Welcome to This Week in Olympia, your weekly briefing on what's happening under the dome and why it matters for Washington's public schools. I'm your host, Marissa Rathbone, and each week we'll break down the fast-moving action in Olympia. The hearings, the headlines, and the bills you'll want to keep an eye on. Whether you're a district leader, educator, or just policy curious, we're here to make the legislature feel a little more accessible and a lot easier to follow. Let's get into what moved this week and what's coming next. Hello and welcome to This Week in Olympia. I am Marissa Rathbone, your assistant executive director of government relations at WASA, and also a proud product of Washington Public Schools. It is Friday, February 6th, and I'm really grateful you're here yet again taking time to stay engaged, especially at such a busy point in your own school year and in our legislative session. I can assure you that your attention, your advocacy, and your willingness to stay connected during this very busy time really matter. Every time you send an email to a legislator or sign in on a bill, it makes a difference not just for the work that we're trying to accomplish in this legislative session, but it lays the groundwork for the interim and the work ahead in preparation for the sessions in 2027 and 2028 and beyond. I know it's even hard to think about that point when we're just focused on this week. So let me turn to that here shortly after, of course, a brief story, because what is a good podcast without a story? One of the benefits I had growing up in Olympia is that I lived about a mile from Olympia High School, where I graduated, and a mile and a half from the Olympia State Capitol. My dad still lives in my childhood home. So after a long day at the Capitol, in hearings and meetings with stakeholders and legislators, I'm able to stop in and sometimes have a cup of tea and a great conversation while, of course, listening to classical music and having him tell me stories, maybe for the first time, maybe for the 10th time, but I'm happy either way. He and I were talking earlier this week about a father-daughter group that we used to go to once a month when I was in early elementary school. That group would meet monthly, do crafts. Sometimes we volunteered. Sometimes we went on some little adventure either in Olympia or outside. And one time we actually got a chance to go to the top of the Capitol, the little peak at the dome, which is now closed to the public. And I don't think it was totally open at the time, but I think another father in the group had an access. So we had the chance to go. And I was chatting with my dad, who's 82 now, but has an exceptional memory, and wanted to ask him, did we actually make it to the top? Because I don't quite remember getting there. What I do remember are the stairs. And he assured me that while there was no elevator, it was a long way up, we took the stairs and we did get to the top. So stair after stair in an old building that wasn't designed for efficiency or speed. I don't remember the view, but he does. He said it was beautiful. But what I remember is trudging along the stairs, the effort, and of course, my dad and friends along with me the whole way up. And it just, again, reminded me of the type of advocacy we often have to do. It's a long climb with a lot of steps that don't feel dramatic on their own, takes time. Sometimes it does feel like a trudge, a lot of patience. And it's easier to do it when you're with people. We don't necessarily get to be the ones who stand at the top first. Sometimes we don't even remember the view, but the climb still matters because access to this work matters. Being in the dome matters. and we have to take the steps together so that when it time we can access the top and it still open So that where we all at right now in the 2026 legislative session It is a 60 short session running from January 12th through March 12th. But this week we passed a couple, we passed one significant date and next week another. So on policy cutoff, which occurred this past Wednesday, February 4th, we noted that many bills dropped out of the process. Fiscal bills do still continue, and the next major milestone is the first fiscal cutoff on February 9th. That's next Monday. Any bill that has passed through its policy committee and referred to a fiscal committee or was simply referred first to a fiscal committee, those fiscal committees include Senate Ways and Means, House Appropriations, House Finance, House transportation or House capital budget. Those bills must be heard and voted out of committee by their last meeting on or before February 9th in order to continue moving. There will be hearings in all of those committee meetings today, which is Friday, Saturday, and also on Monday, so we'll be keeping an eye on all of them. You'll also hear a lot more about bills that are considered necessary to implement the budget, or NTIB. There's another acronym for you. There's no formal label for NTIB bills. There's no formal definition. But these determinations often happen later in the session, and we'll track them and monitor them as they arise and keep you informed. I will also just say that while I will narrow our bill watch list to only include the bills that are actively moving, We do have a backup list that includes the fiscal bills that actually may come back after the fact because someone deemed them necessary to implement the budget. And there are a couple I'm going to talk about here in a little bit. I also wanted to give you a little bit of an update on where we're at with WASA legislative priorities. As you know, we brought forward the big three again this legislative session, special education, materials, supplies, and operating costs, and transportation. But on special education, we knew going into the session there was going to be little or no discussion about it because of the advancements that were made in 2025. So this remains a long-term priority for our organization as well as many others. And it's part of the ongoing work we'll focus on in the interim in order to ensure equity and that we're all meeting our moral, ethical, and legal obligations. And that includes the legislature. On material supplies and operating costs, we've seen some traction and some discussion through Senate Bill 5918, which was passed out of Senate early learning and K-12 earlier this week. It's been referred to Senate Ways and Means, but it is not yet scheduled ahead of the February 9th fiscal cutoff. We anticipated that it was a long shot. The conversation is still alive, but the window is very narrow. I don't think we give up on this messaging. because material supplies and operating costs will continue to be a need for us. So we will continue pushing on that this session. You never know what might happen in the final days or weeks when perhaps a tax of some kind is identified and passed. Perhaps we'll get a little more traction on this number one priority collectively that we've been elevating. So I would say let's not give up hope, but also be realistic that we might not see much or any movement on MSOC this legislative session. The same is true for transportation, which was our third of the big three. Senate Bill 5858 was referred to ways and means passed out of Senate Early Learning and K-12 earlier in the session, but it has not yet been scheduled in advance of the February 9th cutoff date. Our important foundational work continues, however, through several of the statewide work groups in particular. You've heard about the UW Supes, the OSPI K-12 Funding Equity Work Group, and the Big Idea Conversations led by Representative Santos Those are the three of the statewide groups that met during the last interim and before really grappling with large education reform and funding responsiveness for our system. Those groups seem to have taken a pause here during the legislative session, but I anticipate they'll re-up their efforts and will be at the table and keeping you informed as to those discussions leading up to the 2027 legislative session. Other funding issues to watch. I want to turn my attention back to this session and where we're at. Sales tax on staffing services and professional development remains a major focus. So House Bill 2257 is the vehicle we're very hopeful about. It passed out of House Finance on February 4th, earlier this week, and was referred to rules already. Before it passed, thankfully, Representative Berg brought forward an amendment that was included in the final adoption that provides a K-12 exemption. The bill report hasn't been updated yet to reflect that change, but if you look in the committee materials, you'll see that the substitute did include that, and that's what passed out of committee. So messaging to your legislators, particularly on the House side is to bring it out of rules for a floor debate and when they debate it to pass the bill off the House floor with the K-12 exemption included. The broader conversation around rolling back sales tax impacts on schools is still ongoing so we can't let up. We're not even halfway there. So we're watching this closely and hoping that you'll help keep the pressure on, keep taking those steps, although it's a steep climb, so that we can get at least this one, if not more, successes from the 2026 session. On levy and LEA, House Bill 2116 was heard yesterday in House Appropriations. This bill was an effort to see through a promise that was made last session to increase levy equalization in order to match the levy lid lift. It was a balanced bill in its original form, but unfortunately, we had an amendment come forward this week that passed that the increase was removed and the amended version of the bill is not balanced so much, doesn't help districts with LEA, does increase the levy lid for those districts who actually could lift it to $3. But as a result with those changes, we have some significant concerns that House Bill 2116 now in its current form could further inequities between districts rather than close them, which was the original goal. So we'll continue to keep you apprised of that and may be required for you all to communicate with your legislators either if it benefits you or if it creates more inequities and challenges in your communities. On sub-expansion, House Bill 2160, our understanding is that the bill is dead this session. That said, I'm continuing to keep an eye on it through Monday's hearings and the first fiscal cutoff just in case. I don't think we're fully in the clear on this issue, but we may have time to address this during the interim before it returns in some form in 2027. So thank you for your advocacy on that. Many of you responded to calls for action to provide your legislators with real numbers about what the impact would be to have a one-year look back for employees working 630 hours or more and providing them benefits. And I think the numbers were high and unfunded, and that was enough to shake legislators into realizing it wasn't the right thing to do right now. On fund balance, House Bill 2593, an amendment passed this week that significantly scaled the bill back. The bill now has no maximum and reduces the minimum so that instead of there being penalties associated with it, there would be interventions to support districts who are approaching fiscal insolvency instead Our main concern at this point is that there still a requirement for monthly reporting to OSPI with the possibility of an apportionment hold if districts are late in reporting. And I would encourage you to communicate with your House Appropriation members today, if it's Friday. And if you're not hearing this on Friday, it's not too late. Please communicate with house appropriation members, your concerns, if doing a monthly report to OSPI on your finances would be something that would add an additional burden to your staff. If you have any follow-up questions for me about that, please let me know. I'm going to include a list of the house appropriation members in a spreadsheet that accompanies this podcast so that you have easy access for a cut and paste and can let them know what concerns you might have about this or any other bill that might be coming through their committee today or over the weekend. Finally, Senate Bill 6260, it's called efficiencies, passed out of Senate Early Learning K-12 earlier this week or last week and is now on its way to Senate Ways and Means. This has some of the proposed operating budget from the governor, including a hold back on material supplies and operating costs, a reduction at the state level by 1.9% in order to support the high school and beyond platform at a statewide level. The assumption there is that that will save districts money by not having to do it locally, but instead that the state would be doing it on your behalf. However, it might be a nominal amount, 1.9% holding from your MSOC dollars. However, we know that you're not receiving enough as it is. So I've expressed concern to the bill sponsors, Senator Wellman on the Senate side and Representative Gregerson on the House side. And if you see some additional opportunity to communicate, particularly on the ways and means side about your concern, I think that's the next place it's going. I do think this will be necessary to implement the budget bill, even if we don't see it passed by the fiscal deadline on Monday. So going to look ahead and do a little closing here. Next week is about watching which bills make it through the fiscal committees before the February 9th cutoff and which ones don't. As we move into the second half of session, the remainder of the legislative timeline will really be layered with debates about tax and revenue proposals, with the millionaire's tax becoming a dominant part of the conversation among legislators and in the media. Those broader revenue debates will shape budget decisions across K-12, how significant cuts might be, even when education isn't the headline. We'll continue to monitor how those conversations intersect with school funding and keep you informed. So if you're not reading about K-12 issues and you're not hearing about it with your legislators, I would say it's our responsibility to keep our priorities alive and be sure, in particular, we're advocating for MSOC, the sales tax exemption, and any potential movement in transportation if we can. And of course, that we're stopping any additional unfunded mandates, for which we've had some pretty good traction moving bills from shalls to maize. I'll be keeping a close eye on also the levy lift or the levy equalization conversation, bills moving through fiscal committees ahead of cutoff, and the broader revenue discussion shaping the final budget. We hit the midday mark of this legislative session on Tuesday, February 10th. We're still climbing. We're still taking the steps. I hope we're still doing it together. I feel you out there trudging along with me, so I am so grateful for that. We can't do this alone, and the door at the top stays open the more that we work towards it. So thank you again for your engagement, your advocacy, and your partnership. I am grateful to support and serve you, and I'll see you next week. Thank you.
