There were 2,317 bills introduced during this legislative session. Of those introduced, 494 bills passed. Agriculture had a direct tie to about 70 bills this session.
The bills that passed – or didn’t pass – have the potential to change our agricultural landscape for the better or worse in significant ways. As we look at the bills that will shape agriculture in our state moving forward, it is important to think about why supporting food production matters.
Riparian bills
After the buffer bill debacle of 2022, there was a flurry of activity around passing a bill that agriculture, tribes, and legislators could support. The first round tries – HB 1215 and SB 5266 – were a bust; effectively replicating much of the 2022 language that was cause for concern. Reps. Chapman, Lekanoff, Dent, and Kretz gained, and deserved, much praise for listening to the concerns presented about the first riparian bills this session, scrapping them, and returning to the stakeholders to craft fully funded, fully voluntary riparian bills that would allow for farmers, fishermen, and the environment to benefit. House Bill 1720 passed unanimously out of the House ag committee but died in the Senate.
The promise of the bill was realized in seeing true bipartisanship on the House ag committee. Two legislators from each party, taking input from the people who would be directly affected by the policy, and working with each other to create legislation that would have achieved the goals of voluntary riparian stewardship throughout the state. It is an opportunity lost for this year, but we can all hope for a better outcome next session for our farms, our tribes, and our fish.
Overtime flexibility
The hearing on SB 5476 was among the most talked about parts of the legislative session for agricultural legislation. The bill would have established a 12-week, self-determined window during which farmers and ranchers would be exempt from paying overtime to agricultural workers. The current overtime pay threshold is 48 hours and drops down to 40 hours in 2024.
The hearing quickly degenerated with Sen. Saldana stepping in to mistranslate and editorialize the testimony of several farmworkers and Sen. Kaiser reiterating her inaccurate claim that overtime exemptions were rooted in racism. The hearing ended with pleas from the farmworkers themselves for more flexibility and hours to better provide for their families. Unfortunately, the bill died in its committee of origin.
Fuel taxes
A pair of last-minute bills to address fuel taxes being paid by agricultural purchasers under the new Climate Commitment Act received almost immediate pushback. SB 5766 and SB 5769 each had significant issues that could not be overcome in the last three weeks of the legislative session. SB 5766 would have prohibited oil refiners and fuel distributors from itemizing the cost of the state’s tax on CO2 emissions on customer invoices. The rebate calculations in SB 5769 would have short-changed fuel taxpayers by returning $0.38/gal to them regardless of what they had originally paid.
Some have quibbled about whether these costs are a “tax.” Under the literal definition, the fuel charges being assessed to agricultural consumers is a tax. A tax is defined as “a compulsory contribution to state revenue levied by the government of workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.” The state’s system of auctioning allowances to emit CO2 is also based in part on a carbon tax, charging a flat minimum of $22.20 per metric ton and a maximum of $81.47. The Governor and the Legislature have presented the “solution” to the tax as a switch from traditional to electric vehicles. However, for agriculture, long-distance commuters, people who live in rural areas, or in communities without the necessary infrastructure, the CCA tax amounts to a punishment for technology either being cost-prohibitive or inaccessible.
With luck, the Departments of Ecology and Revenue will work together to come up with a solution that provides a rebate to those who have been illegally taxed and offers a way forward to prevent future violations of the law, which expressly exempts agriculture.
The good news
It is easy to get pulled into “all news is bad news” when talking about agriculture and the legislative session but there were some good bills passed, too. Second Substitute House Bill 1578 – a bill to improve community preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience to wildland fire health and safety – passed the legislature and headed to the Governor’s desk for signature. Substitute Senate Bill 5156 – expanding the farm internship program – also made it through the legislative session. A bill to reopen enrollment in the Voluntary Stewardship Program, SSB 5353, is headed to the Governor’s desk, too.
Long sessions and short sessions a like feel like a marathon run at a sprints’ pace. Those of us who follow the legislature often say the same thing: every day is like drinking from a firehose. Now that sine die – Latin meaning the legislature has adjourned “without a date” to reconvene – has been declared and the pace of life is returning to normal, it is important to return to home base. Time to remember necessities like family, friends, and food.
The legislative session never seems to get easier for agriculture. Perhaps that is a product of most people being at least four generations removed from growing what is on their plate. Or maybe we farmers and ranchers simply need to spend more time putting our names and faces in the spotlight for people to see in hopes that it leads to better understanding. Whatever the case, the legislative session has wrapped with a few wins, a few losses, and a few draws. In the interim, there will be more time to continue to remind Washingtonians on both sides of the aisle why food producers are important and why we need legislation that helps us continue to do what we do.
