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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This Friday, Feb. 28, is fiscal cutoff, meaning all bills must be passed out of their respective fiscal committees to still be alive this session. This week, we have been voting on numerous bills in the fiscal committees, including the House Capital Budget Committee where I serve. On Monday, March 3, we start 10 consecutive days of floor action to vote on hundreds of bills until we reach the house of origin cutoff on March 12 at 5 p.m. By that point, any bill that hasn’t passed out of its original chamber will be considered done for this session, except bills considered necessary to implement the budget.
Virtual Town Hall – Save the Date
I will join my fellow 17th District legislators, Rep. David Stuebe and Sen. Paul Harris for a virtual town hall on meeting from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, using the Zoom platform. In addition to reviewing some of the bills passed in the Senate and House and providing an update on our legislation, we will answer your questions and address your concerns. If you wish to participate in the meeting, you must register for the event by clicking here.
Update on My Legislation
I introduced 10 bills this session and I’m happy to report that five are still alive. They have passed out of their respective committees and are awaiting a vote by the entire House. Here’s a brief explanation of each.
House Bill 1104 would add a septic engineer to the state board of wastewater engineers. Septic systems are widely used in our district, so I’m aware of the work septic engineers do. This simple, commonsense bill would give septic engineers a rightful voice at the table.
House Bill 1602 would allow alcohol producers, including breweries, to sub out their kitchen space. This bill would help several breweries in limbo that literally cannot open their space until the Liquor Control Board gets this matter fixed. If HB 1602 becomes law, it would allow breweries to subcontract the restaurant part of their business to individuals or entities better suited for running the food service side. This bill has received a public hearing and is now waiting for a vote from the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee. Click here for more.
House Bill 1609 would promote the efficient administration of state education agencies by allowing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to use a designee on the Board of Natural Resources. The BNR sets policies to guide how the Washington State Department of Natural Resources manages the state’s lands and resources. Current law specifies that the superintendent is a board member and does not authorize the use of a designee. HB 1609 would change that and allow the superintendent more time to supervise the administration of school policies and procedures by sending a designee in his or her place to meetings about timber sales that fund schools. Click here for more.
House Bill 1698 would clarify that all persons selling and serving alcohol for on-premises consumption at a licensed facility need to obtain an alcohol server permit. It would also eliminate special liquor permits and public house liquor licenses. This legislation would ensure that if you pour alcoholic beverages at a site that serves alcohol, you will need a permit. It would provide clarity and a uniform standard for everyone. This bill says if you are selling alcohol and serving it on-site, you must have a permit to do that, plain and simple. Click here for more.
House Bill 1731 would allow museums to notify museum item owners that they have unclaimed property in a more modern way. Currently, they use publications in newspapers and older methods of contact, which are not often seen by the public. This would allow them to contact property owners via email, phone, or text and document their contact. Click here for more.
I will keep you posted on these and other important bills throughout the remainder of the 2025 session.
Hood River Bridge
I want to alert you to another important issue for our district: the Hood River Bridge project. Washington has dedicated about $75 million for the bridge, but we still need roughly $50 million more. I recently met with folks from the Hood River Bridge replacement project, and they indicated that right now is an extremely critical time in the process. While we are trying to lower the cost of the bridge, we will need more funding to complete it.
I implore anyone who cares about this project to contact the transportation chairs in both the House (Jake Fey) and Senate (Marko Liias) to advocate for the last $50 million of this bridge. If we don’t, we will likely lose vital federal funding. For the Gorge, this is a mega project. Ultimately, we have a lot of commerce that goes back and forth just between Hood River and White Salmon. It would help tremendously to get this bridge back up and running and lift the weight restriction if we had a new bridge. To learn more about this issue, click here to listen to a recent interview I did on KIHR Radio.
Update on the Road Usage Charge Legislation
You may have heard about the road usage charge bill from the majority party. House Bill 1921 would implement a 2.6-cent-per-mile road usage charge for highway maintenance and preservation. This would be on top of the current state gas tax, essentially creating a double tax on drivers. An additional assessment (10% of the road usage charge) would be allocated to rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transit projects. Nearly 20,000 people signed in against the bill during a public hearing on Feb. 13. Fortunately, the bill did not get voted out of the House Transportation Committee. However, that does not mean it’s dead. The majority party could still move the bill forward all the way up till the last day of session on the basis that it’s necessary to implement the budget. I will keep you posted if there is a change. In any case, this is a bad policy that would hurt Washingtonians. We will continue fighting against it.
Stop Bad Bills
Speaking of bad bills, House Republicans have introduced a new website detailing some of the worst bills this session. I encourage you to learn about these bills by visiting this website: Stop Bad Bills. This page includes detailed information, news articles, and videos explaining why these policies would harm Washington. Please visit this valuable resource and take the survey or share your story about how bad bills have impacted you or your family. This is a great tool for you to make your voice heard.
Thank You for Your Support
Your input is so valuable in the legislative process. Thank you for contacting me and sharing your feedback. Please continue reaching out. It’s an honor to serve you.
Kevin Waters
