2025 Washington State Legislative Scorecard

Future 42 is releasing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive scorecard highlighting key votes taken by the 146 legislators during the 2025 legislative session. This information is critical in order to ensure that Washingtonians are informed on bills which were passed, how those bills will impact their lives, and who voted for/against those bills. 

The 2025 Washington State legislative session included debate and action on several key bills which will affect the daily lives of Washingtonians. This year was a “long session” of 105 days and included the passage of the capital budget, the biennial $78 billion state operating budget, and the transportation budget/tax package in addition to several policy bills. While there were over 2,000 bills proposed during the legislative session, this Future 42 legislative scorecard focuses on the 19 which are most consequential and that received votes on the floor of the House, Senate, or both.

These 19 bills have been broken into four categories:

1. Public Safety – does this bill make our state safer and more livable?
2. Regulations – does this bill foster an environment for our citizens and business to thrive?
3. Taxes – does this bill lower the tax burden on Washingtonians?
4. Good Government – does this bill promote transparency and responsible, competent delivery of core government services?
   

If the answer to the above questions is “no,” a vote for that bill is scored negatively and a vote against it is scored positively – and vice versa.

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed each bill featured in this scorecard into law except ones that did not reach his desk, which were HB 1113, SB 5278, and SB 5810.

Click here or the image below to see the full scorecard. Click here to look up your lawmakers on Future 42’s Take Action tool.

Below, you will find a description of each individual bill. In addition, you will find a full matrix detailing how our State Senators and Representatives voted on these bills and whether or not their votes aligned with Future 42’s position, which is based on our mission statement.

We hope this legislative scorecard will help to better inform residents and shed light on which legislators have voted in favor/opposition to public safety, regulatory reductions, lowering the cost of living, and government accountability.

Please share this scorecard and help your neighbors learn more about what your elected officials are standing for in Olympia.

PUBLIC SAFETY

• HB 1113 – Gives new authority to judges to dismiss criminal charges (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Darya Farivar (D-LD46), allows judges to dismiss misdemeanor charges, effectively enabling criminal activity by removing the consequences of crimes. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it erodes public safety. The House voted 50-46 to pass a substitute version of the bill; however, the bill died in the Senate without a floor vote.
• HB 1815 – Eliminates prison riot felony charges for youth convicts (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Strom Peterson (D-LD21), eliminates the current felony charge for youth who participate in a prison riot. It also allows for prior convictions to be retroactively vacated. As a result, violent behavior from incarcerated youth is enabled, putting staff at criminal justice facilities and other youth at risk. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it erodes public safety. The Senate voted 27-21 to pass an amended version of the bill, and the House voted 58-37 to concur
• SB 5004 – Mandating school security panic buttons (Support). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres (R-LD15), requires panic buttons and other emergency response systems to be implemented in schools, allowing for faster law enforcement response times to emergency situations. Future 42 supported this legislation as it enhances public safety. The House voted 98-0 to pass an amended version of the bill, and the Senate voted 49-0 to concur.
• SB 5278 – Addressing overcrowding at juvenile detention centers (Support). This bill, sponsored by Sen. John Braun (R-LD20), addresses existing safety concerns regarding overcrowding of juvenile detention centers by allowing the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) additional flexibility to transfer adults over the age of 18 to the Department of Corrections (DOC). Future 42 supported this legislation as it enhances public safety. The Senate voted 49-0 to pass a substitute version of the bill; however, the bill died in the House as majority party leadership refused to bring it to the floor to be considered for a vote.

REGULATIONS

• HB 1213 – Paid sick leave expansion (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry (D-LD36), expands the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. This will add financial and administrative burdens on small businesses by eliminating exemptions, reducing the eligibility threshold for employees, and increasing administrative tasks to ensure compliance. This will deter business expansion, entrepreneurship, and job creation. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases regulatory burdens. The Senate voted 28-20 to pass an amended version of the bill, and the House voted 57-38 to concur.
• HB 1217 – Enacting rent restrictions that will limit the supply of housing (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Emily Alvarado (D-LD34), imposes statewide rent control. This will have significant negative impacts on the rental housing market by reducing supply, ultimately harming renters in addition to landlords. Our state has set a goal of creating more affordable housing, including over one million new units by 2044. However, this legislation makes these affordable housing goals less attainable. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it will decrease housing supply, thereby increasing the cost of housing. The Senate voted 27-20 and the House voted 54-44 to pass the bill as recommended by conference committee.
• HB 1912 – Climate Commitment Act fix – confirming an exemption for agricultural industry, farms (Support). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Dent (R-LD13), fixes a component of the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) by exempting fuels used for agriculture, thereby providing the financial relief to farmers that had been promised to them when the CCA originally passed. Future 42 supported this legislation as it decreases regulatory burdens. The Senate voted 49-0 to pass an amended version of the bill, and the House voted 94-2 to concur.
• SB 5041 – Unemployment benefits for striking workers (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-LD3), provides unemployment insurance to striking workers, including six weeks of paid benefits. This incentivizes strikes, including for public sector employees such as teachers, increases costs for businesses, and creates instability in the state unemployment insurance system. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases regulatory burdens. The House voted 51-45 and the Senate voted 27-21 to pass the bill as recommended by conference committee.
• SB 5284 – Environmental packaging bill (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Liz Lovelett (D-LD40), requires manufacturers of packaging and paper products to fund recycling services, the costs of which will inevitably be passed on to consumers. This will lead to higher prices for groceries and other products. In addition, the bill includes arbitrary exemptions which create an uneven playing field, delegates implementation authority to rulemaking processes, and will have an overall disproportionate impact on small businesses. Producers are required by the legislation to join a “producer responsibility organization” (PRO), creating a new level of state bureaucracy. Producers which do not join a PRO will be prohibited from selling products in Washington State. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases regulatory burdens. The House voted 51-45 to pass an amended version of the bill, and the Senate voted 27-21 to concur.

TAXES

• HB 2081 – Increasing business and consumer costs by raising B&O taxes (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-LD34), increases the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax rate for certain industries, particularly harming small businesses while allowing for exemptions for larger corporations. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases the tax burden. The House voted 50-48 and the Senate voted 26-22 to pass a substitute version of the bill.
• SB 5801 – Gas tax increase (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-LD21), includes a 6-cent per gallon gas tax increase, raising the total state gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon, as well as other fees such as a luxury vehicle tax and a tire disposal fee. The legislation also includes an automatic 2% yearly inflation adjustment to the gas tax. In addition, the bill directs more funding toward non-road projects. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases the tax burden. The House voted 51-47 to pass an amended version of the bill and the Senate voted 31-17 to concur.
• SB 5810 – Senate Republicans’ budget plan / no new tax budget amendment (Support). This budget plan, which was originally proposed as a bill and later as an amendment, was sponsored by Sen. Chris Gildon (R-LD25). The proposal was brought forward by Senate Republicans as a “no new taxes” plan to balance the state budget. The plan called for achieving a balanced budget by reducing wasteful spending while still increasing the size of government, providing a bonus to state employees, and more — without increasing taxes. Future 42 supported this legislation as it reduced the tax burden and made state government more efficient. The Senate voted 29-19 to defeat this amendment, and it did not receive a floor vote in the House.
• SB 5813 – Increasing the income tax on capital gains and death taxes (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson (D-LD30), increases the income tax on capital gains from 7% to 9.9% on earnings in excess of $1 million. The legislation also increases death taxes on estates by up to 15%, depending on the taxable estate value. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increased the tax burden. The House voted 53-45 to pass an amended version of the bill and the Senate voted 27-21 to concur.
• SB 5814 – Increasing consumer costs by raising sales taxes (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame (D-LD36), increases consumer costs by expanding the sales tax. New services which were previously exempted that will now be subject to the sales tax include information technology, advertising, security, and staffing businesses. These costs will be passed on to consumers through higher prices and will stunt economic growth. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it increases the tax burden. The House voted 50-47 to pass an amended version of the bill and the Senate voted 26-22 to concur.

GOOD GOVERNMENT

• HB 1296 – Weakening the parental bill of rights (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Monica Stonier (D-LD49), weakens the popular parental bill of rights which was previously enacted into state law following a successful initiative (I-2081) led by Let’s Go Washington that was passed overwhelmingly by the State Legislature last year. As a result of the new legislation, parents’ rights to access their children’s medical records are removed, schools are legally allowed to delay responses to inquiries, and are mandated to adopt transgender policies in alignment with the state. School districts which do not comply with the new law can be sanctioned by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, including the option to withhold up to 20% of state funding. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it reduces transparency and harms children and families. The Senate voted 30-19 to pass an amended version of the bill and the House voted 59-39 to concur.
• HB 1531 – Infringes on the rights of those opposed to vaccines (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Bronoske (D-LD28), shuts down opposition to vaccines and infringes on individual rights to make personal decisions regarding vaccines. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it violates individual liberty. The House voted 58-35 and the Senate voted 31-18 to pass a substitute version of the bill.
• HB 1696 – Covenant Homeownership Program / subsidized financial assistance based on race (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Rep. Jamila Taylor (D-LD30), increases subsidized, race-based financial assistance through the Covenant Homeownership Program by allowing a greater percentage of individuals to qualify as eligible for government subsidies, thereby decreasing accessibility to homeownership for those who are now ineligible. Future 42 opposed this legislation as it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The House voted 57-39 and the Senate voted 30-19 to pass a substitute version of the bill.
• SB 5083 – Cutting hospital funding (Oppose). This bill, sponsored by Sen. June Robinson (D-LD38), cuts funding to hospitals from patients on state and school health insurance. The impact of the cuts will reduce healthcare access and distort the market through government price controls. Future 42 opposed this legislation as government cuts will be passed on to businesses purchasing healthcare and patients who need hospital services (those who are not insured by the state and schools). The House voted 57-39 to pass an amended version of the bill and the Senate voted 29-19 to concur.

Click here to see the full scorecard.

Click here to look up your lawmakers on Future 42’s Take Action tool.