The Washington State Legislature will be in session for 60 days in 2026, starting Jan. 12 and ending in mid- March. Track bills at leg.wa.gov - one-stop shopping for legislative information.
Thanks to Shoreline Rising! for this list.
SB 6045/HB 2049 Establishing Collective Bargaining for Agricultural Workers
This bill extends important collective bargaining protections to agricultural employees across Washington, giving them access to established labor rights and a formal process for negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions.
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT of HB 2049 by Wed Feb 4 11pm
HB 2367 Ending Preferential Treatment for Coal-Fired Electric Power Plants
The Washington State Government agreed to shut down the coal-fired Centralia power plant but the Trump Administration ordered that the facility continue burning coal. This bill allows state agencies to apply greenhouse gas emissions requirements and Climate Commitment Act regulations on this facility as well as repeals sales and use tax exemptions that are currently in place.
Sign in PRO by Tue Feb 3 7am
SB 5925 Strengthening Attorney General’s Investigations of Civil Rights Abuses
This bill strengthens the State Attorney General's ability to investigate civil violations of the federal and state constitutions and a broad range of laws, including police misuse of their powers, impermissible immigration enforcement, jails, wage violations as well as discrimination.
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT by Tue Feb 3 8am
SB 6081 Maintaining the Privacy of Changes to Gender Designation on Official Documents
Transgender, intersex, and queer people are being targeted by the federal administration and efforts have been made to collect identifying information to single out this vulnerable group. This bill would prevent Washington State from handing over records of gender designation changes and protect queer people from discrimination.
Sign in PRO by Tue Feb 3 3pm
HB 2648 Requiring State Law Enforcement Agencies to Document Encounters with ICE
This bill requires on-duty peace officers to activate body worn cameras and dash cameras when encountering United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees conducting immigration enforcement activities and to report such encounters to their employing agencies.
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT by Tue Feb 3 4pm
HB 2641 Not Hiring Former ICE Officers
This bill declares that ICE officers hired after Jan 20, 2025 cannot be hired in the future by law enforcement agencies anywhere in Washington state.
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT by Tue Feb 3 4pm
HB 1445/SB 5233 Developing the Washington Health Trust
This bill creates the Washington Health Trust, a comprehensive state-wide health care system designed to provide universal health coverage to all Washington residents.
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT of HB 1445 by Wed Feb 4 11pm
Lobby your representatives in SUPPORT of SB 5233 by Wed Feb 4 11pm
Find out who represents you in the state Legislature. Most of Phinney Ridge, Greenwood and Ballard fall within the 36th Legislative District, represented by Sen. Noel Frame (D), Rep. Julia Reed (D) and Rep. Liz Berry (D). However, there's a snippet of Greenwood that lies in the 46th district, and Fremont (south of 45th) lies in the 43rd district. Find out who your representatives are here.
Find out what bills are important this session. These groups track progressive legislation:
350 Seattle Civic Action Team (environmental bills)
Divest Washington -- pushing for Washington pension investments to get out of fossil fuel investments
Testify. You don't have to travel to Olympia to give live testimony in public anymore; you can do it by Zoom.
Lobby your legislator. Unlike federal office-holders, state legislators are quite accessible to their voters.
Keep up: Support your local news outlets to keep up with what's happening in Olympia: The Seattle Times (subscription required), The Olympian (subscription), National Public Radio, the Washington State Standard.
Advice from Mary Lou Dickerson
Washington faces a major deficit, due largely to Trump Administration cuts. The budget will be front and center during this short session.
Pay special attention to efforts to disinvest Washington pension funds from the GEO Group, which runs immigrant detention facilities.
Try to get your lobbying started early in the session, during the first month. Use phone calls, emails or letters, or visit Olympia. You can meet with your legislators by Zoom. They like hearing from people in their district!