Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement following today's cutoff for the state Senate and House of Representatives to pass bills from their house of origin this session.
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“I’m pleased with our progress as we hit this milestone in the 2023 legislative session, including efforts to address housing and homelessness with historic investments. I want to applaud legislators for advancing commonsense gun reform, planning for climate change impacts, supports for behavioral health, and more funding for special education. The Legislature is also making progress to address workforce challenges facing state agencies and other budget priorities I laid out before the start of session that are critical to providing the public the services they expect.
“I am disappointed more progress was not made on legislation to address riparian habitat to help restore our salmon, but I remain optimistic that the budget could still fund riparian restoration programs this year. It’s also unfortunate the Legislature could not make progress on a constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion in Washington state, but I am encouraged by legislators' progress on other measures to strengthen protections for reproductive health and gender-affirming care, including legal protections for patients and providers as well as removing cost barriers for patients.
“I look forward to continuing this work with legislators so that the remaining policy proposals so critical to our state’s future can make it to my desk for signing. Much work and many sleepless nights remain, but it’s worth it to deliver for the Washingtonians who entrusted us to do this on their behalf.”