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State signing ceremony advances I‑5 bridge bonds, tax fixes, housing aid; one bill partly vetoed
Summary
Speaker 1 presided over a bill‑signing ceremony that enacted multiple state measures, including authorization of up to $2.5 billion in bonds for an Interstate‑5 bridge replacement, changes to capital gains and B&O tax rules, and an extension of Housing and Essential Needs benefits — with Speaker 1 vetoing section 5 of that bill while directing agencies to seek alternatives.
Speaker 1 signed a package of state laws during a public ceremony, highlighting a $2.5 billion bond authorization for the Interstate‑5 bridge replacement and a string of policy measures affecting taxes, education levies, social services and corrections.
Among the most consequential measures, Speaker 1 said the Legislature authorized the state to issue up to $2,500,000,000 in bonds to fund design and construction of the Interstate‑5 bridge replacement program, a project Speaker 1 described as addressing seismically vulnerable bridges, upgrading interchanges, extending light rail to Vancouver, Washington, and adding a shared‑use path for pedestrians and cyclists. Speaker 1 credited state representative Jake Fey and state senator Marco Liias as legislative sponsors.
Speaker 1 also signed a package of bills that included tax and regulatory changes. House Bill 2020 established a business‑and‑occupation tax rate of 3.1% on payment‑card processing activities and allowed certain collected amounts to be deducted from a business’s gross income. Senate Bill 5314 made clarifications and administrative changes to the capital gains tax intended to streamline reporting and improve collection, and Senate Bill 5431 updated tax and business licensing language and reset a tax‑exemption study date to January 2029 and every four years thereafter.
On housing and social services, Speaker 1 described Senate Bill 5232 as extending Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) benefits to low‑income, elderly or disabled adults who receive Social Security and at risk of losing their HEN benefits; the bill also authorizes HEN benefits to be provided as direct cash assistance. However, Speaker 1 announced, “I’m vetoing section 5,” and directed the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the Department of Commerce and the Health Care Authority to explore ways to accomplish the expansion within existing administrative authority.
Speaker 1 noted other signed measures across policy areas: changes to community‑custody credit rules intended to let community corrections officers focus on higher‑risk individuals (House Bill 1119); revisions to state financial management to eliminate redundant accounts (House Bill 1468); an increase in the maximum per‑pupil limit for school enrichment levies and a charge to the superintendent of public instruction to convene a K‑12 funding equity work group (House Bill 2049); protections and program adjustments for Rainier School in Buckley (Senate Bill 5393); and a delay in the scheduled expansion of required legal counsel for children in dependency and termination proceedings to January 1, 2030 (Senate Bill 5761).
Speaker 1 repeatedly thanked sponsors and legislative staff during the ceremony and invited representatives to join photographs. On the HEN bill, Speaker 1 said staff from DSHS, Commerce and the Health Care Authority should “find ways to accomplish this expansion” consistent with administrative limitations.
Votes at a glance: all measures discussed in the ceremony were presented as signed into law by Speaker 1, except that Speaker 1 announced a veto of section 5 of Senate Bill 5232; no roll‑call vote tallies are recorded in the transcript. The bills and the transcript segments where each was presented include House Bills 1119, 1219, 1468, 1958, 2020, 2039/2040 (correction in naming on the record), 2049, 2050, 2061; and Senate Bills 5219, 5232 (partial veto of section 5), 5314, 5393, 5431, 5761.
The ceremony did not include on‑the‑record legislative debate or roll‑call vote information; it chiefly recorded the executive’s presentations, sponsor acknowledgments and stage directions for photographs. The transcript contains on‑the‑record naming/numbering corrections (for example, an initial reference to House Bill 2039 that was corrected to House Bill 2040.)
The most immediate next steps identified on the record were administrative: agencies named by Speaker 1 were directed to explore ways to implement the intent of the vetoed provision within administrative constraints, and the superintendent of public instruction was directed to convene a funding equity work group as required by House Bill 2049.
