Committee hears brief testimony on bill to designate Election Day as a legislatively recognized day

House Bill 1116 would designate Election Day — the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November — as a legislatively recognized day and encourage government entities, schools and cultural organizations to conduct educational programming related to democracy and voting.

Connor Schiff, staff to the State Government and Tribal Relations Committee, briefed the committee on the bill and its details, including the bill’s encouragement of education efforts and a requirement in the original draft that the Office of the Secretary of State create Election Day programming and materials for use by other entities. Mr. Schiff also noted that one amendment, Shift 054 by Representative Fitzgibbons, removes the requirement that the Office of the Secretary of State create such programming and materials.

Chen Yoo Lee, staff to the committee, briefed the fiscal impact and said an initial fiscal note estimates a 2025–27 biennial cost of $948,000 in the general fund and ongoing costs of about $902,000 per biennium thereafter. The Office of the Secretary of State’s estimate assumed staff and operational costs, including a line item of $250,000 per year for printing and mailing Election Day materials; staff said if the amendment removing the programming requirement is adopted, the fiscal impact would be “close to 0.”

Jonathan Pan, a senior at Lake Washington High School, testified remotely in favor of the bill. Pan told the committee he was “very thankful to be here to talk remotely about this matter” and urged the committee to recognize Election Day as an officially observed day as a way to promote civic participation, especially for turnout in odd-year and local elections.

The committee took no final action on HB 1116 during the recorded session; members closed the public hearing and moved on to other agenda items.