Happy Friday! We have made it to the last few weeks of the 2025 Legislative Session, and things feel as busy as ever. Wednesday, April 2, was the policy committee cut-off in the opposite chamber. However, this felt a bit anticlimactic with all the focus really on budgets with the reality of our state’s current fiscal situation. Last Monday, both the House and the Senate released their respective operating budget proposals, and after nearly a full day of fiscal committee hearings, both houses voted and passed their budget bills out of fiscal.
That being said, on Tuesday, April 1, Governor Ferguson responded to Democrats and their proposed budgets with rejection. Ferguson called on lawmakers, “to immediately move budget discussions in a different direction.” Ferguson has remained skeptical on the use of a “wealth tax,” as a sustainable option and would likely attract legal challenge if implemented. “It would be irresponsible to rely on an untested new tax to balance our budget, particularly given the situation we face with the federal government,” Ferguson told reporters April 1.
Don’t forget that each chamber has already approved competing versions of the budget, but both chambers must come to a shared agreement and then must send it to the governor for final approval. Meaning, if lawmakers hope to avoid a “special session,” before the end of this year’s 105-day legislative session, lawmakers will need to negotiate and agree upon a budget, which then must be signed by the Governor into law. Ferguson highlighted that point; “if the legislature wishes to complete our work on time, they need to immediately move the budget discussions in a significantly different direction.” The fiscal committee cutoff for the opposite house is on April 8th. Bills that are not voted on and passed out of the House Appropriations and the Senate Ways & Means Committees will not move forward.
Fiscal Committee Schedules for Next Week on TVW.org
House Appropriations Committee:
- Saturday, April 5th @ 9am
Senate Ways & Means Committee:
- Saturday, April 5th @ 12pm
House Bills
SHB 1079: which allows school districts to provide all students enrolled in online school programs the option to take statewide standardized tests remotely, beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The bill is in the Senate Rules Committee.
HB 2012: which provides appropriation to fund the additional school year 2024-25 forecasted enrollment of the Transition to Kindergarten (TTK) program and limits TTK program enrollment for each school district to its 2024-25 school year enrollment. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
2SHB 1273: which directs ESDs to collaborate with specified entities to streamline regional efforts that support students’ dual credit access and directs the SBCTC to develop a plan for improving its online career and technical education (CTE) dual credit administrative data system. The bill is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
ESHB 1296: which would make changes to the delineated rights of parents and legal guardians of public school children, establish a statement of student rights and associated duties for school districts, and establish anti-retaliation protections for public school employees. The bill is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
ESHB 1393: which requires school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools to permit students to wear one item or object of cultural significance at high school commencements and other official graduation ceremonies and events. The bill is in the Senate Rules Committee.
ESHB 1414: which directs OSPI, in consultation with the Department of Labor, to establish a work group to recommend changes to state laws and practices affecting the training, certification, and employment of 16- and 17-year-olds enrolled in or who completed career and technical education programs. The bill is in the Senate Rules Committee.ESHB 1651: which establishes teacher residency programs, describes a teacher apprenticeship program and establishes requirements for teacher apprenticeship programs (and number of hours) and requires the PESB to establish a process to approve these programs. The bill is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Senate Bills
ESSB 5004: which requires emergency response systems of school districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools to include specified technology and be developed in accordance with collaboration requirements. The bill has passed out of the House Rules Committee.
SSB 5025: which directs the PESB to establish full and limited certificates for deaf and deaf-blind educational interpreters and specifies that, by the beginning of the 2027-28 school year, educational interpreters employed by school districts must obtain a certificate; and provides that those without a certificate, but who demonstrate satisfactory efforts toward full certification, may provide educational interpreter services for up to 18 months after completing the assessment. The bill has passed out of the House Rules Committee.
SSB 5123: which would add protected classes to the nondiscrimination provisions that apply to Washington public schools: ethnicity, homelessness, immigration status, and neurodivergence. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
ESSB 5181: which modifies certain rights of parents and guardians of children enrolled in public school, removes rights related to notification requirements regarding medical services and treatment, lists ten additional rights of parents and guardians, and includes cross references to existing state law for each. The bill adds that these rights do not create a private right of action. The bill is in the House Rules Committee.
SB 5189: which requires OSPI to adopt rules to authorize funding for students enrolled in competency-based education (CBE) programs and to create competencies aligned with state learning standards, as well as requires the SBE to develop a process to identify schools and school districts that are implementing CBE, and identify costs associated with this process. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
ESSB 5192: which increases allocations for materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC) as well as provides that MSOC calculations must use a three-year rolling average for student enrollment and must be adjusted annually for inflation. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
SSB 5193: which allows school districts with online programs to provide students the ability to complete statewide assessments remotely beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The bill directs OSPI to develop assessment administration and security policies to support remote testing options by April 1, 2027. The bill is in the House Rules Committee.
SSB 5253: which extends special education services to students with disabilities until the end of the school year in which the student turns 22. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
E2SSB 5263: which would increase the special education funding multipliers to 1.6381 for Pre-K students and 1.5289 for K-12 students and would eliminate multiplier tiers that provide different levels of funding based on time spent in a general education setting. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
SSB 5327: which directs the SBE to develop recommendations for students to have the opportunity to demonstrate competency of the high school computer science state learning standards and consider how to incorporate the competencies into the framework of graduation requirements. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
2SSB 5358: which permits school districts to offer Career and Technical Education Program (CTE) courses to sixth graders in middle school and requires middle and high school CTE courses to be treated as a single program for accounting purposes. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
SB 5570: which requires school districts to incorporate curricula about the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes into their social studies curricula no later than September 1, 2026, and requires districts to collaborate with neighboring tribes on coordinating curricula. The bill is in the House Education Committee.
SB 5737: which reduces the annual bonuses for instructional staff with a National Board Certificate starting in the 2025-26 school year. The bill is in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.ESB 5769: which would limit the annual average full-time equivalent eligible children enrolled in the Transition to Kindergarten Program. The bill is in the House Appropriations Committee.
Odds and Ends
Because I love coaching youth sports – AND I love basketball, from The Spokesman, “It’s a Big Family:’ Professional Basketball Stars Show Spokane Youths the Ropes Prior to NCAA March Madness Games.
Let’s hear it for these Edmonds students! The Newsfeed: Edmonds Student Robotics Team is Top 10 in the World.