Washington Legislature Kicks off Significant Budget Session

The Washington Legislature officially gaveled in for its 2025 legislative session on Monday with lawmakers returning to the Capitol and diving right into committee working sessions and swearing in newly elected members of the Senate and House.

While the first week of some state sessions can largely be ceremonial, Washington’s Legislature dives right into action with more than 500 bills already introduced, with a few thousand more likely left in the coming weeks.

Wednesday will see the new statewide elected officials sworn into office officially including the new governor, attorney general, insurance commissioner, and lands commissioner. Governor-elect Ferguson will also give his inaugural state of the state Wednesday as well.

GoWest is already running quickly (and has been for weeks) especially following the introduction of a highly problematic bill that would eliminate interchange fees on sales tax and tips. There may be opportunities to engage on this in the coming weeks and months but for now GoWest is working directly with key legislators to educate them on the payments system, significant problems with the proposed legislation, and identify other policy mechanisms that can achieve the same goals without impacting the global payments system.

The advocacy blog will be updated frequently throughout the legislative session so please keep an eye out for timely updates. If there are ever topics relevant to the state legislative session that you would like to learn more about please always feel free to contact us so we can ensure you’re getting the information you need.

Happy 2025 legislative session!

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Washington Advocacy.