Senate Page, Victoria Wang, asks House Health Care & Wellness Committee Chair Dan Bronoske (D), and Committee Member, Andrew Engell (R), about how to improve access to affordable coverage while maintaining quality healthcare. The House Health Care & Wellness Committee considers a broad range of issues relating to the provision of physical and behavioral health care services; and strategies to promote better health. Health care service issues include the licensing and regulation of health care facilities, the credentialing of new health care professions, and the scope of practice for all healthcare professions. The committee regulates pharmacies and pharmaceutical drugs and has oversight and regulatory responsibility for state public health programs. The committee also considers issues relating to the accessibility and affordability of health care in both the private health insurance market and public health programs such as Medicaid and the state health exchange.
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Senate Page, Aanya Panwar, asks Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chair Mike Chapman (D), and Ranking Member, Ron Muzzall (R), about the economic and environmental impacts of sustainable agriculture regulations. The Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee considers issues relating to:
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What is the committee leadership perspective on balancing the need to expand housing while conserving forests? Senate Page, Abhay Sankar, asks Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chair Mike Chapman (D), and Ranking Member, Ron Muzzall (R), about the this challenge. The Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee considers issues relating to:
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Senate Page, Brielle Peterson, asks House Housing Committee Chair Strom Peterson (D), and Republican House Floor Leader, and House Housing Committee member, April Connors (R), how the legislature might manage the differences between rural and urban development objectives to address the housing shortage. The House Housing Committee considers a broad array of issues relating to housing, including accessibility, affordability, assistance, and supply; land use and zoning primarily related to residential uses; landlord-tenant law; homelessness; homeownership; farmworker housing; manufactured housing; housing authorities; and the Housing Finance Commission.
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You’ve made it to the bill info page, and now you’d like to make sense of all the resources and information on this page – Let us give you a quick rundown on all this info at your finger tips! You’ll find:• Who the sponsors are• Roll call votes• The actions taken by date• Original and revised bill versions• Bill Reports• Fiscal Notes• Amendments• Available videos
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So your bill is scheduled for a public hearing and you want to make your voice be heard – Corey can walk you through leg.wa.gov to register your position, or even sign up to testify in the committee hearing. It’s easy!
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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 Washington State Legislature runs on a series of self imposed cutoff dates. By 5pm on Friday, all bills must be passed through the Opposite House: House bills must pass through the Senate and Senate bills must pass through the House. If they do not get brought up for a vote, or they do not have the votes to pass, they are considered dead for the year. Except! Not all bills are subject to these cutoffs. Bills that deal with the budget (Operating, Capital, and Transportation) and bills that are deemed NTIB (Necessary to Implement the Budget) do not need to follow these cutoff calendars. But what does the acronym NTIB actually mean in practice? Hear from Civics Teacher for All, Ms. Paulson, and former Director of the Office of Financial Management Victor Moore, as they explains the ins and outs of NTIB bills.
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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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