OLYMPIA, Wash. — There are lots of unknowns heading into the final days of the 2024 legislative session.
Before the session is set to end March 7, House and Senate leaders need to pass supplemental budgets, figure out what to do about a proposed rent stabilization bill, and will hear from hundreds of citizens on three initiatives.
Enough signatures were gathered in 2023 to send six initiatives to the legislature.
House and Senate leaders have decided to send three of those initiatives directly to voters in November: the initiatives to repeal the state’s capital gains tax and climate law, and a measure to allow citizens to opt-out of the long-term care payroll deduction program.
The other three will receive one-hour public hearings.
Hundreds of people have signed up to testify on all three of the initiatives. One to prohibit the state or local governments from establishing income taxes, a measure guaranteeing parents the right to accessing their child’s educational and medical records, and the initiative to rollback restrictions on police pursuits passed in 2021.
A spokesperson for Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins said no decision has been announced regarding what will happen with those measures after the public hearings.
The income tax issue will be heard Tuesday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., a hearing is scheduled on the parental rights initiative Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., followed by a public hearing on the vehicular pursuit law at 9 a.m. Wednesday.