In some ways, late July marks the culmination of this year’s legislative session. Hundreds of new laws took effect Sunday — 90 days after the close of the 2025 Legislature — adding to the already complex Revised Code of Washington.
Much of the legislation addresses serious issues. House Bill 2015, for example, creates a grant program providing $100 million for jurisdictions throughout the state to hire law enforcement officers. Gov. Bob Ferguson, who took office in January, said he would not sign a budget that did not include the funding; a compromise with progressive Democrats expanded the program to include peer counselors, behavioral health responders and broader public safety initiatives.
Other significant legislation addresses funding for special education, promotes the construction of multifamily housing near transit, and requires clergy members to report child abuse or neglect — a provision that is likely to result in lengthy court battles.
Amid all this, an informative article from Washington State Standard includes a fascinating factoid — the 2025 Legislature passed 333 new laws. That is more than three laws for each of the 105 days in the session; or nearly seven laws for each of the 49 legislative districts; or more laws than the typical citizen can keep track of.
(As an aside, the Legislature forwarded 423 items to Ferguson, and he signed all but one of them, according to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. The governor vetoed House Bill 1108, which called for a study to discover “the primary cost drivers for homeownership and rental housing.”)
Each new law is meaningful to somebody. Proposed legislation typically must be approved by a relevant committee, both the House and the Senate, and the governor.
House Bill 1012, for example, “Allows the Washington State Women’s Commission to solicit gifts, grants, and endowments from public and private sources.” That probably is important to the Washington State Women’s Commission, but it is unlikely to impact the lives of most residents.
All of which brings up questions about the overregulation of Americans. The Revised Code of Washington contains 101 titles, many with dozens of chapters. That adds up to thousands of prohibitions for residents to follow — and thousands for law enforcement and state agencies to enforce.
It can be confounding. For example, RCW 70A.388.190 prohibits the use of X-rays to see whether shoes fit properly. “This prohibition does not apply to any licensed physician, surgeon, podiatric physician and surgeon, or any person practicing a licensed healing art …” the law reads by way of clarification.
And RCW 9.61.190 makes it illegal to “knowingly shoot, kill, maim, injure, molest, entrap, or detain any Antwerp Messenger or Racing Pigeon … having the name of its owner stamped upon its wing or tail or bearing upon its leg a band or ring with the name or initials of the owner or an identification or registration number stamped thereon.” That law probably is a result of the powerful pigeon racing lobby.
Meanwhile, a common internet claim suggests that lollipops are illegal in Washington. But as KHQ-TV in Spokane has reported: “After digging through RCWs and consulting with multiple attorneys, we couldn’t find an actual RCW for a lollipop ban.”
We’re thankful that KHQ took the time to clarify the status of lollipops in Washington. But the fact that reporters felt compelled to do so points out the overwhelming complexity of Washington’s RCW — a large book of laws that just got larger.
