OLYMPIA, Wash. — The legislative session will start shortly after the new year, and Washington lawmakers are hard at work preparing bills before it begins.
Some bills have already been filed, covering a broad range of issues that lawmakers hope to address this winter.
Making Washington "The Evergreen State," officially
While many know Washington as "The Evergreen State" - the title isn't official.
SB 5000 seeks to make it so. Filed by Senators Jeff Wilson (R-Raymond) and Mike Chapman (D-Port Angeles), the bill says adopting the moniker will be the "final chapter to formalize a nickname long associated with our beautiful state."
While bills designating state symbols, like nicknames, a sport, and an official dinosaur, can be dismissed as frivolous by some, they've had luck being heard in the state Legislature in recent years. In 2024 alone, the legislature designated pickleball the official state sport and the Suciasaurus the official state dinosaur.
Designating PTSD as an occupational disease for coroners, examiners and investigative personnel
A bill put forward by Representatives Peter Abbarano (R-Centralia) and Skyler Rude (R-Walla Walla) would recognize PTSD as an occupational disease for coroners, medical examiners and investigators.
PTSD is already recognized as an occupational illness for firefighters and law enforcement personnel.
A recognized occupational disease is considered to be an illness or condition that is associated with a particular occupation or industry. Those who contract occupational diseases through their work are eligible for workers' compensation benefits.
Adding panic buttons in schools
SB 5004, filed by Senator Nikki Torres (R-Pasco) would beef up school emergency alert systems.
The bill would require that schools have panic or alert buttons that communicate with school districts, administrators and emergency response personnel. It would also implement live audio and video feeds that law enforcement, school district and school administration officials would be able to access, remote control access to school doors, live interactive two-way communications and interconnection with an alert and communication system maintained by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
Changing how trans athletes can participate in sports
Sen. Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn) has reintroduced a bill, SB 5012, that aims to put transgender and cisgender athletes on different sports teams.
The bill was also introduced for the 2024 legislative session but did not make it out of the committee after being assigned to the Committee on Early Learning & K-1 Education.
The bill would assign athletes to teams based on their gender identity and chromosomes, meaning there would be distinct teams for cisgender girls, trans girls, trans boys, and cisgender boys.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) allows student-athletes to play on teams that align with their gender identity.
Transgender athletes' participation in school sports has been a hotly debated topic on a national level for multiple years now, but whether the bill is likely to garner much attention in the Democratic-led state legislature is another matter.
KING 5 reached out to the chair of the Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education to ask if the bill was likely to receive a hearing but has not heard back.
