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.

Bills needed to pass their chamber of origin by last Wednesday, March 12th. Unfortunately, only a few of the bills we've been following and supporting made it through. You can view the list below.

Those bills still alive now move through the opposite chamber for hearings and a possible vote. They need to pass out of the policy committees by April 2nd, fiscal committees by April 8th, and voted out of the opposite chamber by April 16th. 

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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.

• Executive action was taken on Jan 24 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. Passed out of committee. Referred to Senate Rules. You can view the hearing HERE.

• PASSED the Senate on Feb 12. VOTE: yeas, 30; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 0.

• Referred to State Government & Tribal Relations committee on Feb 17. 

• Rescheduled for public hearing on Mar 18 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 pm (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE.

• Scheduled for executive session on Mar 21 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM. (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE.

Bill Summary: 

• Requires the Governor to decide which additional local, state, federal, and tribal agencies may offer voter registration services, including automatic voter registration and automatic updates of existing voter registrations.

• Directs the Office of the Secretary of State to provide automatic voter registration for Washington Healthpathfinder applicants.

• Authorizes the Office of the Secretary of State to employ online voter registration through the websites of approved government agencies, higher learning institutions, and third-party organizations.

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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. Substitute bill assed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE. Referred to Senate Ways & Means.

• Scheduled for public hearing on Mar 18 in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. *

*Because the bill does not call for General Fund spending, as it would instead would be funded by proceeds from a nominal surcharge on the gross income of for-profit social media platforms and search engines would fund the Washington Local News Sustainability Fund, the bill not would affect state revenue and is exempt from the February 28 fiscal cutoff. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

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

• Establishes a business and occupation tax surcharge of 1.22 percent on certain social media platforms and search engines, and requires revenues from the surcharge be used for the Program.

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Constitutional Convention:

SJM 8008 – Rescinds prior applications for a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

Status & Hearings: 

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

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

• PASSED the Senate on Feb 19. VOTE: yeas, 47; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 1.

• Referred to State Government & Tribal Relations committee on Feb 17. 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Mar 19 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 pm (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE.

Joint Memorial Summary: 

• Rescinds all previous requests to Congress for a Constitutional Convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.

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Media Literacy:

SB 5637 - Promoting student access to information about media literacy and civic education.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Feb 11 in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education. You can view the hearing HERE.

• Executive action taken on Feb 18 in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education. Substitute bill passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE.

• Passed to Rules Committee for second reading on Feb 19.

• PASSED the Senate on Mar 12. VOTE: yeas, 48; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. 

• Referred to House Education Committee on Mar 14. 

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• Adds required content about civics and media literacy to the mandatory high school civics course.

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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. Substitute bill passed out of committee. You can view the hearing HERE.

• Placed on second reading by Rules Committee on Feb 19. 

• PASSED unanimously out the Senate on Feb 25. VOTE: yeas, 49; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. 

• Referred to the House State Government and Tribal Relations committee on Feb 28. No policy hearing yet scheduled.

Engrossed Substitute Bill Summary: 

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

• 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, unless after consultation, the deadline is extended by the secretary of state for a county auditor to comply with partitioning requirements

Democracy Legislation NOT Moving Forward This Session

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Election Day Holiday:

HB 1116 – Recognizing election day as a state holiday.

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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Jail Voting Access:

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

Substitute 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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Act for Civic Engagment:

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

Substitute Bill Summary: 

• 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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Voting Rights Restoration:

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

Bill Summary: 

• Redefines what constitutes an infamous crime, the conviction of which results in a revocation of voting rights, to include only state crimes punishable by death.

• Removes provisions that revoke a person's right to vote upon incarceration in a federal detention facility or out-of-state facility for a conviction of an infamous crime.

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Even-Year Elections:

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

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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Language Access:

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

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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Washington VOICES Act for Ranked Choice Voting

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

Bill Summary:  

• 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 a pilot program to aid King County Elections in supporting individuals with developmental disabilities in the implementation of RCV in Seattle.

• Requires jurisdictions that adopt a method of ranking candidates to provide notice and educational materials to the public.

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Preclearance Guidelines with WA Voting Rights Act:

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

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 will 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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Automatic Voter Registration for Tribal Members:

HB 1713 – Concerning automatic voter registration for tribal members.

Bill Summary: 

• Provides a process for automatic voter registration for members of a federally recognized tribe, including procedures for state-tribal compacts between the Secretary of State and tribes.

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

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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Protections Against Voter Reg. Challenges:

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

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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Ballot Signature Gathering:

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

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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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.

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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