In its 54th day today, the state’s 2017 legislative session has passed the half-way mark of this year’s scheduled 105-day session, and members in both chambers have taken up hundreds of bills in lengthy floor sessions this week, rushing to meet next Wednesday’s deadline.  On that day, any bills not passed by the chamber in which they were originally introduced die for the year. Budget measures and bills impacting the budget are exempt from this deadline. 

Lawmakers have introduced more than 2,000 measures this year, but only 927 bills have survived previous cutoff dates. The number of bills under active consideration will be further reduced after next week’s deadline, though key legislation, such as plans for basic education funding and a two-year state operating budget are not subject to the deadlines set by legislative rules. 

While these rules are intended to manage the large volume of legislation before the legislature, any bill can be resurrected, or new bills introduced, at any time by a majority vote. The sudden resurrection of supposedly “dead” bills is common in a session’s closing days. As Olympia observers know, no bill is truly “dead” until the legislature adjourns.

So far, only one bill—to facilitate dental services for Indian tribes—has cleared the legislature and been signed into law, but over 400 measures have been passed by at least one chamber. Statistically, only 457 bills on average make it through the legislature in odd-numbered years, with an additional 292 passing in even-numbered years, for an average total of 749 bills passed in each legislative cycle over the last ten years. That is around 20 percent average of the total number of bills introduced in a given two-year cycle. 

Among the bills that have now been passed in their house of origin are:

• SB 5068 (Senate), to establish a voting rights act that would allow non-charter counties, code cities, second-class cities and towns to authorize district-based or hybrid systems for electing their legislative authorities. 

• HB 2097 (House), to limit disclosure of information about the religious affiliation of individuals. The bill would exempt public records that contain personally identifying information about an individual's religious affiliation from disclosure under the Public Records Act. It would also prohibit employers from forcing workers to disclose their religious affiliation and prevent law enforcement from collecting such information unless there is a clear connection to criminal activity.

• SB 5356 (Senate), to set standards for when and how dogs can be left on a leash or tie-down. Under the bill,  dog owners who leave their dog for a period of time must provide them with adequate food, water, and shelter, as well as enough space to move without becoming entangles in their leash or tie-down.

• HB 1352 (House), to create a small business bill of rights that identifies what specific protections small business owners have when faced with an audit, inspection, or other government agency enforcement action.

These are just a few of the issues and concerns lawmakers are considering, in addition to major bills on education and spending. 

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