Senate concurs with House amendments and passes gross substitute Senate Bill 6346 after extended floor debate

The state Senate voted to concur in House amendments to gross substitute Senate Bill 6,346 and then passed the measure following several hours of floor debate over the bill's scope, inflation adjustments and programmatic trade-offs.

The question before the chamber was whether to accept changes the House made to the bill the Senate originally passed. Senator Peterson moved that the Senate concur in the House amendments; after a point of order and extended debate, the motion to concur passed by a roll-call vote of 27 ayes, 21 nays and 1 excused. The Senate then took final passage on the amended bill and the presiding officer declared the bill passed; the President signed in open session.

Why it matters: The amended measure would impose a new income tax tied to later tax reductions and other policy changes, while altering implementation details that senators said would materially affect who pays and when. Lawmakers debated the bill's indexing, thresholds and a package of earlier tax changes and targeted exemptions the House inserted.

On the floor, Senator Gildan objected that the House had added an "entirely new section, part 11," which he said "impermissibly expand[s] the scope and object of senate bill 6 3 4 6 in violation of senate rule 66," arguing that the section addresses sales and business-and-occupation provisions unrelated to the income tax and would remain even if a court invalidated the tax. The presiding officer ruled the point of order not well taken, saying the Senate should compare the House text to the bill as it left the Senate and concluding the House changes were tax reductions similar in kind to provisions already included.

Supporters described the House amendments as improvements and targeted fixes. Senator Peterson said the changes allow businesses to carry forward losses and narrow the early expiration of a B&O surcharge to the most consumer-facing pieces of the tax, and that the House accelerated exemptions (for schools and nonprofits) and added exemptions for diapers and some over-the-counter medicines. "I believe that the house amendments improve the bill, and I urge your concurrence," Peterson said.

Opponents raised several objections. Senator Gildan warned that switching from a Seattle-area CPI to a national CPI and adjusting the $1,000,000 threshold only every other year would gradually pull more taxpayers into the new tax. Other senators said the House made policy trade-offs they found unacceptable: replacing much of a proposed 7% distribution for public defense with a 5% diversion into the Fair Start for Kids account, allowing deductions tied to wagering losses, narrowing the charitable deduction to organizations principally managed in-state, and expanding eligibility for the Working Families Tax Credit to higher-income filers. "This income tax is unnecessary. I believe it to be unconstitutional," Gildan said.

Senator Richeli urged concurrence on the grounds that the amended bill advances universal school meals and reduces childhood hunger, saying, "This is incredibly important" and arguing that feeding students improves classroom outcomes. Other senators stressed concerns about promises in intent language that are not written into the bill's body and about local governments' ability to absorb lost revenue for services such as indigent public defense.

After debate, the secretary called the roll on concurrence and announced 27 ayes, 21 nays and 1 excused; the motion to concur was adopted. On final passage the roll call produced the same tally and the presiding officer declared gross substitute Senate Bill 6,346 amended by the House and passed. The presiding officer announced, "The title of the bill will be the title of the act," and the President signed in open session.

The Senate closed its business and, on the motion of Senator Richeli, adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 12, the sixtieth legislative day.

What to watch next: The bill was amended by the House and passed by the Senate; the transcript reflects legislative debate and roll-call outcomes. Implementation details (effective dates, administrative rules and budget decisions) and related budget or conference actions will determine how the changes operate in practice.