Senate Labor & Commerce policy committee advances multiple labor, cannabis and public-works bills ahead of cutoff

The Senate Labor & Commerce policy committee advanced a slate of labor, cannabis, public-works and regulatory bills during its policy-cutoff meeting, adopting proposed substitutes and sending several measures to Rules, Ways and Means or other committees.

Committee staff opened with reports on multiple bills, and senators voted on proposed substitutes and recommendations in a series of voice votes. Several bills were passed by the committee “subject to signatures” and will move on for fiscal review or floor consideration; a small number of bills were held for later action, including a gubernatorial appointment packet and two measures identified by staff.

Nut graf: The measures touched prevailing wage procedures, workers’ compensation payments, a new wage-replacement program for workers ineligible for unemployment, modifications to cannabis licensing and producer limits, limits on distance requirements for social equity cannabis retailers, pilot programs for psilocybin, and updates to record-sharing and FAA-related paid-leave protections for pilots. Committee action now routes fiscal or rule-related items to Ways and Means, Rules or other committees for additional review.

Key outcomes and highlights

- SB 5503 (Public employee collective bargaining): Committee adopted a proposed substitute offered by Senator Saldana and gave it a “due pass” recommendation to the Rules Committee. Senator King registered a “no” on the recommendation and asked to continue work on section 4 language.

- SB 5422 (Bargaining and AI): The committee adopted a proposed substitute (Saldana) that narrows the duty to bargain to adoption or modification of AI technology that affects wages or performance evaluations; the substitute removes working definitions of AI and machine learning. The committee sent the bill to Ways and Means.

- SB 5548 (Workers’ compensation percentages): A substitute and amendments were considered; committee recommended the bill to Ways and Means. An amendment (D1 by Senator King) addressing notice and attorney contingency fees was proposed but later withdrawn and not adopted in its amendment form.

- SB 5626 (Wage-replacement program for workers excluded from UI): Committee adopted a proposed substitute establishing a program administered by a third-party administrator (TPA), limiting eligibility to persons ineligible for UI solely because they lack work authorization, and diverting 0.01% from the unemployment special programs (CPP) to fund the program; the bill was recommended to Ways and Means. Senator King said he would vote no due to fraud and payment concerns, but the committee passed the substitute.

- SB 5694 (State boiler operator certification): Committee adopted a substitute with an amendment (C1) to exclude certain refineries from the certification requirement; the amendment and substitute were recommended to Ways and Means.

- SB 5700 (Medical cannabis database): Committee recommended the agency-request bill to Rules.

- SB 5758 (Cannabis license distance requirements): Committee adopted a proposed substitute (K) that removes language lowering LCB's distance requirement to 500 feet and instead prohibits local governments from requiring social equity retailers to locate more than 250 feet from another retail cannabis premises; no fiscal impact to LCB was reported in the staff summary. The substitute was recommended to Rules.

- SB 5722 (Specialty crop grants): Committee gave a due-pass recommendation to Ways and Means; staff reported no current fiscal note.

- SB 5061 (Prevailing wages in public works contracts): A proposed substitute (Conway) was adopted and sent to Transportation; staff reported an indeterminate cost for WSDOT and $3.7 million for L&I.

- SB 5403 (Direct cannabis sales / license caps): The bill was transformed in committee; the adopted substitute strengthens prohibitions on gaming license limits and directs LCB to examine multi-license ownership structures. The committee recommended the substitute to Rules.

- SB 5572 (Project labor agreements for large school construction): Committee recommended the bill to Ways and Means; the bill will proceed to fiscal review.

- SB 5653 (Union eligibility for a small unit): Committee recommended the bill to Ways and Means.

- SB 5701 (Prevailing wage records and joint labor committee access): A proposed substitute (Ramos) with an amendment (H.1 by King) that would have required employee notice and consent was not adopted; the substitute was recommended to Rules.

- SB 5396 (FAA medical certificate applicants and paid family medical leave): Committee adopted a proposed substitute broadening protections and sent the bill to Ways and Means; staff reported multi-agency costs exceeding $5 million over four years under the original language, with revised language expected to reduce IT costs.

- SB 5201 (Psilocybin program): The committee discussed two competing approaches: a one-year pilot program focused on clinical trials and agency guidance (Schoessler amendment) and a DOH-led pilot substitute (Saldana). Staff reported that the original bill carried multi-agency fiscal notes, including roughly $2.1 million to the Liquor and Cannabis Board and $1.7 million to the Department of Health in the first biennium; committee members decided to caucus and ultimately held SB 5201 for further consideration.

Votes at a glance (committee actions)

The committee used voice votes on most measures; roll-call tallies were not recorded in the hearing transcript. The following lists the committee’s formal committee recommendations as recorded in the session:

- SB 5503 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Rules (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5422 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5548 — Due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5626 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5694 — Substitute with C1 amendment adopted; due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator King). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5700 — 2nd-pass recommendation to Rules (agency request bill). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5758 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Rules (mover: Senator King). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5722 — Due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5061 — Proposed substitute adopted; referred to Transportation (mover: Senator Conway). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5403 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Rules (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5572 — Due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5653 — Due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5701 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Rules (mover: Senator Ramos). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures. - SB 5396 — Proposed substitute adopted; due pass to Ways and Means (mover: Senator Saldana). Outcome: approved by committee, subject to signatures.

Held for later action: SJA9188 (appointment packet including James R. Volendroff), SB 5070 (interchange fees), SB 5201 (psilocybin program) — committee staff announced these would be held and taken up later.

Several senators expressed continuing concerns or asked for further work as bills move forward. Senator King repeatedly said he planned to vote no on several items while negotiating amendments; Senator Conway and others asked for more precise definitions (for example, for AI) and for clearer fiscal information before floor action.

The committee closed by recognizing long-serving staff and noting this was the policy cutoff period; members said additional work would continue in caucus and in next-stage committees.