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Legislative Reports
2024: CVSO Program / Peer Support Services
The 2025 Legislative Session begins on January 13, 2025. 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.
Bill Number | Title | Sponsor (Combined) | Status | Bill Summary | Hearing Dates | |
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HB 1016 | Veterans/employer incentives | (Abbarno) | H Finance | Creates employer credit for hiring a veteran or spouse of veteran full-time for 20% of wages and benefits paid up to $3,000 per hire. $5 million statewide annual credit cap. |
Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1021 | Military families/education | (Shavers) | H Education | Promoting educational stability for children of military families. |
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SHB 1022 | Homes for heroes program | HOUS(Connors) | H Cap Budget | SHB: Creates a down payment and closing cost assistance program for people who work in targeted professions and meet certain income requirements. (Adds paraeducators & clarifies child care prof eligibility) |
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. |
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SHB 1023 | Cosmetology compact | APP(Ryu) | H Rules R | HB: Enacts the cosmetology licensure compact. |
Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 5, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1050 | Naval Academy license plates | (Shavers) | H Transportation | |||
HB 1073 | National guard retention | (Leavitt) | H Approps | HB: 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. |
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2SHB 1102 | Veteran support and services | APP(Shavers) | H Finance | 2SHB: Expands funding for veterans' services by allowing counties to levy a separate veterans' assistance property tax. Requires the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) to provide information to recently discharged veterans about veterans benefits, services, and available resources. Expands county eligibility for the WDVA's Veterans Service Officer Program (Program) to counties where the percentage of veterans receiving benefits is below the national average. Prioritizes counties with the lowest percentage of veterans receiving benefits for the Program. Requires the WDVA to provide reports every two years including county-specific information about the number of resident veterans and services available. |
Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 10, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1106 | Disabled veterans/prop. tax | (Barnard) | H Rules R | Reduces the combined service-connected evaluation rating percentage from 80% to 20% over a period of three years to increase the number of veterans that qualify. |
Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 11, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1114 | Respiratory care compact | (Leavitt) | H Rules R | HB: Enacts the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact. |
Feb 5, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 10, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SHB 1161 | Veteran employability | PEW(Ryu) | H Approps | SHB: Creates the Veteran Employability Training and Career Advancement for Reentry Program to assist justice-involved veterans with civilian life. (SHB adds ESD to the bill.) |
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. |
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HB 1165 | Property tax exemptions | (Shavers) | H Finance | Expanding access to property tax exemptions by increasing each median income category by 5% beginning in 2027. |
Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1179 | Property tax value freeze | (Volz) | H Finance | Proving a property tax valuation freeze for seniors and disabled veterans. |
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HB 1245 | Business development | (Couture) | H Tech, Econ Dev | HB: Establishes the office of entrepreneurship within the Dept of Commerce and allows cooperation with the Dept of Veterans Affairs and others to improve access for statistically underrepresented demographic segments and geographic areas of the state (including VOBs) and others to 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. |
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HB 1335 | Military spouse employment | (Richards) | H Approps | Amends existing law regarding discrimination to include military spouses. |
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. |
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HB 1366 | Military surplus vehicles | (Orcutt) | H Transportation | Allowing vehicles that have been an active part of military operations to operate on the public highways to be involved in parades, veterans' events, car club activities, community events, exhibitions, and other limited circumstances. |
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SHB 1371 | Veteran parking privileges | TR(Orcutt) | S Transportation | (companion SB 5410) Establishes eligibility for parking privileges for people with disabilities for veterans who have received a qualifying discharge with a 70 percent disability rating or higher from the United States (US) Armed Forces or the US Department of Veterans Affairs and who use a service animal. |
Jan 23, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1397 | Local property tax levies | (Orcutt) | H Finance | Credits the county veteran's assistance levy and the county mental health and developmental disabilities levy against the state property tax levy. |
Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Finance at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SHB 1541 | Veterans affairs adv. comm. | TEDV(Abell) | H Rules R | SHB: Modifies the membership of the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee by allowing the Governor to appoint members from state veterans' homes, a federally recognized tribe, a current or former Washington National Guard member, a justice involved or formerly incarcerated individual, and an individual with certain lived experiences. |
Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 11, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1738 | Veteran benefits access | (Shavers) | H Tech, Econ Dev | (companion to SB 5420) |
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. |
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HJM 4002 | Medal of Honor Bridge | (Dent) | H Rules R | Requests the Washington State Transportation Commission to commence proceedings to designate the bridge that carries Interstate 90 over the Columbia River near Vantage, Washington as the "Medal of Honor Bridge" to show respect and remember Medal of Honor recipients. |
Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 6, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SSB 5017 | Uniformed & overseas voting | SGTE(Nobles) | H State Govt & Tr | By request of Secretary of State: SSB: Adopts the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA) to extend to state elections law protections found in federal law to military and overseas voters and to bring greater uniformity to the military and overseas voting processes in state law. Updates provisions throughout the Revised Code of Washington for consistency with UMOVA. |
Jan 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Jan 17, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5200 | Veteran medical foster homes | (Wagoner) | S Rules 2 | Providing exemptions to allow for Veterans Medical Foster Homes as authorized by the Federal VA. |
Jan 28, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 13, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SSB 5338 | Veterans affairs adv. comm. | SGTE(Nobles) | S Rules 2 | SSB: Reconfiguring the membership of the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee. |
Jan 28, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 7, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5398 | Veterans w/ disabilities/tax | (Conway) | S Ways & Means | Concerning property tax exemptions for veterans with disabilities. |
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SSB 5410 | Veteran parking privileges | TRAN(Braun) | S Rules 2 | SSB: Authorizes veterans who have a 70 percent or higher disability rating from either the United States Armed Forces or United States Department of Veterans Affairs and who use a service animal as defined in federal law to apply for special parking privileges for persons with disabilities. |
Feb 3, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 6, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Transportation at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5420 | Veteran benefits access | (Lovick) | S Rules 2 | Ensuring access to state benefits and opportunities for veterans, uniformed service members, and military spouses. |
Feb 11, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 14, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SGA 9212 | DAVID PUENTE JR. | () | S State Gov/Trib | Gubernatorial Appointment for David Puente Jr. |
Feb 18, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
Bill Number | Title | Sponsor (Combined) | Status | Bill Summary | Hearing Dates | |
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HB 1055 | Transparency ombuds study | (Abbarno) | H Approps | HB: Establishes the Joint Legislative Committee on Transparency (JLCT) to coordinate with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), the Office of the Attorney General, and the Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee (Sunshine Committee) to conduct a study on the efficacy of establishing an independent state agency to assist individuals with accessing public records. Requires JLARC to submit a report on the findings of the study and recommendations by the JLTC. |
Jan 15, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 7, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1197 | Operating budget, supp. | (Ormsby) | H Approps | Jan 13, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1198 | Operating budget | (Ormsby) | H Approps | Jan 13, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1216 | Capital budget | (Tharinger) | H Cap Budget | Jan 16, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1256 | Public works/made in US | (Hill) | H Cap Budget | Jan 30, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1308 | Access to personnel records | (Reed) | H Rules R | Companion to SB 5345: HB: Specifies that an employer must provide an employee or former employee with a copy of the employee's personnel file within 21 days of a request. Requires an employer to provide to a former employee, upon request, a statement of the employee's discharge date and reasons, if any, for the discharge. Creates a private cause of action with statutory damages for enforcing the requirements to disclose personnel files and provide written discharge statements. |
Jan 22, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Jan 31, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1312 | Retirement benefits/death | (Fitzgibbon) | H Approps | (companion SB 5114) |
Jan 27, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1387 | Prevailing wage/public works | (Schmidt) | H Labor & Workpl | (companion SB 5293) |
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HB 1413 | Opioid reversal purchasing | (Reeves) | H HC/Wellness | |||
HB 1434 | Eid al-Fitr & Eid al-Adha | (Salahuddin) | H Rules R | (companion SB 5106) |
Jan 29, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1476 | Nursing home rate rebase | (Ormsby) | H Approps | (companion to SB 5407) |
Feb 20, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1555 | Nursing home payment rates | (Stonier) | H Approps | |||
HB 1633 | Public works/bidding | (Hill) | H Transportation | Feb 6, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 13, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Capital Budget at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1642 | Pension plan choice | (Bronoske) | H Approps | Providing additional plan choice to members of the teachers' retirement system plans 2 and 3, the school employees' retirement system plans 2 and 3, and the public employees' retirement systems plans 2 and 3. |
Feb 10, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1765 | Subscriber emails/PRA | (Simmons) | H State Govt & T | Exempting email addresses of individuals who subscribe to regular communications and updates from local agencies. |
Feb 12, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1792 | Nursing assistant regulation | (Obras) | H HC/Wellness | (companion to SB 5051) |
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HB 1848 | Traumatic brain injuries | (Doglio) | H EL & Human Svc | Concerning services and supports for individuals with traumatic brain injuries. |
Feb 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Early Learning & Human Services at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 19, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Early Learning & Human Services at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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HB 1964 | Lists of individuals/PRA | (Fosse) | H State Govt & T | Feb 18, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5051 | Nursing assistant regulation | (Bateman) | H HC/Wellness | SB: Consolidates regulatory authority relating to competency evaluation, disciplinary authority, and credentialization for nursing assistants under the Board of Nursing. Expands Board of Nursing composition from 15 to 17 to include nursing assistant members, and an additional registered nurse or licensed practical nurse member. |
Jan 21, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Jan 24, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5061 | Public works wages | (Conway) | S Labor & Comm | SB: Requires public works contracts to provide for the payment of prevailing wages at the time the work is performed |
Jan 24, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5068 | Public employ. eligibility | (Lovick) | H Community Safet | SB: Permits law enforcement agencies, civil service agencies including city firefighters, city police, and county sheriff's offices, and prosecuting attorney's offices to consider application from persons legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law |
Jan 21, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Law & Justice at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Jan 23, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Law & Justice at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5106 | Eid al-Fitr & Eid al-Adha | (Trudeau) | S Rules 2 | (companion HB 1434) Establishing Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays. |
Jan 28, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 7, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5114 | Retirement benefits/death | (Boehnke) | S Ways & Means | (companion HB 1312) SB: Provides a full month of public pension benefits paid in the month that a retiree dies |
Jan 23, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5143 | Ethics in public service | (Gildon) | S Rules 2 | SB: Revises the Ethics in Public Service Act by adding definitions, removing obsolete provisions, correcting internal references, and updating statutory citations. Increases the gift threshold from $50 to $100 and excludes from the definition of gift the following: gift cards of $25 or less given to legislative employees and unsolicited gifts from legislators to legislative staff. Allows the following to be posted on a legislator's official website: generally recognized days or months of note and posts about achievements, honors or awards of extraordinary distinction relating to a constituent as long as the constituent has agreed to the posting. Removes the combined $5,000 cap for penalties and costs, which allows penalties not to exceed $5,000 and a separate order for the recovery of costs of the Legislative Ethics Board. • Grants Legislative and Executive Board members and employees absolute privilege from suit in any civil or criminal action for their official acts, which is the same privilege granted to members and employees of the Commission on Judicial Conduct. |
Jan 21, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 7, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5144 | St. agency tortious conduct | (Gildon) | S Law & Justice | Providing oversight of state agency tortious conduct through legislative hearings. |
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SB 5145 | State spending prgs. review | (Gildon) | S Ways & Means | Implementing the periodic review of state spending programs. |
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SB 5146 | Government efficiency portal | (Gildon) | S State Gov/Trib | Creating a portal to identify opportunities for increased government efficiency. |
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SB 5166 | Operating budget, supp. | (Robinson) | S Ways & Means | Jan 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5167 | Operating budget | (Robinson) | S Ways & Means | Jan 14, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5195 | Capital budget | (Trudeau) | S Ways & Means | Jan 13, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5217 | Pregnancy accommodations | (Nobles) | S Ways & Means | SB: Modifies the definition of employer for purposes of pregnancy and pregnancy-related accommodation. Requires an employer to pay an employee for break and travel time to express milk during work at the employee's regular compensation rate. Allows a person who is breastfeeding to request a delay or excusal from jury service if the person is unable to serve due to breastfeeding. |
Jan 31, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 20, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5254 | Health care information | (Orwall) | S Health & Long- | Strengthening patients' rights regarding their health care information. |
Feb 4, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5293 | Prevailing wage/public works | (King) | S Labor & Comm | (companion HB 1387) |
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SB 5345 | Access to personnel records | (Saldaña) | S Labor & Comm | Companion to HB 1308 |
Feb 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5406 | EV charging/state expense | (Schoesler) | S State Gov/Trib | |||
SB 5407 | Nursing home rate rebase | (Riccelli) | S Ways & Means | (companion to HB 1476) |
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SB 5503 | Public employee bargaining | (Valdez) | S Labor & Comm | Concerning public employee collective bargaining processes. |
Feb 11, 2025 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 21, 2025 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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SB 5750 | State facility EV charging | (Wilson, J.) | S Transportation | |||
SB 5751 | Government services delivery | (Gildon) | S State Gov/Trib |
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