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Legislative Reports
2024: CVSO Program / Peer Support Services
HB 1541 is signed by Gov. Ferguson on March 9, 2026. Photo by Conall Anderson
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.
| Bill Number | Title | Sponsor (Combined) | Status | Bill Summary | Hearing Dates | |
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| 2ESHB 1541 | Veterans affairs adv. comm. | TEDV(Abell) | C 5 L 26 | Effective date 6/11/2026. Modifies the membership of the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee by reducing the number of members representing veterans service organizations, increasing the number of at-large members, and adding military experience and personal attributes to member selection. |
Feb 3, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 16, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 8:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2088 | Dietitian licensure compact | PEW(Leavitt) | C 18 L 26 | Effective date 7/1/2028. Enacts the Dietician Licensure Compact. |
Feb 19, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| HB 2417 | Military code/victim rights | (Keaton) | C 28 L 26 | Effective date 6/11/2026. Specifies the rights of a victim of an offense under the Washington Code of Military Justice, including the right to notice of hearings, the right to confer with counsel, and the right to restitution, if available. |
Feb 16, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 8:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| ESHB 2534 | Military families/education | ED(Shavers) | C 32 L 26 | Effective date 6/11/2026. Makes changes to school district requirements for enrolling children of military families, transferring their education records, and providing them with services and accommodations. |
Feb 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Education at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 18, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SB 5420 | Veteran benefits access | (Lovick) | Del to Gov | Expands eligibility for certain pension, retirement, and veterans' benefits based on military service. Adds federal commissioned corps to definition of uniformed services. Expands type of military service that qualifies military spouses and dependents for pension and retirement benefits, license moratoria, and veterans' employment. |
Feb 27, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Mar 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SSB 5827 | Veterans/discharge def. | SGTE(Gildon) | Del to Gov | Expands the types of acceptable documentation to prove a "qualifying discharge" from military service for purposes of claiming the veterans' preference in civil service, to include a predischarge certification. |
Feb 27, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Appropriations at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Mar 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Appropriations at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| 2SSB 6035 | Voting services | WM(Kauffman) | Del to Gov | Directs county auditors and the Secretary of State to schedule meetings with federally recognized Indian tribes to discuss various matters relating to voting access on Indian reservations and tribal land. Authorizes the Secretary of State to, within existing resources, study the feasibility of employing an electronic ballot portal that allows service voters, overseas voters, voters with a disability, and any voter who is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and resides on an Indian reservation to return a voted ballot. |
Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 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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| SB 6046 | Civil air patrol | (Wagoner) | Del to Gov | Creates a Civil Air Patrol Division (CAP) within the Washington Military Department to serve at the Governor's order. Allows the CAP to cooperate with state agencies, local governments, and tribes to provide training, communication, disaster relief, cyber security missions, or search and rescue. Specifies the Commanding Officer and participation in the CAP. |
Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 25, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
| Bill Number | Title | Sponsor (Combined) | Status | Bill Summary | Hearing Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB 2091 | Bargaining/employee info. | (Reed) | Del to Gov | Extends the requirement for public employers to provide exclusive bargaining representatives with certain employee information to all public employers under the Personnel System Reform Act. |
Feb 26, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Mar 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2152 | Cannabis/health facilities | HCW(Kloba) | C 20 L 26 | Permitting the medical use of cannabis by qualifying patients in specified health care facilities. |
Feb 26, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Mar 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| HB 2264 | Unemployment ins./layoffs | (Berry) | Del to Gov | Allows a person to access unemployment insurance benefits when voluntarily participating in an employer-initiated layoff or reduction in force plan so long as their termination is the result of the plan. |
Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 23, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| HB 2309 | Postgrad degree requirements | (Leavitt) | Del to Gov | Establishes that the comprehensive classification plan must not require a postgraduate college degree as the only way to demonstrate qualifications for a role unless that degree is required by law. |
Feb 16, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 8:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| HB 2340 | Nursing assistants/SUD prg. | (Simmons) | Del to Gov | Prohibits the Department of Health and the Board of Nursing from posting information on a public website about an enforcement action taken by the Board of Nursing against a nursing assistant if certain conditions are met. Adds nursing assistants as a credential type eligible to receive a stipend from the Board of Nursing to help defray the costs of participating in a substance use disorder monitoring program. |
Feb 19, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| 2SHB 2345 | Paid leave contributions | APP(Schmidt) | C 26 L 26 | Reallocates minimum employer and employee contributions for the medical and family leave premium shares for the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. |
Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 23, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2411 | Shared leave | SGOV(Salahuddin) | Del to Gov | Expands the types of events that qualify a state employee for the leave sharing program to include employees who are victims of a hate crime and employees whose absence from work is due to the involvement of that employee or that employee's relative or household member in an immigration enforcement action. |
Feb 16, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 8:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2420 | Small works roster limits | CB(Zahn) | Del to Gov | Increasing small works roster contract limits. |
Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2475 | Language access | SGOV(Ortiz-Self) | Del to Gov | Requires the Office of Equity to develop uniform guidelines for state agencies to provide consistent delivery of language-accessible public programs, activities, and services. Requires the Office of Equity to collaborate with certain groups to develop a proposal for addressing the statewide shortage of qualified interpreters and translators. Provides that state agencies must report to the Office of Equity and the Office of Financial Management regarding processes, timelines, and necessary resources for implementation of the guidelines. |
Feb 27, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 2:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Mar 2, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SHB 2492 | Apprenticeships/wellness | LAWS(Nance) | C 14 L 26 | Requires state registered apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades to provide apprentices with at least two hours of behavioral health and wellness training |
Jan 30, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 20, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| ESSB 5998 | Operating budget, supp. | WM(Robinson) | H Spkr Signed | Feb 23, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 25, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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| SSB 6003 | Capital budget, supplemental | WM(Trudeau) | H Spkr Signed | Feb 24, 2026 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 4:00 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. Feb 26, 2026 Scheduled for executive hearing in the Senate Ways & Means at 1:30 PM in anticipation of other legislative action. |
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