The 2026 session
is in full swing
Help Whole Washington work with your Senator and Representatives to advance universal healthcare through Olympia!
The legislature is in (short) session until March 12th, 2026
Check this page regularly for the latest legislative actions. As we reach the end of the legislative biennium, a number of important healthcare bills are still moving! Unfortunately many others including the Washington Health Trust are currently considered "dead" and will need to be reintroduced in 2027 to have another shot at passing.
2026 Legislative Actions
Whole Washington is backing a small number of partner bills through the rest of session. For more legislative actions check us out on Take Action Network.
To help SB.5993 reach the floor and be scheduled for a vote, use the following Take Action Network (TAN) link and follow the instructions:
https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/48431?ref=6037
The 2025-2026 Legislative Biennium
The following bills were developed, codeveloped, or supported by Whole Washington in the 2025-2026 Legislative Biennium but are no longer on track to pass. They will need to be reintroduced into the next session with new bill numbers and restart the process from the beginning.
- SB.5233/HB.1445 - Establishing The Washington Health Trust, a universal healthcare system for Washington
- SB.5947 - Establishing a universal healthcare "trigger" pending federal action
- SJB.8206 - A Constitutional Amendment creating a right to healthcare for all Washingtonians
- SB.5955 - The Medicare Deprivatization Act
- SB.5948 - Establishing deadlines and deliverables for the Universal Health Care Commission
- SB.5946 - Expanding Medicaid eligibility up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Line
- SB.5387 - Concerning the corporatization of medicine
- HB.2283 - Requiring all insurers to maintain a medical loss ratio of 90%
- HB.1603 - Guaranteed Return to Medigap when voluntarily disenrolling from Medicare Advantage
- HB.2100 - Establishing the Well Washington Fund
- HB.1354 - Expanding PEBB to cover temporary session employees
- HB.2300 - Assessing employers for their workers' health care costs paid by the state
- SB.6173 - Creating an apple health employer assessment
Washington's legislature works on a two-year cycle called a "Biennium." In odd numbered years a new biennium begins with the a "long" legislative session running from January to April for a total of 105 days. All bills must be introduced or reintroduced as no bills carry over from the previous biennium. In even numbered years a "short" legislative session runs from January to March for a total of 60 days. New bills may be introduced and bills from the previous year's session may continue from where they left off but at the end of the biennium all bills that have not passed will be considered "dead" and need to be reintroduced into the next biennium with a new bill number.
Biennium:Â Year 2
Length:Â 60 days (short session)
Important Dates:
- 12/01 - 2026 Prefiling open
- 01/12 - First day of session
- 01/13 - Cutoff date for cosponsors for prefiled bills
- 02/04 - Policy Committee Cutoff (House of Origin)
- 02/09 - Fiscal Committee Cutoff (House of Origin)
- 02/17 - House of Origin Cutoff
- 02/25 - Policy Committee Cutoff (Opposite Chamber)
- 03/02 - Fiscal Committee Cutoff (Opposite Chamber)
- 03/06 - Opposite Chamber Cutoff
- 03/12 - Last day of regular session
Washington's legislature works on a two-year cycle called a "Biennium." In odd numbered years a new biennium begins with the a "long" legislative session running from January to April for a total of 105 days. All bills must be introduced or reintroduced as no bills carry over from the previous biennium. In even numbered years a "short" legislative session runs from January to March for a total of 60 days. New bills may be introduced and bills from the previous year's session may continue from where they left off but at the end of the biennium all bills that have not passed will be considered "dead" and need to be reintroduced into the next biennium with a new bill number.
Biennium:Â Year 1
Length:Â 105 days (long session)
Important Dates:
- 12/01/2026 - Bill prefiling for 2027-2028 session opens
- 01/11/2027 - First day of 2027-2028 Biennium and 2027 legislative session.
- 04/26/2027 - Last day 2027 legislative session.