Washington’s 2024 legislative session adjourns after lawmakers killed two of the year’s highest-profile bills

OLYMPIA – State lawmakers spent the last day of Washington’s legislative session finalizing the state’s supplemental operating budget, passing some final bills and bidding adieu to a number of elected officials who will not run for re-election in the fall.

It was a fairly quiet end to their 60-day session, and the (legislative) happenings wrapped up around 7 p.m. – a surprise to some because the state House didn’t adjourn after 2 a.m. multiple days over the course of the session.

Just after 9 p.m. Thursday evening, a large crowd could be overheard singing along to “Hey, Soul Sister,” a chipper 2009 radio hit by pop-rock band Train. The karaoke party appeared to be taking place in the Senate caucus room on an upper floor of the Legislative Building, where flashing colorful lights could be seen through a window.

On Thursday night, Gov. Jay Inslee said 2024 was a “banner year” in the state’s policy-making. Last year, the three-term governor announced he will not run for a fourth term.

“We’re going to move the needle on behavioral health in the next few years,” Inslee said. “I’m really happy about that: More help for Tribes, schools and public health organizations in the fight against the fentanyl crisis.”

As the session wrapped up, a number of veteran legislators followed suit in announcing they will not run for another term, including Spokane lawmaker and Senate Majority leader Andy Billig and former House Republican Leader, J.T. Wilcox, of Yelm.

Over the course of two months, lawmakers attempted to tackle some of Washington’s biggest challenges, including the housing shortage, behavioral health crisis and climate change.

After both chambers adjourned for the year on Thursday, Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said she was proud of the work done by lawmakers this session and pointed out about 80% of the legislation passed this session did so with bipartisan support.

The progressive wing of the state’s Democratic majority packed up shop in Olympia feeling disappointed after failing to get some of the year’s most high-profile measures across the finish line, including a bill that would have limited rent hikes in the state and a bill that would have increased regulations on hospital mergers in the state.

Another casualty from this year’s session was a measure backed by Inslee that would have required oil companies to open their books to let the public know more about gas prices and big business profits.

In the realm of public safety, lawmakers moved forward a bill to ban police from hogtying people – a brutal practice of handcuffing a person’s wrists to bound ankles. Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice has advised law enforcement agencies against using hogtying as a tactic to restrain people, saying there are much safer, non-life-threatening ways to restrain people.

The Legislature this year also passed a measure to ban the open carry of guns at a number of public locations, including libraries, parks, bus stops and zoos.

Washington became the 11th state in the country this week to ban the controversial practice of child marriage after Inslee signed one of the first bills to pass through the Legislature this year. And courts in the state will now be required to try minors based on the age they were at the time an alleged crime was committed.

Lawmakers this year also passed a controversial citizen-led initiative to loosen restrictions on police pursuits in the state. Effective in June, Initiative 2113 will overturn the state law preventing an officer from embarking on a car chase until they have “reasonable suspicion” a person has committed certain crimes, such as a violent offense or driving while drunk, high or on drugs.

Then there’s the money.

The state carves out the way it will spend most of its multibillion -dollar budget every other year. 2024 was a supplemental budget year, meaning the state had less cash to move than it will next year. But with such a large wallet, lawmakers still spent a lot of money.

For Spokane County, the Legislature agreed to send just shy of $1 million to help with recovery and cleanup after last August’s Gray and Oregon Road fires. The state will also invest millions of dollars in the expansion of a local behavioral health treatment center and replacement of boilers for an aluminum factory in the county.

If you lost an hour of sleep to Daylight Saving time last night and are upset, you can blame lawmakers who killed a controversial bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Madden, R-Spokane Valley, that would have “ditched the switch” and put Washington on Pacific Standard Time permanently.

As the state’s more than 100 lawmakers travel back to their respective districts around Washington, many will return to their regular day jobs as farmers, minor league sports team owners, lawyers and city staff.

In nine months, they will make their way back to Olympia to do the whole lawmaking thing again for the 2025 legislative session. Next year’s session will be longer – 105 days instead of this year’s 60 – and with a new governor and Senate majority leader steering the ship, the politicians will have their work cut out for them.