The 2026 session: what moved, and what we stopped

The 2026 Legislature adjourned sine die on 12 March. For our clients it was a session defined as much by what did not happen as by what did.

Signed

HB 2664 removed the requirement that unlawful detainer and related notices be sent by certified mail, allowing regular mail with an additional five-day period. HB 2452 modernized service of rent-increase notices and reverted manufactured housing community notice service to RCW 59.20.150. Both were signed by the Governor and take effect on 11 June 2026. Together they are the most meaningful process reform for housing providers in years.

SB 6347 returned the estate tax exclusion amount and rates to what applied before ESSB 5813, cutting the top estate tax rate from 35% back to 20% for estates of decedents dying on or after 1 July 2026.

We also secured a carve-out inside SB 6346 exempting non-profit organizations from sales tax on live presentations, trainings, and seminars from 1 July 2026, inside a bill we opposed overall.

Stopped

The defensive list was longer. HB 2489, which would have restricted enforcement of public-space laws around homeless encampments, died in House Rules, one of the most important defensive results of the year for property owners and retailers. An employer payroll tax (HB 2100 / SB 6093), an expansion of the capital gains tax (HB 2292 / SB 6229) and a REET implementation without a public vote (HB 2528 / SB 6211) all died in their fiscal committees.

So did HB 2191 / SB 6068, which would have shifted contractor wage and benefit liability upstream to owners; HB 1732 / SB 5496, limiting ownership of single-family homes by certain entities; SB 6139 on partial payment of rent in unlawful detainer; and HB 2259 / SB 5973, which would have weakened the initiative process.

What it means for 2027

Bills do not carry over into a new biennium. Every measure that did not pass has to be redrafted, renumbered, and re-sponsored, and every House seat is on the ballot in November. The work that decides the 2027 session is happening now. Here is what that work looks like.