Legislative Updates

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Heidi Audette
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2024 Year in Review

Legislative Reports

2024: CVSO Program / Peer Support Services

The 2026 Legislative Session began on January 12, 2026.  Below are lists of bills that may impact Veterans, Families or Military Members.  (This list is not an endorsement of any proposal by WDVA.)

Visit https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ for more detailed bill information.  To watch committee hearings, visit Home - TVW.

Veteran/Military Related Bills as of January 16, 2026 - 02:34am

Bill Number Title Sponsor (Combined) Status Bill Summary Hearing Dates
HB 1016 Veterans/employer incentives (Abbarno) H Finance

Creates employer business and occupation and public utility tax credits ($3,000) for employing veterans and spouses of active-duty military members.

Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1021 Military families/education (Shavers) H Education

Promoting educational stability for children of military families.

HB 1022 Homes for heroes program (Connors) H Cap Budget

Creates a down payment and closing cost assistance program for people who work in targeted professions and meet certain income requirements.

Jan 16, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Housing at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Feb 20, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1073 National guard retention (Leavitt) H Approps

Creates a Washington National Guard retention program. Directs the Adjutant General to study retention needs, determine
eligibility criteria and determine the amount and schedule of retention bonuses. Requires the Military Department to report on retention needs and recommendations every three years.

Jan 15, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1161 Veteran employability (Ryu) H Approps

Establishing the veteran employability training and career advancement for reentry program.

Jan 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1165 Property tax exemptions (Shavers) H Finance

Increases the income thresholds for the property tax exemption program for seniors, people retired due to disability, and veterans with disabilities.

Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1179 Property tax value freeze (Volz) H Finance

Providing a property tax valuation freeze for senior citizens and disabled veterans.

HB 1245 Business development (Couture) H Tech, Econ Dev

Establishes the Office of Entrepreneurship (Office) and describes the various powers and duties of the Office.  (Tracks the number of businesses owned by Veterans who receive state contracts.)

Jan 22, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1335 Military spouse employment (Richards) H Approps

Protects military spouses from discrimination in employment and labor practices.

Jan 28, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Feb 7, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1366

Authorizing military surplus vehicles to operate on public highways.

HB 1397 Local property tax levies (Orcutt) H Finance

Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1433 Psychedelic substances (Macri) H HC/Wellness

Creates a regulated system for supervised adult use of psilocybin, with the potential to expand to other psychedelic substances.

Feb 5, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

ESHB 1541 Veterans affairs adv. comm. TEDV(Abell) H Rules 3C

Mar 25, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Mar 28, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 1738 Veteran benefits access (Shavers) H Approps

Ensuring access to state benefits and opportunities for veterans, uniformed service members, and military spouses.

Feb 12, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Feb 18, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2064 Electronic ballot return (Farivar) H State Govt & T

Authorizing the secretary of state to develop and test electronic methods of ballot return for service and overseas voters, disabled voters, and certain incarcerated voters.

HB 2088 Dietitian licensure compact (Leavitt) H Postsec Ed & W

Enacts the Dietician Licensure Compact.

Jan 13, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 20, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2099 ECEAP access/military (Leavitt) H EL & Human Svc

Expanding access to the early childhood education and assistance program for military families.

Jan 16, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Early Learning & Human Services at 8:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 23, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Early Learning & Human Services at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2135 Adaptive housing tax pref. (Barnard) H Finance

Modifying and extending the adaptive housing retail sales and use tax preference for disabled veterans.

Jan 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2324 Child of veteran/tuition (Paul) H Postsec Ed & W

Jan 21, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2417 Military code/victim rights (Keaton) H Tech, Econ Dev

Changing the Washington code of military justice so that it includes certain protections for victims of an offense while serving within the organized militia of Washington.

Jan 23, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2443 Armed forces reserve grant (Dufault) H Postsec Ed & Wk

Creating the armed forces reserve postsecondary education grant.

HB 2514

Establishing a global war on terror memorial on the capitol campus.

SSB 5017 Uniformed & overseas voting SGTE(Nobles) S Rules 3

Adopting national standards for uniformed and overseas civilian voting, including conforming amendments to existing statute.

Mar 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:15 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Apr 1, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5201 Psychedelic substances (Salomon) S Labor & Comm

Concerning access to psychedelic substances.

Feb 11, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Feb 18, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SSB 5338 Veterans affairs adv. comm. SGTE(Nobles) S Rules 3

Mar 18, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Mar 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5398 Veterans w/ disabilities/tax (Conway) S Ways & Means

Concerning property tax exemptions for veterans with disabilities.

SB 5420 Veteran benefits access (Lovick) S 3rd Reading

Ensuring access to state benefits and opportunities for veterans, uniformed service members, and military spouses.

Apr 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Apr 5, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 9:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5827 Veterans/discharge def. (Gildon) S State Gov/Trib

Concerning the definition of a "qualifying discharge" for the Washington state veterans' preference program for civil service.

Jan 23, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 16, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5907 ECEAP access/military (Nobles) S EL/K-12

Jan 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5954 Vet. survivor tuition waiver (Wagoner) S Higher Ed & Wo

Concerning veteran survivor tuition waiver eligibility and aligning with federal law to include eligibility beyond age 26 in some situations.

Jan 15, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 22, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 6029 Military code/victim rights (Wagoner) S State Gov/Trib
SB 6035 Voting services (Kauffman) S State Gov/Trib

Jan 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 23, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action.

WDVA and State Employee Related Bills as of January 16, 2026 - 02:34am

Bill Number Title Sponsor (Combined) Status Bill Summary Hearing Dates
HB 2289 Operating budget, supp. (Ormsby) H Approps

Jan 12, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

Jan 14, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

HB 2295 Capital budget, supplemental (Tharinger) H Cap Budget

Jan 15, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 5998 Operating budget, supp. (Robinson) S Ways & Means

Jan 13, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

SB 6003 Capital budget, supplemental (Trudeau) S Ways & Means

Jan 12, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action.

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