With a tight budget in Olympia, this proved to be a challenging legislative session for our environmental priorities which focused on defending funding and creating more transparency.  Although many of our priorities did not get passed, your comments and advocacy do go a long way. Many of these bills received significant attention and support from statewide legislators—a vital step in making their way through the legislative gauntlet in future years. We are grateful to our 7th District representatives for listening to our priorities and meeting with Liberty Bell Climate Club Students in Olympia. These are our takeaways from the Legislative session:

• We’re glad the Legislature restored $60 million for wildfire preparedness and forest health, and also recognize that the growing threat will demand sustained investment.
• We’re pleased that SB 5982 passed, closing a loophole that will ensure our 100% clean electricity law applies fairly across Washington—including to data centers. 
• We’re concerned about the decision to redirect $546 million in Climate Commitment Act funds to plug budget holes rather than reduce pollution and fund projects such as battery backup systems, solar panels, and habitat restoration in Okanogan County. We’ll be holding state leaders to their commitment to restore that funding in the next budget—and we’ll need help to make sure they follow through.
• We’re disappointed that HB 2515, which would have addressed transparency, affordability, and environmental concerns around data centers, didn’t cross the finish line. The momentum behind this bill shows these issues aren’t going away, and we expect them to return in 2027. 
•  It was also a missed opportunity that two bills related to wildfire insurance did not pass—SSB 6079 the Strengthen Washington Homes Program would have funded firewise mitigation efforts, and ESSB 5928 provides insured policy holders with information on the wildfire risk model to generate the score, factors within their control that adversely impacted the risk score, and steps to take to harden their homes against wildfire.