ANALYSIS: Sen. Mark Schoesler’s list of 'good' and 'bad' bills in Olympia

Good Bill of the Week: SB 5060 (from Jan. 24 E-Commentary)

For years, I have included a Bad Bill of the Week in my E-Commentary editions during a legislative session because I want you and other readers to know about some of the bad or silly proposals introduced by some legislators. Of course, there are many, many good bills that are introduced as well, and an E-Commentary reader recently emailed to suggest I start a Good Bill of the Week feature. I agree, so starting this week I will highlight a good bill.

The first proposal to earn this positive distinction is Senate Bill 5060, introduced by Sen. Jeff Holy, the Republican leader on the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Senator Holy serves the neighboring 6th District, which covers the area north and west of Spokane, and as a retired Spokane police officer is well aware of the lack of officers in communities throughout our state. In fact, Washington ranks 51st in the nation (including the District of Columbia) in the number of law-enforcement officers per capita. The extremely low number of officers is a key reason why crime has risen throughout our state in recent years.

SB 5060 aims to fix this problem by having the state Criminal Justice Training Commission develop and implement a grant program to help local and tribal governments hire law-enforcement officers. A $100 million appropriation from the state general fund would support the grant program. Governor Ferguson has publicly supported SB 5060 and the $100 million for it. In fact, Ferguson said he would not sign a state operating budget that did not include that $100 million.

SB 5060 received a public hearing Tuesday this week in the Law and Justice Committee and then was amended and approved by that panel yesterday.

Good Bill of the Week: SB 5424 (from Jan. 31 E-Commentary)

One of our state’s four-year higher-ed institutions, The Evergreen State College in Olympia, has seen a steady decline in enrollment in recent years. In fact, its full-time enrollment was down to 2,386 students in 2024, which was exactly the same enrollment level it had in 1982, over 40 years ago, and less than half of what it was around 2010.

Many people around Washington would love to simply shut the Evergreen campus down, but one of my colleagues, Senate Republican Leader John Braun of Centralia, has a better idea. He recently introduced Senate Bill 5424, which would retire “The Evergreen State College” and transfer its powers and property to the University of Washington as the new “UW Health Sciences Campus.”

There is a real need for additional health-care workers to respond to what some are calling the “Silver Tsunami” of older people whose medical needs are expected to be far greater than what the state’s current health-care system can handle.

Converting Evergreen into a new health-sciences campus for the UW would do much to build a health-care workforce that can support communities throughout Washington.

SB 5424 is a worthwhile proposal, and is my Good Bill of the Week. The measure is now in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.

Good Bill of the Week: SB 5026 (from Feb. 7 E-Commentary)

For years, the state Department of Transportation and transportation leaders in the Legislature have been warning there isn’t enough state gas-tax money coming in to pay for all of the proposed highway construction or maintenance projects that WSDOT says are needed. One reason is that more people in Washington are buying electric vehicles – and EVs don’t need gas, so EVs owners aren’t paying gas taxes.

For years, some of my Republican colleagues have been trying to get the Legislature to address this less-than-ideal revenue situation by devoting the tax collected from vehicle sales to transportation projects in Washington. This year’s try comes from Yakima Sen. Curtis King, the Republican leader on the Senate Transportation Committee, who has introduced Senate Bill 5026. There is a direct and obvious connection between a vehicle purchase and using the sales-tax money from that purchase to help pay for transportation projects in our state. SB 5026 is currently in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It is my Good Bill of the Week.

Bad Bill of the Week: HB 1196 (Jan. 10)

Among the many bills “prefiled” by legislators ahead of this year’s session are a few that caused me to roll my eyes. One is House Bill 1196, which would revoke someone’s voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death. Under current state law, convicted criminals lose their voting rights while incarcerated. I strongly believe that convicted criminals should not have their voting rights restored until they are released from a corrections facility and they have paid whatever restitution that was part of their sentence. To me, this bill is just another attempt to let convicted criminals vote before they have repaid their debt to society.

Bad Bill of the Week: SB 5159 (Jan. 17)

With the legislative session a week old, there has been a barrage of bills introduced the past several days. As you can guess, a few of them are head-scratchers. The one that I’ve chosen as my Bad Bill of the Week is Senate Bill 5159. This proposal, which is in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, would establish “Trick-or-Treat Day” either on the last Friday or the last Saturday of October. The language in the first section of this unneeded bill explains the sponsors’ intent:

The legislature finds that the celebration of Halloween is a centuries old tradition celebrated by children and the young at heart across Washington state. The celebration of this holiday on October 31st when it falls during the school week, however, has created a number of negative consequences including learning loss and absenteeism on the day of and the day following Halloween. It also makes it more difficult for families to celebrate the holiday together. The legislature finds that establishing a "Trick-or-Treat Day" the weekend prior to the first day of November will reduce stress for families and improve public safety by allowing children to begin earlier in the day before nightfall and reduce accidents and fatalities by allowing for roads to be closed that are utilized by commuters during the school week.

Our state does not need to establish a separate holiday around Halloween just so kids can go trick-or-treating on a weekend.

Bad Bill of the Week: HB 1334 (Jan. 24)

Several Democrats in the Legislature have been talking for a couple of months about wanting to raise taxes or create new taxes on hard-working Washingtonians. One example of their chronic thirst for more revenue for the state is a bill that recently was introduced over in the House.

It’s House Bill 1334, which has been sent to the House Finance Committee for consideration. This proposal would triple the annual regular property tax revenue growth limit from 1% to 3%.

So far, HB 1334 has not been scheduled for a public hearing, but unfortunately there is plenty of time for that to happen before any committee deadlines arrive.

The 1% property tax cap has provided property owners with some protection for hard-working families across the state.

I’ve already received several emails from 9th District constituents who expressed disgust with HB 1334. They flat-out oppose this proposal. And these aren't "robo" emails but emails that are written from scratch.

Allowing nonvoter-approved property tax rate hikes would fly in the face of what families and businesses across the state need.

If it is passed by the House and comes over to the Senate, you can be assured that I will be a loud and clear “no” vote on it.

Bad Bill of the Week: SB 5181 (Jan. 31)

Some Olympia-watchers will remember the Legislature last year passed Initiative 2081, known as the parental-rights initiative. This measure guaranteed Washington parents 15 rights related to the education of their children, including the right to receive prior notification from the school when non-emergency medical services are offered to their child. The law, which took effect in June, also gives parents the right to be notified when the school has arranged directly or indirectly for medical treatment that results in follow-up care beyond normal school hours.

Now, less than a year after the Legislature gave a thumbs-up to this initiative – which came to us thanks to the I-2081 petitions signed in 2023 by about 454,000 Washington voters – Senate Democrats are trying to undermine this parent-friendly law through a new proposal. Their Senate Bill 5181 was passed by the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee last week, and it’s expected to reach the Senate floor for a full Senate vote as early as next Wednesday, February 5.

SB 5181 is my Bad Bill of the Week.

It’s bad because it would end the right of parents to receive prior notification from the school when non-emergency medical services are offered to their child. It would end the right of parents to be notified when the school has arranged directly or indirectly for medical treatment that results in follow-up care beyond normal school hours. Under this bill, schools would only have to disclose such information, not proactively notify parents. There is a big difference.

The parental-rights law also gives school districts 10 business days to provide a child’s education records, after a request is made. However, SB 5181 would extend this deadline to 45 days. That’s a month and a half.

The efforts by Senate Democrats to ramrod SB 5181 through this session is a betrayal of the parents and guardians who were relieved to finally have a state law that offers a way to a more transparent relationship with their local schools. Now, that transparency is in danger of being weakened or disappearing altogether.

Bad Bill of the Week: HB 1630 (Feb. 7)

As I read through the bills being introduced each day by my fellow legislators, I come across a few that make me wonder if some of my colleagues are either bored or have zero understanding about food production – or both.

One such proposal is House Bill 1630. It would require dairy farms and feedlots to provide annual reports to the state Department of Ecology on their total metric tons of methane emitted by their cows in the previous calendar year. We’re talking about cow flatulence and bovine burps, folks.

Under what some are derisively calling the “cow fart bill,” if Ecology finds enough methane is produced to equal 25,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, these farms or feedlots probably would be placed under the Climate Commitment Act as officially covered entities.

In other words, if you’re a dairy farmer or if you operate a feedlot, you and your cows could fall under “cap and tax.” This would require dairy farmers and feedlot operators to compete with other businesses for carbon allowances under CCA.

It's bad enough that gasoline and other fuel are much higher here in Washington than in other states thanks to cap and tax. If HB 1630 becomes law, prices for Washington-made milk, cheese, beef and other products coming from cows could rise substantially as well.

This stinker of a bill is an easy pick for Bad Bill of the Week.