News Releases

OLYMPIA — Bipartisan legislation ensuring the state’s Medicaid program continues to cover HIV antiviral drugs without prior authorization was signed into law Friday. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), requires the Health Care Authority continue covering all HIV antiviral drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration without prior authorization for clients enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. The Legislature appropriated funds for this coverage in the 2023-25 operating budget, and the bill ...

OLYMPIA — The 2025-27 bipartisan transportation package passed the Senate Saturday.  The bipartisan package, which includes a spending plan, revenue bill, and bond bill, closes the $1 billion shortfall in the state’s budget for the 2025-27 biennium and commits funding levels through 2031. The balanced, six-year plan invests about $9.2 billion to ensure the state can complete promised projects, preserve and maintain infrastructure, and increase road safety.  Read More

OLYMPIA — A bipartisan bill creating an alternative siting pathway for fusion power projects passed the Senate unanimously Wednesday. House Bill 1018, the companion to legislation originally introduced by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), allows fusion energy projects to use the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s centralized permitting process that other energy facilities, like wind and solar, can already opt in to. Fusion energy uses extreme heat and pressure to “fuse” atoms together, releasing immense energy, ...

OLYMPIA — The Senate released its 2025-27 transportation budget, which includes two bipartisan proposals charting different funding paths for the state’s transportation system. One proposal postpones projects and reduces state agency operating costs to close the $1 billion shortfall in the 2025-2027 budget, while the other includes a revenue and spending package to account for the budget gap and keep Washington moving ahead. The all-cuts proposal reduces the capital project budget by $941 million and state agency operating costs by $156 million. ...

OLYMPIA — The Senate Transportation Committee will release its 2025-2027 bipartisan budget Monday, March 24. A press release with information on the proposal’s key elements will be sent at about 11 a.m., and a media availability will be held at the same time for budget leaders to answer questions from press. Who: Sen. Marko Liias, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee Sen. Curtis King, ranking member of the Senate Transportation Committee Sen. Bill Ramos, vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee Sen. Keith Goehner, assistant ranking ...

OLYMPIA – A bill giving the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) more tools to deliver large construction projects on an expedited — and less costly — timeline passed the Senate on a 48-1 vote Tuesday. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), allows WSDOT to deliver large construction projects using alternative delivery methods and financing mechanisms. “We cannot afford business as usual when it comes to transportation projects. Our costs are rising too fast, and projects are taking too ...

OLYMPIA — Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) issued the following statement March 11 after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rescinded the Biden administration’s memos on factoring environmental justice into infrastructure decisions: “Our historic transportation decisions have sometimes had devastating consequences for Washingtonians, whether it was the destruction and displacement of vibrant ethnic communities when I-5 and I-90 were built or the lasting consequences on tribal fisheries from fish barriers on state highways. While the Trump Administration is walking away from correcting these ...

OLYMPIA — A bipartisan bill increasing penalties for some repeat traffic offenses passed the Senate on a 48-1 vote Monday. With traffic deaths at a 33-year high, the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), aims to reduce fatalities by doubling penalties for drivers who repeat the same offense within a two-year period. The bill focuses on behaviors most associated with traffic deaths and serious injury crashes, such as speeding or not wearing a seat belt. Liias introduced the bill after ...