A new analysis from nonpartisan legislative staff shows that 95.89 percent of bills that passed the legislature in 2023 did so with bipartisan support. The legislature passed 487 bills during the 2023 legislative session, 467 of which received the ‘yes’ vote of at least one Republican senator or representative.
“When I’m out in our community talking to people, I think the thing that surprises them most is how much we work together,” Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig said. “I’m so proud of the collaborative spirit of our legislative work, a great example of that was the bipartisan work done on the Blake bill.
“Of course there are still areas where we disagree with our Republican colleagues. Our Democratic majorities have had to go it alone on issues important to Washingtonians such as gun safety, reproductive freedom, tax reform and climate change. But our legislature has shown that we can disagree without being disagreeable, that we can find areas of agreement and government can work as intended.”
This work builds on bipartisan efforts from previous years:
- In 2022, 291 of 308 bills passed with at least one Republican ‘yes’ vote. (94.48 percent)
- In 2021, 310 of 334 bills passed with at least one Republican ‘yes’ vote (92.81 percent)
- In the 2019-20 biennium, 812 of 854 bills passed with at least one Republican ‘yes’ vote (95.08 percent)
