Unraveling a shotgun compromise on low-carbon fuels
Plus more tax proposals and an update on student restraint
When the Legislature enacted the state’s low-carbon fuel standard back in 2021, the program was touted as a way to cut the carbon footprint of getting around and jump-start a homegrown biofuels industry.
To that end, part of the gradually tightening requirement for lower-carbon fuels was conditioned on the development of a major biofuel refinery somewhere in Washington, which would hopefully use Washington-grown feedstocks—think all that canola that turns the hills of the Palouse yellow—to make those fuels.
It hasn’t worked out that way. In some ways, the program has been a success. For example, electrical utilities have been earning low-carbon fuel credits under the program by selling juice to folks with electric cars. The problem? Building a refinery of any kind, even a friendly green refinery, is a heavy lift. Meanwhile, the prices for the low-carbon credits have plummeted, decreasing the attractiveness of building and operating such a facility.
Hence House Bill 1409, from House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, the architect of the original program. The Burien Democrat’s proposal would junk the idea of requiring major new in-state biofuel production and impose a stricter requirement for lower-carbon fuels in the future, which would theoretically juice the price of the program’s credits and perhaps spark biofuel production in Washington. It’s also likely to make gasoline and diesel more expensive.
Here’s why you should care about this: The homegrown refinery part of the 2021 bill, and the relatively loose carbon reduction standards compared to California and Oregon, weren’t Fitzgibbon’s thing in the first place. He actually got trucked on those issues by a moderate faction of Senate Democrats looking to mitigate the low-carbon fuel standard’s impact on gas prices while bringing in jobs. That faction had the business lobby, the farmers, and a sizable chunk of organized labor behind them.
Some of the consequences Fitzgibbon and others flagged about that approach appear to have transpired. It’s easy to earn credits under the program's loose early-stage requirements, which is why the market is now flooded with credits. Uncertainty about the biofuel production requirement is likely among the reasons that nobody’s pouring concrete for a new refinery yet.
Meanwhile, the 2025 version of the Senate Democratic caucus is substantially different from the 2021 version that trucked Fitzgibbon. Sens. Mark Mullet and Kevin Van De Wege both sought higher office last year instead of reelection and lost. Former Transportation Chair Steve Hobbs was elevated to Secretary of State in late 2021 in a clever piece of realpolitik. His replacement as Senate Transportation chair, Sen. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, is far better aligned with Fitzgibbon’s green agenda.
The business and farmer lobby and the Western States Petroleum Association all lined up against HB 1409, arguing that it would drive up fuel prices while removing the promise of jobs and economic development in the state. Removing the in-state production requirement revives the critique that the whole thing is a giveaway to Big Biofuel.
Fitzgibbon’s bill sailed out of the House Environment & Energy Committee this week, albeit on a party-line vote. We’ll see who does the trucking this year.
PQ
A tax on smartphones to pay it forward
A new iPhone could cost you a couple more bucks under House Bill 1517 from Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-SeaTac, which would impose a $2 excise tax on smartphones retailing for $250 or more.
The lion’s share of those tax dollars would shore up Washington’s Digital Equity Account—the state’s suite of programs devoted to bringing internet broadband to low-income families. Around a third of that money would go toward a new learning device and technology account dedicated to promoting “digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy.” In all, HB 1517 would bring in roughly $115M by 2031.
Gregerson pitched the bill to the House Finance Committee as a way for consumers to pay it forward to struggling families, particularly since Congress pulled the plug on the federal Affordable Connectivity Program.
Tech lobbyists politely protested the idea to the House Finance Committee on Tuesday on the basis that a host of internet providers, from Comcast to AT&T, have since offered a $30 monthly broadband plan for eligible, low-income families.
The bill is just one two-step in lawmakers’ elaborate waltz with Big Tech this session. Gregerson is also carrying her latest version of the Fair Repair Act, which she first filed in 2023. That bill, House Bill 1483, would force Apple, Microsoft, and other tech giants to cough up the parts and manuals you need to repair your phone and laptop yourself. The House Rules Committee put HB 1483 up for a floor vote on Tuesday.
HB 1517 is likely safe from cut-off until sine die if lawmakers stamp it “Necessary To Implement the Budget.” We’ll keep you posted on whether lawmakers do so.
TG
A fleeting tax for Seattle’s soccer summer
Football fans—and we’re talking about fans of the round kind—flocking to Seattle for the World Cup next summer might have to reach deeper into their pockets for an Airbnb per a bill aimed at taxing tourists to promote tourism.
House Bill 1882 from Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, would green-light an additional 2% lodging tax through the summer of 2026 on hotels, motels, and short-term rentals. The state stands to collect some $52 million from the tidal wave of money flooding the Puget Sound come game time, legislative analysts estimate. Half the tax dollars collected would go toward the state’s beleaguered tourism programs. The other half would be split between counties and programs serving survivors of human trafficking, likely because of the well-established link between human exploitation and major sporting events.
Cortes made his case for the dubious idea of a “temporary” tax to the House Finance Committee Tuesday. Hospitality industry players, including the Washington Hosts Collaborative Alliance, marched to the dais with their collective thumbs down. Democratic Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, whose district encompasses vast swathes of Southeast Seattle, pressed Cortes on cutting small business owners in on that lodging tax money to pay for the inevitable clean-up that comes with hosting mobs of football hooligans.
Like its tax-related counterparts this session, HB 1882 will probably float around the statehouse for a while this session as it vies for “NTIB” status.
TG
House pushes forward on new isolation & restraint bill
For the third year in a row, Washington lawmakers have aimed to develop a solution to the complex problem of student isolation and restraint practices in public schools. House Bill 1795 from Rep. Lisa Callan, D-Issaquah, passed out of the House Education Committee on a 12-6 vote Monday. Rep. Skyler Rude, R-Walla Walla, who has worked closely for years with his Democratic counterparts on the committee on this challenging issue, was the only Republican to sign on to the bill. Rude said he wants to see changes before he’d be willing to pass it off the House floor.
The 2025 version of the bill zeroes in on defining concepts such as “chemical restraint” and “room clears,” and offers professional development for teachers and paraeducators on the frontlines of student behavioral crises. The bill would also extend a program to help school districts build alternative practices to student isolation and restraint, which early results show has been successful in reducing the practice statewide. The challenge here, of course, is finding the cash to pay for it, and securing the buy-in from relevant stakeholders.
While the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction remains an enthusiastic yes on limiting this practice in public schools, the Washington Education Association, and paraprofessionals represented by the SEIU 925 union, testified as “other” during the Feb. 10 committee hearing. Concerns about unfunded mandates or creating difficult-to-implement stipulations, such as maintaining visual contact with a child in isolation, remain an ongoing concern.
Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Tacoma, ran a companion bill that got a public hearing in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, but, as in the past, it seems the House bill is the one that will move.
SK
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Keep those reader pets coming
Kelsey, courtesy of her human Joan Bartz, continues our series from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s government relations team. She also tipped us that there might be a giant inflatable colon headed for the statehouse in March to encourage folks to quit putting off that colonoscopy. Want to see your pet in this space? Drop us a photo and some caption material.