Committee adopts substitutes, sends three bills to rules after executive session

OLYMPIA — After public hearings the Senate Financial Services and Trade Committee went into executive session and acted on three bills, adopting proposed substitutes and recommending each bill for further consideration with a due‑pass recommendation to the Rules Committee.

Summary of committee actions (voice votes; counts not specified in the transcript):

- SB 5,331 (violations of the insurance code): The committee adopted the proposed substitute A (which, among other changes in the draft, limits restitution to demonstrated economic damages, excludes certain providers from restitution eligibility, clarifies when obligations arise for interest calculation and preserves dispute resolution under the balance‑billing law). The committee then moved that the proposed substitute receive a due‑pass recommendation to the Rules Committee. The motion carried by voice vote; the transcript records the outcome as "passed subject to signature." (Mover not specified in transcript; voice vote recorded.)

- SB 5,328 (licensing and regulation of earned wage access services): The committee adopted the proposed substitute B and then adopted amendment B1; members moved to roll amendments into a new proposed substitute and to give the proposed substitute a due‑pass recommendation to the Rules Committee. The recorded action states that the bill "passes subject to signature." (Voice vote; counts not specified.) The bill's proposed substitute adds a bifurcated regulatory approach: employer‑integrated services regulated by the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) and consumer‑directed wage access services treated as loans under the Consumer Loan Act; it also increases surety bond requirements, sets fee caps and grants DFI enforcement and reporting authority (the committee also discussed a proposed transactional database and potential DFI fees to support it).

- SB 5,677 (associate development organizations): The committee adopted proposed substitute C and moved that it receive a due‑pass recommendation to the Rules Committee. The proposed substitute restores certain reporting measures for small‑business assistance in King County, adds additional reporting and race/ethnicity data collection on recipients of direct support, and adjusts match requirements; a fiscal note was discussed as pending and potentially higher given increased reporting requirements. The motion to send to Rules passed by voice vote; the transcript records "bill passes subject to signature."

Clerk’s note: transcript reports voice votes and "aye" responses but does not include recorded tallies or named seconders. The committee chair reminded members of deadlines for filing additional amendments by noon the following day.