This Sunday, April 23rd, is the last day of the 2023 legislative session. The bills that have passed the legislature must be signed by the House Speaker and Senate President in order to be delivered to the Governor for his signature or veto in whole or in part. If he does neither, the bill becomes law. May 16th is the last day for bills to be acted upon by the Governor. If you’re interested in the Governor’s bill signings, click here.  

Even at this late stage, the Legislature is still introducing new bills. Just last week, House Health Care & Wellness Committee Chair Riccelli introduced HB 1855, a bill that would reaffirm WA’s commitment to covering all Affordable Care Act-designated preventive services without cost-sharing. The bill is a response to the ongoing Braidwood litigation that is threatening access to critical preventive services, such as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV. While this bill won’t advance this session, it sets the stage for issues that may arise next session.  And the Legislature is also considering SB 5768 as part of the response to recent litigation that attempts to limit access to medication abortion (see article below on the litigation). This latter bill has been deemed “necessary to implement the budget” so is still alive and may pass this session.