We have passed the halfway point of the 2025 legislative session, and the house-of-origin deadline in the Legislature means bills that haven’t passed the House or the Senate are considered dead unless they are part of the budgeting process.
**ACTION NEEDED FOR Engrossed SSHB 1648. The experts who spoke at the Thursday hearing could not quiet the loud voices of parents and community colleges who painted a grim picture of the current teaching professionals in early learning programs.
Please send a note to the members of the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education who are confused by the request for five years to complete the education that is required above the ten hours per year already required. Here is the list of members.
SSB 5240 is scheduled for a House Committee on Education hearing on March 18 at 4:00 pm. WFIS would like the bill to be amended to allow trained personnel to use an EpiPen if a student, without a prescription, is having an anaphylactic attack and there is no nurse present.
SB 5506 extends the timeline for licensing boarding schools. WFIS was told the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee will hear this bill.
HB 1543 will be heard on March 19 at 8:00 am in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology. The bill increases compliance pathways for the clean buildings performance standards, adding an exemption for extenuating circumstances approved by Commerce with specified financial hardships for K-12 school buildings. WFIS has offered an amendment prioritizing health and safety compliance while committing to clean building standards.
Engrossed SSHB 1648 is a second substitute bill with an amendment that gives teachers less time to obtain their necessary credentials. We initially asked for ten years, but due to an amendment by Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, we are back to five.
Engrossed SSB 5509 will be heard on March 18 at 10:30 am in the House Committee on Local Government. This bill requires cities, towns, and city codes to permit childcare centers in all zones except industrial zones, light industrial zones, and open spaces. Senator John Braun added an amendment stipulating “conditional use approval of an on-site child care center in industrial or light industrial zones, except in or around high hazard facilities.”
SSB 5655 (HB 1582) will be heard on March 18 at 1:30 pm in the House Committee on Early Learning & Human Services. The bill requires that when a child care center is operated in a dedicated space within an existing building with more than one use, the occupancy load must be based only on the areas where the child care services are provided.
