Dear neighbors,
Last week was the governor’s deadline for signing bills into law. That means we are now done with one of the most challenging sessions since I started in the Legislature. We ended on time, with a balanced budget — but we had to make many difficult decisions to get to the finish line. The budget that has been signed into law is not perfect, but it is a responsible one that protects core services. We invested in a lot of what many of us care most about — support for our public schools, housing, and public safety, while avoiding truly devastating cuts. Below, I’ll highlight what our budget accomplishes and the bills I worked on that have been signed into law.
A $16 billion budget deficit over the next four years — driven by inflation, more people relying on government services, programs set to phase in over time that were scheduled to expand, and an upside-down tax code, and chaos from the federal administration — made this session particularly challenging. In the end, we took a balanced approach to the budget situation, making responsible reductions, paired with targeted revenue increases.
We stayed focused on education funding and housing affordability. We increased funding for special education, boosted support for school operating costs, and provided additional help for students in low-income districts through local effort assistance. We must continue to build on this work to ensure we amply fund our public schools.
We also made a record investment in affordable housing, passed historic rent stabilization legislation to protect tenants from excessive rent increases, and made reforms to build additional housing and help people stay in their homes.
Bills signed into law
Several bills I worked on this year have been signed into law, including:
✅ HB 1052 cleans up language in our hate crime statute to ensure perpetrators are held accountable if evidence shows their crime is motivated “in whole or in part” because of their bias. Hate crimes are horrendous acts of violence. Unfortunately, language in our current statute causes confusion among jurors unclear whether a defendant’s bias needs to be the sole motive — leading to “not guilty” verdicts when bias is considered a motive but not the only motive.
✅ SB 5093 removes the outdated crime of “concealing a birth.” Women who miscarry or have a stillbirth should be able to make decisions about how they handle their own loss. They should be able to grieve without fear of police involvement. While Washington already prohibits criminalizing pregnancy outcomes, other states have used similar outdated laws to punish people for their pregnancy outcomes. We cannot have laws like this on our books.
✅HB 1215 ensures everyone, regardless of gender, is treated equally in our model advance directive forms. In cases of terminal illness or sudden accidents, end-of-life care instructions provide peace of mind. However, our current model advance directives are void if the patient is pregnant. This legislation changes that.
✅SB 5557 codifies existing protections established in the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act into state law. With the federal government refusing to enforce the provisions of EMTALA, it is critical in Washington we continue to ensure patients can receive emergency, stabilizing services, including abortion care when necessary.
✅HB 1484 allows courts to impose enhanced sentences in rape cases that result in pregnancy — regardless of the survivor’s age. Rape is a horrible, violent act that has life-long consequences for the survivor. We will continue to protect and support survivors.
✅ HB 1829 ensures the effective implementation of the Tribal Warrants Act we passed last year. This legislation allows Washington state law enforcement officers to enforce tribal warrants, preventing people from committing a crime on a reservation and escaping justice by leaving the reservation. With this legislation, we become the first state in the country to provide full faith and credit to tribal warrants.
✅ SB 5745 ensures civil commitment patients have the representation they are entitled to. We must make sure that patients in our state hospitals can be transferred to community-based care, such as the University of Washington’s new Center for Behavioral Health. This facility is training the next generation of providers while providing care to some of our most vulnerable mental health patients. This legislation allows local jurisdictions that can’t provide representation to contract with the state’s Office of Public Defense or a private law firm, ensuring these patients have representation.
✅ HB 1094 extends a property tax exemption to organizations that lease their service-providing property. This will affect nonprofits like the Redmond Together Center, which is home to more than 20 essential human service agencies and 280 affordable housing units. Its work empowers people to find help when they need it — something every region should have. This legislation will encourage the creation of more organizations like Together Center and reduce barriers to services.
✅ HB 1620 updates and clarifies Washington’s parenting plan statute, ensuring courts have clearer guidance in high-conflict family law cases, strengthening protections and improving outcomes for survivors and their children.
Thank you!
I’d like to thank you for your engagement this session. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who reached out to our office. Your input truly matters. Whether it’s signing in to testify, calling or emailing feedback on a bill, I take all of it into account when voting on legislation. This session, we replied to 30,000 emails, answered about 500 calls, and helped resolve more than 20 cases.
As always, please stay in touch. My office is ready to help in any way we can.
Sincerely,
Manka Dhingra
Senator, 45th Legislative District
Deputy Majority Leader
