2025 Legislative Session Archives

The new laws of the land in WA

By Sophia Mattice-Aldous ● 2025 Legislative Session ● June 3, 2025

Worker protections, hate crime clarification, oversight for private detention centers and more. Here are the deets on just a few of the bills WA Governor Bob Ferguson recently signed into law.

Latest in 2025 Legislative Session

No sick time, no contracts, no breaks: domestic laborer protections fail in state legislature

By Erin Sellers ● Labor ● May 22, 2025

Organizers vow to fight even harder after failure of bill to extend state labor protections to over 100,000 Washington domestic workers.

Cap on rent increases across Washington is signed into law

By Jake Goldstein-Street ● 2025 Legislative Session ● May 9, 2025

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the rent stabilization bill on Wednesday, it takes effect immediately and will not allow for hikes of more than 10% in a year.

It’s rough to be a WA renter. A bill that could help is close to passing.

By Erin Sellers ● 2025 Legislative Session ● April 10, 2025

For some Spokanites, a 12% rent hike means forgoing medicine or turning the heat off. A rent stabilization law that would cap annual hikes at 5-to-7% is closer to passing than ever.

Large funding estimates may delay prison reform legislation

By Aaron Hedge ● 2025 Legislative Session ● February 25, 2025

Bills meant to cut incarceration costs and improve conditions face opposition as agencies cite high expenses — activists call it a kill tactic.

‘They can’t go home because they didn’t commit enough crime’

By Kevin Light-Roth ● 2025 Legislative Session ● February 25, 2025

The state lets those who committed murder as teens seek sentence reductions, but not those with less severe crimes. A bill may change that.

20+ WA state bills to keep an eye on

By Erin Sellers, Aaron Hedge, Sandra Rivera & Sophia Mattice-Aldous ● 2025 Legislative Session ● February 20, 2025

Workers’ rights, protections for undocumented immigrants and queer kids, reproductive justice, voting access for incarcerated people, and a whole lot more this Washington legislative session.

‘Scissors, scissors’: Washington patients could soon have informed consent for IUD insertions

By Erin Sellers ● Healthcare ● February 18, 2025

IUD insertions can be painful and often, patients aren’t notified of pain management options. House Bill 1077 in the WA legislature could change that.

The urbanist’s guide to bills to write home (or your legislators) about

By Lauren Pangborn ● Transportation ● February 5, 2025

From corner cafés to noise cameras and smaller elevators, these new state bills could improve your neighborhood!