Bills the League Supports

Click to jump to sub-section: Health Care  |  Behavioral Health  |  Reproductive Rights

Health Care

HB 1007 Concerning the completion of supervised experience for social work students through distance supervision. Sponsor: Rep. Klippert.    

 Passed! Passed by a vote on the House floor and is now in the Senate. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care on March 10 and was voted do pass on March 12. On March 30 this bill passed unanimously on a Senate floor vote. Signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. Delivered to the governor.

HB 1225 Concerning school-based health centers. Sponsor: Rep. Stonier. School-based health centers are beneficial to students and families in school districts that are geographically isolated from health care providers. High school students in particular may benefit from SBHCs that provide reliable access to mental and behavioral health services.

 Passed! Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care on March 15 and was voted do pass on March 19. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on March 30 and vote taken on April 2 and voted do pass. Came out of the Senate Rules committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7. Speaker of the House has signed.  

HB 1272 Concerning health system transparency. Sponsor: Rep. Macri. Requires that hospitals provide detailed information regarding several identified categories of expenses and revenues in financial reports to the Department of Health.                                                                          

 Status Passed out of the House floor vote on Feb. 25 and had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care on March 19 and voted do pass on March 26. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on March 31 and a vote taken on April 2 and voted do pass and came out of the Senate Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 10.

HB 1325 Implementing policies related to children and youth behavioral health. Sponsor: Rep. Callan. Establishes the Partnership Access Line for Moms and the Mental Health Referral Service for Children and Teens as ongoing programs.           

 Status Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health and Long Term Care and voted unanimously do pass on March 19. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on April 1 and vote taken on April 2 and voted do pass. Came out of the Senate Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 8. 

SB 5052 Concerning the creation of health equity zones. Sponsor: Sen. Keiser. The state intends to work with community leaders within the health equity zones to share information and coordinate efforts with the goal of addressing the most urgent needs. 

 Status Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 30 and a vote taken on March 31. Came out of the House Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7. 

SB 5140 Protecting pregnancy and miscarriage-related patient care. Sponsor: Sen. Patty Kurderer. The Protecting Pregnant Patients Act would prevent hospital policies from restricting qualified medical providers from providing necessary miscarriage treatment and care for patients whose lives are at risk due to pregnancy complications.

 Status Came out of the House Rules Committee and passed unanimously on a floor vote on March 24. Has not been signed yet. Ask your own legislators to support this bill.

SB 5142 Establishing the profession of dental therapist. Sponsor: Sen. Frockt. Adding the dental therapist to the dental team will address racial and ethnic disparities in urban and rural dental health care. Dental therapists are also a strategy to increase workforce diversity in health care and expand career opportunities for existing members of the dental care workforce.    

 Status On March 25, the Senate released their budget and included $100,000 for funding for establishing a Dental Therapy Taskforce in a budget proviso to assess the fiscal impact of this legislation. Tell your legislators that creating a Dental Therapy Taskforce is important to you and ask them to keep this in the budget. This bill did not receive a public hearing in the 2021 session. Write or email Sen. Frockt asking that he bring up this bill again in the 2022 session. If your own legislator was a co-sponsor write to thank her or him.

SB 5203 Producing, distributing, and purchasing generic prescription drugs. Sponsor: Sen. Van Der Wege. 

Allows the Health Care Authority to enter into partnerships with other states, state agencies, or nonprofit entities to produce, distribute, or purchase generic prescription drugs. 

 Status Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness on March 18 and voted do pass on March 24. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 30 and a voted do pass taken on March 31. Came out of the House Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7.

SB 5377 Increasing affordability of standardized plans on the individual market. Sponsor: Sen. Frockt. 

Subsidies are an effective way to address affordability and can be implemented for next year's plan. The Health Care Authority needs more tools to control costs for public option plans.

 Status Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness on Wednesday, March 17 and voted do pass on March 24. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 31 and voted do pass on April 1. Came out of the House Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 8.

SB 5399 Concerning the creation of a universal health care commission. Sponsor: Sen. Randall and 16 co-sponsors. The universal health care commission is established to develop a plan to be implemented by 2026, that will provide comprehensive, equitable, and affordable health care coverage under a publicly financed and privately and publicly delivered health care system to all state residents.

 Status  Passed on a Senate floor vote and is now in the House. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness on Thursday, March 18 and voted do pass on March 24. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 31 and a vote taken on April 1 and voted do pass. Came out of the House Rules committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7.

Behavioral Health

HB 1061 Concerning youth eligible for developmental disability services who are expected to exit the child welfare system. Sponsor: Rep. Senn. It is the stated intent of the Legislature to reduce, in the most cost-effective way, the number of former foster care youth with developmental disabilities discharged into homelessness or inappropriately placed in hospitals. Intended to reduce the caseload ratio of clients to caseworkers that will help ensure that no young people are overlooked.

 Status Passed out of the House unanimously on Feb. 26. Voted do pass by the Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry and Rehabilitation on March 19. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on April 1 and voted do pass on April 2. Came out of the Senate Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7. Speaker of the House signed.

HB 1086 Creating the state office of behavioral health consumer advocacy. Sponsor: Rep. Simmons.
By Jan. 1, 2022, the department shall contract with a private nonprofit organization to provide the State Office of Behavioral Health Consumer Advocacy Services.

 Status Passed on a House floor vote on March 1. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health and Long Term Care on March 12 and voted do pass on March 19. Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on April 1 and a vote taken on April 2 and voted do pass. Came out of the Senate Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7.

SB 5073 Concerning involuntary commitment. Sponsor: Sen. Dhingra. This bill would expand requirements for court-ordered involuntary outpatient behavioral health treatment and modify requirements for Less Restrictive Alternative treatment.

 Status Passed on the Senate floor on Feb. 3, 2021. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights and Judiciary on March 24 and voted do pass. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 31 and a vote taken on April 1 and voted do pass. Came out of the House Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 7.

SB 5074 Establishing safe station pilot programs. Sponsor: Sen. Wagoner. This bill allows participating fire departments to be designated as "safe stations." These safe stations would provide basic evaluation by mental health professionals, substance use disorder professionals to connect patients to treatment support and services. A certified substance use disorder peer specialist may be employed in a safe station pilot program.

 Status  Passed unanimously by a vote on the Senate floor on Feb. 24 and has had a first reading in the House Committee on Health and Wellness on Feb. 26. Ask your representatives who sit on that committee to support this bill. Unlikely to progress. 

SB 5195 Concerning prescribing opioid overdose reversal medication. Sponsor: Sen. Liias. A practitioner shall provide a current prescription for an opioid overdose reversal medication when the patient presents in an emergency department with an opioid overdose.

 Status Passed out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and passed on floor vote in the Senate. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness March 18 and voted do pass on March 24. Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations on March 30 and a vote taken on March 31 and voted do pass and came out of the House Rules Committee and passed on a floor vote on April 9.

SB 5304  Providing reentry services to persons releasing from state and local institutions. Sponsor: Sen. Claire Wilson. The period before an individual's release to the community is critical to reducing recidivism and health implications for the individual. Without immediate access to medical coverage upon release, medications may run out and result in hospitalizations. Has passed in the Senate and is now in the House.

 Action Alert Had a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness on March 24 and a voted do pass. Had a public hearing in the House Appropriations Committee on March 31 and voted do pass on April 1 and came out of the House Rules committee and passed on a floor vote on April 9.

Reproductive Rights

HB 1009 Concerning student health plans. Sponsor: Rep. My-Linh Thai. A student health plan issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2022, is subject to the abortion requirements applicable to other health plans. 

 Status Had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Health and Long Term Care on March 17 and a vote taken on March 19 and voted do pass. Came out of the House Rules committee and passed on a floor vote on April 6. Signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. 

Bills the League Opposes

HB 1008 Prohibiting abortion on the basis of Down syndrome. Sponsor: Sen. Klippert. The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.

Bills the League Supports That Missed the Cutoff

HB 1047 Requiring coverage for hearing instruments for children and adolescents. Sponsor: Rep. Emily Wicks and 18 co-sponsors. A health carrier offering a health plan issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2022, must include coverage for hearing instruments for persons who are 18 years of age or younger with refitting every 36 months. 

 Action Alert This bill has not had a public hearing in this session. Write a direct email to Rep. Wicks asking that she bring up this bill in the 2022 session. If your own legislator was a co-sponsor write to thank them. The Action Alert this week asks that a budget proviso be approved to assess the fiscal impact of this legislation. Ask your representatives to request the proviso and vote yes.

HB 1499: Providing behavioral health system responses to individuals with substance use disorder. The Pathways to Recovery Act (1) increases funding for substance use disorder treatment and recovery programs, (2) adopts a public health-based approach by eliminating penalties for personal use drug offenses and connecting people with services to address the root causes of their substance use disorder, and (3) expands resources for statewide education about substance use.

 Status  Write an email to Rep. Lauren Davis requesting to bring up this bill in 2022.

SB 5020  Assessing a penalty on unsupported prescription drug price increases. Sponsor: Sen. Keiser. This bill would allow a penalty to drug manufacturers who increase drug prices without providing new clinical evidence.

 Status  This bill was not heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee by the fiscal cut-off. Contact Sen. Keiser to request that this bill be reintroduced in 2022.

SB 5204 Creating the Whole Washington Health Trust. Sponsor: Sen. Hasagawa and six co-sponsors.

The Whole Washington Health Trust is created within the Department of Health. The purpose of the trust is to provide coverage for a set of essential health benefits to all Washington residents and request a waiver from the federal government to create universal health care in Washington.                                                 

 Status  This bill did not receive a public hearing in the 2021 session. Write or email Sen. Hasagawa asking that he bring up this bill again in the 2022 session. If your own legislator was a co-sponsor, express thanks. Visit wholewashington.org for more information. 

SB 5335 Concerning the acquisition of health care facilities and mergers. Sponsor: Sen. Randall.   

 Status  Write or email Sen. Randall asking that she bring up this bill again in the 2022 session. If your own legislator was a co-sponsor, express thanks.