
Paul Guppy provides a look at the bills that are ‘technically’ dead for the year
Paul Guppy
Washington Policy Center
The following bills failed to pass in committee before the legislative cut-off date of Jan. 31. These bills are technically “dead” for the year, although House and Senate leaders can always resurrect a bill putting it into the budget bill that is passed late in the session. The 2024 legislative session is scheduled to end on March 8.
- SB 5961 – to impose statewide rent control limiting rent increases to 5% a year.
(Note: a version of this bill passed in a House committee, so statewide rent control may come up again later in the session) - SB 5427, “Hate crimes” bounty bill, to pay up to $2,000 to people who report their neighbors for “bias incidents”
- SB 2150, to keep the name of Donald J. Trump off the presidential ballot in Washington state
- SB 5770, to repeal the voter-approved 1% property tax-increase limit and replace it with a 3% limit
- HB 2030, to let prisoners serving time vote, serve on juries and run for public office
- HB 2177, to put a sex offender on the State Sex Offender Policy Board
- HB 1868, to ban small gas motors used in outdoor equipment
- HB 6064, to effectively ban pets from rental properties by limiting how much landlords can charge for pet damage to a unit.
We will keep monitoring the session to see what bills do move forward, and if any of these or other ideas are resurrected in the budget process.
Paul Guppy is the vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center.
Also read:
- Opinion: Let’s make Washington state affordable for everyoneRep. David Stuebe criticizes state lawmakers’ spending increases and calls for tax relief, budget reforms, and restored funding for essential services across Washington.
- Opinion: Legislature agrees to increased spending in Supplemental BudgetWashington lawmakers approved an $80.2 billion supplemental budget, banking on an income tax that is uncertain to withstand legal and electoral tests despite increasing spending beyond revenue projections.
- Letter: ‘Only Florida has a more regressive tax structure than Washington’Washington households earning the least pay 13.8% in taxes, while the wealthiest 1% pay only 4.1%, according to Camas resident Anthony Teso’s letter.
- Opinion: ‘I-5 Bridge replacement plan does not accomplish the needs of the project’Transportation architect Kevin Peterson outlines why the current I-5 Bridge proposal falls short on mobility, urban design, and transit, and offers alternative solutions including BRT and urban integration improvements.
- Opinion: Two ways to keep rightDoug Dahl explains how Washington drivers must “keep right” differently depending on whether traffic flows in one direction or both, plus the exceptions that apply to two-way turn lanes.







