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June 11, 2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The 2025 legislative session may have been the most intense session I have been a part of in my 11 years serving the 13th District. Important and controversial legislation was constantly changing over the 15-week session.

There were some positives to take away from the session. I worked across party lines to get six bills signed into law. However, when the 105-day session concluded, there were also many pieces of legislation passed that will hurt folks in Washington state financially and economically.

This update provides an overview of the good and bad of the legislative session. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the update or other state government issues.

Six bills cross the governor’s desk

While the session was contentious at times, I was able to work with legislators from both sides to pass legislation in many areas. Here is a breakdown:

House Bill 1912 gives the agricultural community the farm fuel exemptions they were promised when the Climate Commitment Act was passed. The new law will make it easier for farmers to use the fuel exemption by establishing a public directory to find sellers who offer point of sale on- and off-road agricultural exempt fuel.

House Bill 1648 extends qualification timelines for child care and early learning providers, recognizing experience-based competency, and removing unnecessary barriers that push skilled professionals out of the workforce. This legislation comes from the child care providers. I have been working with them for several years to address our child care crisis. Click Regulatory relief on the way for childcare centers in Washington (The Center Square) for more information.

House Bill 1522 focuses on making sure regulated electric utilities have a clear, reviewed, and approved plan for reducing wildfire risks. The new law requires regulated utilities to submit their wildfire mitigation plans to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission for review and approval. 

House Bill 1294 extends the Pesticide Application Safety Committee through 2035. The committee brings together agency leaders, farmworkers, university researchers, and health professionals to keep improving pesticide safety across Washington.

House Bill 1705 addresses Washington’s growing shortage of large animal veterinarians by creating a temporary work group to recommend solutions for recruiting, training, and retaining veterinarians in rural areas. The WSU Division of Governmental Studies and Services will convene the work group.

House Bill 1650 allows the governing bodies of small and regional airports the option to use existing local real estate excise tax dollars to fund airport improvement projects. This will help communities upgrade and maintain critical infrastructure.

Record spending and taxes

The 2025–27 operating budget spends almost $78 billion, an increase of 8%. That is significant because before the legislative session, the governor discussed cutting government spending, and limiting tax and fee increases. As you may recall, I served on his transition team and that was part of the focus in discussions related to the budget. I am disappointed in this spending plan. Too read my statement on the budget click here.

Unfortunately, he signed a record budget along with $9.5 billion in tax increases over the next four years. The operating budget has more than doubled since my first session in 2015. See the graph below.

The Seattle Times editorial board wrote:

“No matter how hard ruling Democrats try to steer a buffet of tax hikes toward businesses and wealthier Washingtonians, they will make life costlier for all, including those who can least afford it.”

Read more here: Ruling Democrats, your tax hikes come at a cost to all WA residents

The taxes

To fund their increase in spending, they passed new taxes or increased several taxes and fees. Click “How you will be taxed” for more details. Below is also a breakdown of some of the taxes and fees you will be paying:

• House Bill 2049  – Raises local school levy caps by 55%, effectively hiking property taxes.
• House Bill 2081 – All base B&O tax rates raised by .5%, plus an additional punitive business tax surcharge of .5% on businesses grossing over $250 million.
• Senate Bill 5814 – Expands the sales tax to advertising services, digital marketing, security services, and nicotine products used to quit smoking.
• Senate Bill 5813 – Reduces the capital gains threshold from $1 million to $262,000. It also narrows estate tax exemptions. This will greatly impact small and family-owned businesses.
• Senate Bill 5794 – Ends tax incentives for gold, energy assistance and storage services.
• House Bill 2077 – Adds excise taxes on Tesla’s zero-emission vehicle credits.
• House Bill 2081 – Raises business taxes and adds new industry surcharges.
• Senate Bill 5390 – Raises Discover Pass fees by 50%.
• Senate Bill 5583 – Increases hunting and fishing license fees by 38%.
• House Bill 1392 – Imposes new taxes on private health insurance.
• House Bill 2003 – Adds enhanced fees for salmon fishing licenses.

Washington citizens are already struggling with affordability issues, as our state is one of the most expensive in the nation for groceries, housing, gas prices, sales tax rates and many other things. Unfortunately, this session will tighten the squeeze on their pocketbooks even more.

Protecting parental rights

Our caucus worked hard to protect Initiative 2081, the Parental Bill of Rights, which was passed by the Legislature last year. Unfortunately, the majority passed House Bill 1296 which guts the bill. There was a long, intense debate on the bill, and we offered several amendments. We did get one passed that requires schools to immediately notify parents if their child is sexually abused by school staff. However, other common-sense protections were blocked or voted down, including:

• Requiring schools to offer same-sex bathrooms and locker rooms to protect privacy, especially for girls.
• Giving parents more rights to view curriculum.
• Banning pornographic materials.
• Forcing schools to tell parents if they allow students to leave campus without permission.

The initiative passed the Legislature last year with strong, bipartisan support. Let’s not forget the almost 450,000 people who signed the initiative to send it to the Legislature for their consideration.

It was very disappointing to see this pushed through under these circumstances. Parents deserve transparency.

Other concerning legislation

A few more bills that passed you should be aware of this session were rent control, providing unemployment benefits for striking workers, and expanding the requirements for the purchase, transfer, and possession of firearms.

I fear rent control will worsen our housing crisis. Paying striking workers will hurt business and could incentivize workers to walk off the job. And, the firearms legislation infringes on your Second Amendment rights.

Good bills signed into law

On a positive note, we were able to pass several good bills.

• Lot splitting (HB 1096);
• Minors in CTE programs/work (HB 1121);
• Disabled veterans property tax (HB 1106);
• Sexually violent predators electronic monitoring (HB 1457);  
• Litter penalties (HB 1293); and
• Manufactured home titles (HB 1191).  

Building our communities

Additional positive results of the session include a bipartisan capital budget. The capital spending plan does not impact the operating budget, as it is funded primarily through long-term tools such as general obligation bonds and dedicated state accounts. Funds support infrastructure and projects throughout our state for things such as schools, public safety, historic preservation and protecting our environment. Here is a brief list of projects in the 13th District:

• $7.8 million for the HopeSource Teanaway Court affordable housing project.
• $6.3 million to renovate the Sun Lakes-Dry Falls Visitor Center.
• $3.8 million for Ephrata Landfill Remediation to prepare land for future use.
• $3.2 million for the Airlift Northwest Hangar at Pangborn Memorial Airport.
• $3.1 million for Cle Elum Ridge Community Forest Phase Two.
• $3 million for upgrades to the Quincy Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• $810,000 for treatment of Moses Lake Well 29.
• $464,00 for the Coulee City rodeo grounds.
• $258,000 for the Othello rodeo bleachers.
• $250,000 for Teanaway Trails and Recreation.
• $155,000 for the Upper Kittitas County Community Recreation Center.
• $103,000 for the Cle Elum Boys and Girls Club Clubhouse.

For a full list of projects, click here and select “13th Legislative District” in the District dropdown.

Following your state government

Even though the Legislature has adjourned, it is important to stay up to date on what is happening with our state government. I urge you to stay engaged. You can follow news related to our state government on the websites below. The Capitol Buzz and Ledger are updated daily.

• Capitol Buzz – Daily news clips | Daily news clips.
• The Ledger | A legislative news aggregator.
• The Current | An online legislative publication from the Washington House Republicans.

Please remember I work for you year-round. If you need assistance navigating state government, would like to schedule a meeting, or would like me to tour a facility or speak to your association or organization, please contact my office. My Legislative Assistant, Jennifer is ready to assist you.

I look forward to seeing you in the 13th District this interim. It is an honor and privilege to represent the great people of our region!

Sincerely,

Tom Dent