Tomorrow marks the Washington Legislature’s last day for the Senate and House to consider bills that originated in the opposite house. After that, adjournment of the 2020 session is scheduled a week from today, on March 12.

Some of the exceptions to tomorrow’s deadline include matters deemed necessary to pass a budget or that affect state revenue and amendments.

Washington Retail continues its work on major retail-related bills still in play. Here is a summary of some of them:

• SB 6281, data privacy. Already passed by the Senate, the bill would extend first-ever protections for consumers including rights to edit or delete personal information stored after online purchases. Washington Retail supports the bill if enforcement of its requirements is assigned to the state Attorney General. A possible vote by the House is pending.
• HB 2948, King County head tax with pre-emption. If approved, it would tax businesses with employees making more than $150,000 to address homelessness issues. A House Committee on Finance took no action on the bill earlier this week.
• SB 6182, closed captioning for TV. Already passed by the Senate, a House Rules Committee had the bill earlier this week with possible action pending. It would require at least one television in public places to be broadcasting with closed captioning.
• SB 5323, plastic bag ban with pre-emption. Already passed by the Senate, a House Committee on Finance was scheduled to possibly act on this bill that would ban plastic shopping bags statewide.
• SB 6440, regarding independent medical exams. A House Rules Committee was considering the bill this week. It has been amended to commission a study this year of whether to limit options for allowing independent medical exams to help manage open workers’ compensation cases.

Look for updates on these bills next week before Washington Retail publishes a complete members-only review of results from the 2020 session.