Agriculture regulations

AN ACT Relating to reducing regulatory stress in agriculture; 1
creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the 4
agricultural industry is an integral part of Washington's economy and 5
that the behavioral health of agricultural producers and workers and 6
their family members is a statewide concern. Further, the legislature 7
finds that the state has made progress since the 2018 creation of the 8
task force on behavioral health and suicide prevention in the 9
agricultural industry in identifying potential stressors on 10
agricultural producers and workers in order to recommend ways to 11
alleviate stress in the agricultural community. This work continued 12
through the mental health and suicide prevention for agricultural 13
producers and workers work group, which submitted a 2025 report to 14
the legislature, identifying regulatory challenges unique to farming 15
operations as one of many stressors and recommending further study 16
into ways to reduce these burdens. The legislature, therefore, 17
intends to create a joint legislative task force on reducing 18
regulatory stress for agricultural producers to evaluate and 19
recommend ways to streamline, eliminate, or modify existing 20
regulations that apply to various aspects of agricultural production.21
H-3040.1
HOUSE BILL 2619
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Dent, Schmick, Barnard, and Lekanoff
Read first time 01/22/26. Referred to Committee on Agriculture &
Natural Resources.
p. 1 HB 2619
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)(a) A joint legislative task force on 1
reducing regulatory stress for agricultural producers is established, 2
with members as provided in this subsection:3
(i) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 4
senate, appointed by the president of the senate; 5
(ii) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 6
house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house;7
(iii) The director of the department of agriculture, or the 8
director's designee; 9
(iv) The director of the department of commerce, or the 10
director's designee; 11
(v) The director of the department of ecology, or the director's 12
designee; 13
(iv) The commissioner of public lands, or the commissioner's 14
designee; 15
(v) The director of the department of fish and wildlife, or the 16
director's designee; 17
(vi) The director of the governor's office of regulatory 18
innovation and assistance, or the director's designee;19
(vii) The secretary of health, or the secretary's designee; and20
(viii) The director of the department of labor and industries, or 21
the director's designee. 22
(b) The joint legislative task force shall choose its chair from 23
among its legislative membership. The two members appointed to the 24
joint legislative task force from the house of representatives and 25
the senate with the most years of legislative service shall jointly 26
confer immediately following the effective date of this section to 27
set an agreed date, time, and location to convene the initial meeting 28
of the task force, pending election of a chair. 29
(2) The joint legislative task force shall review aspects of the 30
regulatory environment that lead to agricultural producer stress, and 31
recommend actions to alleviate agricultural producer stress by 32
streamlining, eliminating, or modifying existing regulations related 33
to: 34
(a) Land use and zoning; 35
(b) Stewardship of water resources; 36
(c) Grazing rights; and 37
(d) Pesticides. 38
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(3) Staff support for the joint legislative task force shall be 1
provided by the senate committee services and the house of 2
representatives office of program research. 3
(4) Legislative members of the joint legislative task force are 4
reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. 5
Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel 6
expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf 7
of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any 8
reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 9
43.03 RCW. 10
(5) The expenses of the joint legislative task force shall be 11
paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Joint 12
legislative task force expenditures are subject to approval by the 13
senate facilities and operations committee and the house of 14
representatives executive rules committee, or their successor 15
committees. 16
(6) The joint legislative task force shall report its findings 17
and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature 18
in conformance with RCW 43.01.036 by November 1, 2028.19
(7) This section expires June 30, 2029. 20
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p. 3 HB 2619