wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5744 > Original Bill
The world is changing faster than the laws of the state of Washington can keep up with. Due to the volume of bills each legislative session, there is little time for robust analysis and consideration of bills by members of the legislature. This results in reactionary changes that create temporary and often ill-considered patches in law. Finite legislative time during session is consumed with short-term solutions to address current emergent issues, leaving little time to provide long-term planning for the future of Washington state.
Citizen legislatures are intended to be composed of everyday people who create laws that govern everyday people. Everyday working people, however, cannot afford to take time away from their employment to be legislators. Often, employers will not hire or retain employees who are not able to reliably show up every day and perform their job duties year round. Consequently, candidates for the legislature must have an employer who is willing to give sufficient time off to perform their legislative duties. Furthermore, candidates for the legislature must have sufficient personal resources to perform their legislative duties, which leaves low income and historically disenfranchised citizens without a voice in their governance. Legislators and their families are asked to make great sacrifices for the benefit of the people. Consequently, the possibility of running for the legislature and serving as a legislator is not a reality for most working people and the legislature becomes overweighed by members who do have personal resources or jobs with an employer who is willing to give enough time off to perform legislative duties because they know the benefits of having an employee with their perspective making laws.
We all have a vision for the possibilities of the future of the state of Washington, but time constraints imposed by the constitutionally mandated 105 days for a budget writing session and 60 days for an off-year session considerably diminish the legislature's ability to find thoughtful solutions to today's issues let alone work toward a vision for the future of Washington state.
Therefore, the legislature intends for the joint legislative audit and review committee to study transforming Washington state's current part-time legislature into a full-time legislature.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall review the Washington state legislature's structure, demographics, and operations and provide comparison to other state legislatures, with a focus on representation, barriers to participation, and the impact of legislative schedules on effective oversight and responsiveness to constituents.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a comparative review of Washington's legislature in relation to other states, which must address:
Classification of legislatures as full time, part time, or hybrid;
Legislative calendars and session lengths, and potential administrative efficiencies offered by various models;
Size, composition, and partisan or nonpartisan nature of legislative staff and their relative abilities to accomplish a detailed analysis of legislative proposals for the different classifications of legislatures in (a) of this subsection during legislative sessions, and their relative abilities to provide well-vetted advice to legislators regarding multiple options toward possible solutions to problems legislators may be working on while in legislative session;
Legislator compensation, including salary and benefits;
Restrictions, if any, on legislator communication with constituents;
Rates and patterns of legislative turnover; and
Amount of time legislators spend outside of legislative session for part-time legislators performing legislative duties including, but not limited to, statutory committees, joint legislative committees, task forces, oversight committees and other nonstatutory committees, legislative-related boards and commissions, and advisory groups.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a comparison of the demographic characteristics of the Washington state legislature to those of Washington's general population, including but not limited to:
Race and ethnicity, disaggregated to the greatest extent practicable;
Gender;
Income and wealth levels;
Education levels; and
Other relevant demographic factors.
If data was not available to make a detailed analysis as required in subsection (3) of this section, that should be explained and discussed in the final report.
If disparities are found in the review required in subsection (1) of this section, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall identify potential barriers to a more representative legislature, such as compensation, session schedules, or other factors.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall evaluate the level of oversight provided by the Washington state legislature and how it compares to states with differing legislative calendars and schedules. This analysis shall include, but not be limited to:
The number and types of hearings conducted throughout the year;
The frequency and depth of legislative engagement with executive agencies and other stakeholders; and
Identification of any challenges and best practices for more effective legislative oversight.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall evaluate the Washington state legislature's ability to respond to constituent needs, including but not limited to:
Mechanisms for year-round constituent communication;
Responding to natural disasters, health, and other public emergencies; and
Identifying any challenges and best practices for more timely and effective responses to constituents and emergencies.
The joint legislative audit and review committee shall report its findings to the legislature by December 1, 2027.
This section expires January 1, 2028.