As a minority party member, many of our accomplishments are not about bills we passed but about bad bills we prevented from becoming law.
This session, Senate Bill 5770 would have allowed local governments to more than double property taxes – from 1% to 3%. Without direct voter input, this would have been the largest tax increase in state history.
We were able to kill this bill in the Senate thanks to the enormous outpouring of public testimony against this ill-conceived proposal. The last thing Washington needs is fuel on the fire of our housing affordability crisis.
Other bad bills that died this session include:
- House Bill 2030 would have allowed convicted criminals – including serial murderers and rapists – to serve as jurors, vote, and run for elected office while in prison.
- House Bill 2177 would have required a sex offender to serve on the state’s sex offender policy board.
- House Bill 2051 would have banned many small gas-powered motors, such as leaf blowers, lawnmowers, and snow blowers.
- Senate Bill 5241 would have imposed costly new regulations on hospitals, limiting access to essential health care by forcing many hospitals and clinics out of business.
- House Bill 2114 would have imposed state rent control, reducing housing supply and exacerbating housing affordability in the long term.
- House Bill 1932 would have removed local control of our local elections, ending our ability to hold odd-year elections, and imposed top-down rules that would have made our elections less secure.
- House Bill 1893 would have allowed workers to collect unemployment benefits while on strike.
- House Bill 2001 would have reduced sentences for convicted criminals, while Washington