The bill is designed to reduce health care costs for the state. But the Washington State Hospital Association says it shifts the burden to care providers and that hospitals could lose around $100 million per year if the change becomes law.

Students attending any of the state’s nine independent colleges, such as Gonzaga University, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, and Whitman College, would see state tuition assistance under the Washington College Grant and College Bound Scholarship programs cut to 50% of the average level awarded to students at public universities.

In 2021, an informal study by the state’s Dementia Action Collaborative found there were about 237 assisted living facilities in Washington that advertised memory care or specialized dementia care, but their services varied.

New restrictions on cosmetics tested on animals, tougher penalties for negligent drivers, requirements for hospitals to offer drugs to people possibly exposed to HIV. These are among the changes in Washington state law took effect Jan. 1, 2025.