Library-Related Legislation

Legislative Committee Roster | Library-Related Legislation | WA Library Legislative Day

Olympia Capitol Building WLA actively pursues a legislative agenda that presents the interests of its members through a legislative planning committee and a contract government relationship representative who works with the Washington State Legislature. WLA's lobbyist is Carolyn Logue.

WLA 2024 Legislative Wrap-up

Washington State Library Association had a very active 2024 session.

From January 8^th until Sine Die on March 7^th we navigated through hundreds of bills, testimonies, and Capitol Day to end up on the other side with some pretty major victories.

The session itself featured major public policy debates and long floor sessions on the topics of energy, housing/rent control and public safety, where majority Democrats achieved some, but not all, of their top priorities for the year. Supplemental budgets were also negotiated and adopted.

One big story of the session was the introduction of six Republican-backed citizen initiatives that were certified to the Legislature: I-2081, a parental rights in public education proposal; I-2109, repealing the state's tax on capital gains; I-2111, prohibiting the state and local governments from adopting an income tax; I-2113, regarding standards for police pursuit of suspects; I-2117, repealing the state's Climate Commitment Act (CCA); and I-2124, allowing opt-out of the state's long term care insurance program. Democratic leaders decided not to hear I-2109, I-2117, and I-2124, citing their fiscal impact on existing programs, and sent them directly to the voters this fall. Lawmakers ultimately passed the remaining three initiatives on police pursuits, income taxes, and parental rights by relatively large margins. As approved initiatives, they become law without action from the Governor.

All of the three initiatives that passed were reviewed for their impact on laws and priorities. I-2081, the parental rights initiative, has the closest impact for WLA because it does allow parents the ability to review instructional materials being used their child’s classroom and to review records related to their child. However, after significant review by legislators and legislative staff, it was determined that most of the “rights” in the initiative already existed in current state or federal law and that the initiative mostly put these rights into one place. In addition, by passing this and the other two initiatives, legislators have the ability to amend them more quickly if problems arise. If they are passed at the ballot, the Legislature cannot do any amendments for 2 years after passage.

YOUR ACTION NEEDED: Between now and next January, be sure to participate in any questionnaires and activities from WLA about library priorities; invite legislators and candidates in to see what you do in your library; get to know who is running for both your home and work legislative districts and make sure they know that you are a resource for them on library issues; and VOTE!

Please click here for more details on this legislative session.