The 2026 legislative session ended at 8:30pm on March 12th, but the law making process continues. 276 bills were passed by the state legislature in 2026, which represented less than 10% of the bills filed this year. HB 2225, regulating AI Companion Chatbots, passed both the House and the Senate on March 12th. Once a bill is passed through both the House and the Senate and is signed by both the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, it travels across the rotunda to the governor’s office. If the bill is passed fewer than five days before the end of session, he has 5 days to sign it into law. If the bill is passed within 5 days of the end of session, the governor has 20 days, not counting Sundays, to sign it into law. Once a bill does reach the governor’s desk, the governor has 4 options: Due to the complexity of the AI Chatbot legislation, it will not go into effect until January 1, 2027, giving companies time to set up compliance systems. Most of the bills passed this session, however, will go into effect on June 11, 2026.
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Legislative priorities become progressively clearer as it gets closer and closer to Sine Die (the day the legislative session is over). Even bills that have support must be pulled from the Rules Committee to even be eligible for a vote, and even if they are, they then must be called to the floor by the majority party. Both the majority and the minority party have strategies they employ during these last few weeks of session, and they all involve how to manage the clock. This week in Tech for Teens, we speak with Democratic Senator Lisa Wellman, the prime sponsor of the AI Companion Chatbot bill, and Republican Representative Travis Couture, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, about the importance of definitions in legislation, how time management works on the floor, and the differing opinions on the enforcement mechanism used in the AI Chatbot bill.
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It is officially the second half of the legislative session! On Tuesday February 17th, all bills needed to be voted off the floor in their House of Origin to stay alive. This self-imposed deadline means that many of the bills that the House and Senate were considering did not make it past this cutoff. There is simply not enough time to debate and pass all of the bills that made it through committee. Sometimes a bill does not have the votes to pass, so leadership does not bring it up for a vote. Sometimes there is not enough time to debate and vote on all the bills, so leadership has to prioritize which bill to move to the floor for a vote. Over 3,000 bills were filed during the 2026 legislative session. After the first policy committee cutoff on February 4th, 1,405 of them were still alive. After the second cutoff, House of Origin Fiscal Committee, 679 bills were still alive. Now, after the House of Origin cutoff, 401 are still alive. Tech for Teens: the Personalized/Addictive Feeds Bill (HB 1834) failed to make it to the House Floor for a vote. The AI Companion Chatbot bills (HB 2225/SB 5984) did pass through both the House and the Senate, with amendments, and will now be heard in policy committees in the opposite chambers.
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The Attorney General’s office is the law firm for the State of Washington, and, amongst many other things, is responsible for enforcing the Consumer Protection Act. The CPA is used to hold companies accountable when they break the law, harming consumers. In this episode of Legislative Branch Explained, Corey speaks directly with Attorney General Nick Brown about his support for HB 1834: Protecting Children Online, and how the AGs office would be involved in the enforcement of the bill if it passes.
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It is almost the first cutoff date of this short legislative session, which means that bills must move out of the policy committee in their house of origin if they want to stay alive. This first cutoff is on Wednesday, February 4th. HB 2225, which would regulate the use of AI companion chatbots by minors, has already passed this cutoff and is now waiting to be heard on the floor of the House for a vote of the full chamber. This week in Legislative Branch Explained, we examine the changes made to the bill between the public hearing and the executive session, focusing on the interplay between the governor’s office and the committee members as amendments to the bill language are suggested. Check out all the details on the new substitute bill in this 6 minute video.
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Legislators, while they may have expertise in certain subject matters, do not know all there is to know about every topic, so they want to (and need to) hear and learn from the public. SB 5708, protecting children online, a bill requested by the attorney general, is working its way through the legislative process. Introduced in 2025, it failed to pass through both houses, so it is alive again in this second year of the biennium. Currently, advocates and stakeholders are “working the bill”. Experts have been called in to share their expertise in a work session in the Senate Businesses, Financial Services and Trade Committee. Lobbyists who represent the tech industries have been meeting with legislators on both sides of the aisle. Advocates have been meeting with legislators, testifying in front of committees, and holding rallies to amplify their message. Learn about how people “work the bill” and more about proposed government regulations of social media for minors.
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The first week of the legislative session moves very quickly, especially during a short session. To truly understand the legislative process, it is extremely helpful to follow a bill as it makes its way through both chambers of the legislature. Teach with TVW will follow two different bills for the 2026 session: HB 2225, which proposes to regulate AI Chatbots for minors, and SB 5708, which proposes to regulate personalized feeds for minors. Both of these bills are making their way through the technology committees, one in the House and the other in the Senate. Learn the details of the AI Chatbot bill, what happened at the public hearing, and what is coming up next.
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Each year, the Washington Observer hosts their annual ReWire conference, where policy makers, advocates, and stakeholders gather to discuss the upcoming legislative session. The conference this year was dominated by discussions of the budget and how the budget will affect policy decisions on health care, energy use, and human services. Get yourself ready for the 2026 session in 3 short minutes!
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Learn about how a biennium works as you get ready for the 2026 session. The upcoming session is the short session, just 60 days, and legislators will have many issues to address, from the budgetary shortfall to pressing priorities from both political parties. Tune in to Teach with TVW each week to see how legislators are working to solve Washington’s most important problems. Essential Questions: Objectives:
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Overview: During the 2025 session, Legislative Pages (students ages 14-16) had the opportunity to interview legislators from both the Majority party and the Minority party about issues of interest. In this lesson, students will learn about where the Majority Party, currently the Democrats, and the Minority Party, currently the Republicans stand on two important policies regarding partisanship and elections. Essential Questions: Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee (2025) Overview: The Senate State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee considers issues relating to:
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