OLYMPIA (WA)
KING-TV, Ch. 5 [Seattle WA]
June 27, 2025
By Helen Smith
Washington’s law designating clergy as mandatory reporters, increasing protections for immigrants, and new charges and fees are all taking effect in July.
This July, new laws passed during this year’s legislative session are taking effect.
Here’s what you need to know about how Washington state law is going to change as this legislation kicks in:
SB 5375 – Mandatory reporter law catches ire of Department of Justice
This bill requires members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect when they have reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered such abuse or neglect, no matter the scenario in which they obtain that information.
This bill has been controversial since it was first introduced in the Legislature due to clergy-penitent privilege. Similar to attorney-client privilege or spousal privilege, this means a priest or minister cannot be called to testify under oath about what someone told them in confession. The Roman Catholic Church specifies that a priest may not betray a penitent, and if they do so, they will directly violate the seal of confession, which is grounds for excommunication.
The bill’s prime sponsor, state Sen. Noel Frame, said the bill was about not being complicit in institutional cover-ups of physical and sexual abuse of children. Frame cited a years-long cover-up of sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witness community in Washington state as the catalyst for this legislation. At a January hearing, Frame said the bill “fell apart” during the 2024 session, but the revelation that three separate archdioceses of the Catholic church were being investigated for covering up abuse allegations prompted her to bring it forward again.
“Quite frankly, that made it hard for me to stomach any argument about religious freedom being more important than preventing the abuse, including the sexual abuse of children,” she said.
Frame said she herself is a survivor of sexual abuse, which only stopped when she told a mandated reporter, her teacher.
“I really wonder about all the children who have been abused and neglected and have gone unprotected by the adults in their lives because we didn’t have a mandated reporter law and that we continue to try to protect this in the name of religious freedom,” Frame said.
The law is already facing legal challenges from Catholic officials within Washington state, which was joined by the United States Department of Justice. Though it faces challenges in court, a judge has not yet granted an injunction, so as of now the law will take effect as planned.
HB 2077 – The Tesla Tax
HB 2077 places an excise tax on the sale of ZEV credits, and also on credits that a company banks for the future.
This tax, for now, only impacts Tesla.
These guidelines stipulate that of the cars that manufacturers are delivering to Washington state, an increasing percentage of them must be zero-emission vehicles, either powered by hydrogen or electricity, beginning with 22% in 2025.
Manufacturers can maintain compliance with the program by either producing and delivering the required number of zero-emission vehicles or they can buy zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) credits from other companies. The credits come from delivering more electric vehicles to Washington state above the required threshold.
Tesla, which only manufactures electric cars, is racking up major surpluses in ZEV credits that it has been selling to other companies for years. Politico estimates that Tesla has earned $10.7 billion through selling climate credits, and they represented an estimated 43% of the company’s profits in 2024. Multiple outlets called the credits “pure profit” for the company.
“We never intended for this program to be a source of windfall profits for one manufacturer,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Seattle).
SB 5004 – Mother of school shooting victim’s mission to improve school security
This bill mandates updates to school security systems, including adding panic or alert buttons and live feeds accessible by law enforcement.
The bill is in part due to the efforts of a parent whose daughter was killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. Alyssa Alhadeff was just 14 years old when she died. Now her mother, Lori Alhadeff, is on a mission to improve safety at other schools around the country.
The bill directs school districts to work with local law enforcement agencies and school security staff to develop an emergency response system, which must include at least one of the following:
- Panic or alert buttons that are tied to school administration, school district staff, and emergency response providers
- Live video feed with law enforcement, school district, and school access
- Live audio feed with law enforcement, school district, and school access
- Remote control access to doors
- Live interactive two-way communications;
- Or a system that complies with applicable state building code requirements for group E
OSPI must report to the legislature by Dec. 1 what types of emergency response systems schools are using.
The bill will be known as “Alyssa’s Law.”
HB 1046 – Saving dogs, babies from hot cars
This bill provides civil immunity for people who enter other people’s cars in order to save a vulnerable person or a domestic animal who has been left inside, subject to certain requirements.
To qualify for civil immunity, the person must do the following:
- Determine whether the vehicle is locked or there is no reasonable method for the vulnerable person or pet to exit the car without help
- Have good faith and a reasonable belief that, based on known circumstances, entry into the car is necessary because the vulnerable person or pet is in danger of imminent harm
- Ensure that law enforcement is notified or 911 has been contacted, before entering the vehicle
- Use no more force than necessary to enter the vehicle and remove the person or pet
- Remain with the vulnerable person or pet in a safe location reasonably close to the car until law enforcement, animal control or first responders arrive
For the purposes of this bill, “domestic animal” means a dog, cat or other animal that is domesticated and may be kept as a household pet. It does not apply to livestock or other farm animals. “Vulnerable person” means a person under the age of 18 or a person whose ability to perform the normal activities of daily living or to provide for their own care or protection is impaired due to a mental, emotional, sensory, long-term physical, or developmental disability or dysfunction, or brain damage, or the infirmities of aging.
HB 1052 – Expanding the definition of a hate crime
This bill modifies the conduct that constitutes a hate crime offense to include when a person commits a specified act in whole or in part because of the person’s perception of another person’s characteristics.
Previous state law said a defendant’s motive had to be entirely based on prejudice for a crime to qualify as a hate crime. This bill means even crimes that are motivated in part by prejudice will be considered hate crimes.
SB 5142 – Schools and eminent domain
This bill makes changes to how school districts may sell property that was seized through eminent domain.
The bill requires school districts to offer the previous owner the opportunity to purchase the land back before selling, transferring, or putting it to any other use. And would allow the original owners to buy back the land at the price they originally sold it for.
SB 5041 – Granting unemployment benefits to workers on strike
Senate Bill 5041 will make Washington the third state in the nation to offer benefits to workers on strike, following New York and New Jersey.
Here are the details:
- Workers will become eligible for unemployment benefits on the second Sunday following the first date of the strike
- If the judge rules that the strike was prohibited, workers who received benefits must repay the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) any unemployment funds that they received
- If retroactive wages are paid for any weeks the individual received benefits, ESD must issue an overpayment assessment to recover the benefits
- The regular one-week waiting period applies after the disqualification ends
- The striking individual may receive benefits for no more than six calendar weeks
ESD will present an annual study to the Legislature to report on the prevalence of strikes occurring within Washington and the impact of strikes on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The law currently has a sunset date in 2035.
SB 5785 – Reductions in financial aid to WA college students
This bill makes multiple modifications to the Washington College Grant (WCG) and the College Bound Scholarship (CBS).
- For the 2025-2026 school year, students whose families make up to 60% of the Median Family Income will receive the maximum (Washington College Grant award).
- For students attending private four-year not-for-profit higher education institutions, the maximum WCG award is 50% of the average of awards for the same academic year granted to students at the public research institutions beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
- Awards for students attending two-year and four-year private, for-profit institutions will be eliminated beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
- Beginning 2026-2027, the maximum award for students attending apprenticeship programs is 50% of the maximum award for students attending public, two-year institutions.
- The maximum WCG award for students attending the Washington Governor’s University is reduced to $4150 beginning in 2026-2027
The following changes will be made to the CBS beginning the 2027-2028 school year:
- For students attending private four-year not-for-profit higher education institutions, the maximum award is 50 percent of the average of awards for the same academic year granted to students at the public research institutions
- For students attending two-year and four-year private for-profit institutions of higher education, awards are eliminated
- For students attending WGU, the maximum award is reduced to $4,650.
This bill goes into effect July 1.
“Our state’s budget crisis this year has forced us to make some difficult decisions and this was certainly one of them,” Gov. Ferguson said Tuesday at the bill signing. “Even with these changes, however, Washington state will continue to offer the most generous college financial aid programs in our country.”