🤝Legislative News - Week 5 Recap

Washington State Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 02/10/2025 12:05 PM PST

Feb. 10, 2025 | Session Day 29/105

What's happening?

Week 5: Two weeks until policy cutoff

As of Friday, over 1,600 bills have been introduced. Only a small percentage of these bills have the potential to affect SCC and the work of conservation districts, and we continue to monitor for impacts and opportunities. With policy cutoff approaching on February 21, we’ll have a better sense of what is moving forward.

For example, the Washington Association of Conservation Districts has been working on HB 1488/SB 5510, which addresses rates and charges for conservation districts. This bill would remove the per-parcel maximum rate and enable counties to approve rates and charges on community need. It would also limit the amount the county can charge for collecting this revenue to the actual costs or 1%, whichever is lower. Both bills received a hearing last week.

There was also a hearing on SB 5155, which would allow projects in our Sustainable Farms and Fields program to be prioritized based on their benefits for energy efficiency and fuel reduction, among other criteria. The bill also included some technical corrections to support implementation of the program.

In addition to our work at the Legislature, we’ve been building our relationship with Governor Ferguson’s office. Last week, we met with Owen Rowe, the Governor’s senior policy advisor on natural resources. He showed both enthusiasm and curiosity for the work of conservation districts and the value of voluntary, locally-led conservation. We discussed ongoing communication between SCC and the Governor’s Office, including the possibility of him attending a Commission meeting in the future.

As we meet with legislators and staff from the Governor’s Office, we have been amplifying the need to keep our programs well-funded to maintain the momentum and relationships that conservation districts have carefully built in their communities over the years.

As always, if you have any questions, please reach out!

-Dani Madrone, Legislative Director, State Conservation Commission

Resources

Get WACD's bill tracker.
Important 2025 session dates.

Headlines

Washington leaders offer more detail on federal funding blocked by Trump | Washington State Standard
Officials: WA loses access to $200M in wildfire preparedness funding | The Seattle Times
In a departure for WA governors, Ferguson avoids news conferences | The Seattle Times
WA governor orders team to study data centers’ energy, tax, jobs impact | Seattle Times
Research illuminates growing extinction threat for southern resident orcas | Seattle Times
WA’s sunny days spell trouble for snowpack | Seattle Times
Legislators eye Climate Commitment Act funding for road projects| The Spokesman-Review
House Democrats close their chamber doors to Washington governor’s staff | Washington State Standard

Legislative 101

What is the governor's role during Legislative Session?

With the Legislature in full swing and a new governor at the helm, some folks are probably wondering: what does Governor Ferguson do during his first session? As covered in a previous newsletter, Governor Inslee proposed a budget that provides the framework to guide legislative negotiations. Shortly before being sworn in, Governor Ferguson identified his own budget priorities. So… what happens now?

Currently, the ball is in the Legislature’s court. Legislators are spending long hours reviewing Governor Inslee’s proposed budgets, which have been introduced as bills and referred to the fiscal committees. On March 20, an updated revenue forecast will be released. They will use this information to craft their own budgets and advance them through the legislative process.

However, while the Legislature does their work, Governor Ferguson is unlikely to stand by and hope lawmakers can read his mind. During negotiations, he can influence the budget with his own priorities by advocating for funding, recommending cuts, and pushing policy initiatives. Legislators can incorporate his priorities into the budget, ignore them completely, or strike a balance between the Governor’s goals and their own.

Governor Ferguson’s real power comes to play as the Legislature completes its process. As bills are delivered, he will have either five days or 20 days to act on them (five days if it is more than five days from the end of session, 20 days if it is less). Typically, there will be 20 days to act on the budget bills.

As with any bill, Governor Ferguson can accept the budgets as written or use a line-item veto to remove specific sections. In an extreme situation, he could veto the budget altogether and call the Legislature back for a special session. Both full and line-item vetoes can be overridden with a two-thirds legislative vote, though this is rare. The Governor does not have the power to add or change provisions of a bill, and cannot “pocket veto,” or kill a bill by refusing to act on it. If no action is taken, the bill becomes law.