committee on Appropriations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 5th in the House Committee on Appropriations. Substitute bill passed unanimously. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Referred to House Rules for review on Feb 10th. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• Designates Election Day as a legislatively recognized day.

• Encourages governmental entities and educational and cultural organizations to recognize Election Day and engage in educational programming.

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Protections Against Voter Reg. Challenges:

HB 1916* - Amending voter registration challenges and managing voter registration lists.

*This is a NEW Bill to replace HB 1223.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Feb 11 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 14 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Substitute bill passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• Amends the process, permitted evidence, and penalties for challenging a voter's registration.

• Clarifies when a voter's registration is canceled or removed from the voter registration list.

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Local News:

SB 5400 – Supporting local news journalism.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 28 in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Feb 14 in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce. Passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Establishes the Washington Local News Journalism Corps Program (Journalism Corps Program) in the Department of Commerce to make grants supporting the employment of news journalists covering civic affairs in underserved communities.

• Requires $20 million of the funds deposited into the Workforce Education Investment Account to be used to support the Journalism Corps Program each fiscal year.

• Increases the cap for the workforce education investment surcharge that is imposed on select advanced computing businesses from $9 million annually to $15 million annually.

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Election Security:

SB 5014 – Concerning election security.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action was taken on Feb 7th in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. Passed substitute bill out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Passed to Rules for second reading on Feb 11th. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

Subjects systems or part of a systems used in the conduct of elections to secretary of state approval prior to use.

•n Sets forth security breach disclosure requirements for organizations contracted to provide support to, or manufacturers or distributors of the voter registration database system or official voter list, or both.

• Mandates cybersecurity measures to be implemented by each county auditor, including partitioning, by July 1, 2027.

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Addressing Money in Elections:

SJM 8001 – Calling on Congress to exercise its authority under Article V of the United States Constitution to regulate money spent on elections.

Status & Hearings: It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing this session and will not likely move forward this session.

Bill Summary: 

(5) States that the amendment does not limit the rights of individual human beings to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, or freedom of association.

Please register your support for SJM 8001 HERE.

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