PFAS bill, local projects are among wins for 2025 session, Wilson says

New building at Lower Columbia College, public works projects across SW Washington are among bright spots in a discouraging legislative session

May 02, 2025

OLYMPIA – A bill creating a testing program to measure forever-chemical contamination in Washington’s food supply heads the list of wins for Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview in an otherwise-discouraging 2025 legislative session that ended Sunday, April 27.

Despite passage of the largest tax increase in Washington history and legislation designed to force liberal urban perspectives on the entire state, Wilson was able to score a number of successes for the 19th Legislative District. Over the course of the session, Wilson passed three bills and helped stop an effort to gut Washington state’s initiative process. Wilson also worked to pass a capital budget that provides funding for critical local infrastructure projects. Items funded in the state’s capital budget include a new building for Lower Columbia Community College, a new dredge for the Port of Chinook and a library, community center and public housing for the city of Kelso.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” Wilson said. “This may have been the worst legislative session ever. This year our majority colleagues rammed through the largest and most unnecessary tax increase in the history of the state, and they passed numerous bills to enhance government’s power over the people. Yet we were still able to score a few victories for the people of southwest Washington, and in a terrible year like this one, wins like these seem all the sweeter.”

A discouraging session

Wilson, a member of the Legislature’s Republican minority, expressed frustration with a legislative leadership that doubled state spending over a decade and ran it up to unsustainable levels. This year the state found itself with a deficit, on paper, of about $7 billion – the amount required to pay for all the new spending planned by majority Democrats. Rather than correcting their course, they enacted a tax increase totaling $12.9 billion on the state and local levels. This tax increase enabled them to enact substantial new spending for non-emergency purposes and kept the state budget on the same skyrocketing trajectory.

Wilson also was critical of this year’s spate of ideologically-tinged legislation that, among other things, gutted last year’s parental rights initiative, increased Olympia’s ability to dictate to local school districts, imposed new obstacles for constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment rights and gave unions the upper hand in labor negotiations, by providing unemployment benefits to striking workers. As ranking member on the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee, Wilson helped head off a bill that would have imposed cumbersome new requirements on initiative campaigns and reduce public opportunities to challenge the Legislature.

“Public opposition prevented our colleagues from enacting everything they wanted, but many of the bills they did pass were pretty awful,” Wilson said. “None of this was necessary. We didn’t need to raise taxes. Olympia doesn’t need to dictate to the state. The mess we found ourselves in this year should have been a wake-up call that things can’t continue as they are, and instead our colleagues doubled down.”

Three Wilson bills go to governor

Bills passed by Wilson are:

  • Senate Bill 5033, launching a sampling program to assess contamination levels in processed human waste used as fertilizers for farms and forests. The bill requires the state Department of Ecology to establish a testing program for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) compounds in biosolids, and report findings to the Legislature by 2030. PFAS compounds are used in carpets, nonstick cookware and firefighting foam, but because they do not readily break down in the environment, there are growing concerns about their accumulation in the human body and contamination of the food supply. Awaits governor’s signature.
  • Senate Bill 5049, giving the state Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee more flexibility in scheduling meetings. The measure is among proposals from Wilson to improve the effectiveness of the “Sunshine Committee,” which advises the Legislature on public records issues. Signed into law.
  • Senate Bill 5365, clarifying that public libraries can be included in community centers and funded by parks and recreation districts, eliminating a concern for the city of Castle Rock. Awaits governor’s signature.


Local projects win funding

The state’s $7.6 billion capital budget provides funding for projects across Southwest Washington. These public works and infrastructure projects are funded by long-term bonds and are not directly affected by tax increases for the operating budget. Projects for the 19th District include:

  • Longview – Center for Vocational and Transitional Studies, $45 million. This long-sought project replaces outdated campus buildings with new classrooms and computer-lab and vocational education space.
  • Kelso – Public Housing/Community Center/Library, $1.5 million. This appropriation will help build a 40-unit low-income housing project on city-owned property at the intersection of Catlin Street and Second Avenue SW, and will replace the city’s aging community center and library. Total cost of the project is $18 million.
  • Grayland – New South Beach Area Maintenance and Administration facility, Grayland Beach State Park, $1.3 million – replaces partially shuttered flood-prone facility at Twin Harbors State Park.
  • Longview – Columbia Theater Centennial Capital Project, $1 million. Part of a $3.5 renovation project, money will pay for restoration and up-to-date audio/visual and lighting equipment.
  • Raymond – Veterans’ Housing and Resource Center, $950,000. Money will help the Willapa Community Development Association demolish the existing American Legion building and replace it with public housing and a community center; a new city hall also is planned. Total cost of the project is $15.9 million.
  • Aberdeen – Lady Washington restoration, $688,000 and building demolition at Seaport Landing, $150,000. Money will help realize the vision of a waterfront maritime heritage center with the Lady Washington, the state’s official ship, as the centerpiece.
  • Port of Chinook – Dredge Acquisition, $515,000. Pays for a new dredge to help maintain and expand the 300-slip Chinook Marina. The marina is a hub for commercial and sports fishing and is critical to the local economy.
  • Castle Rock – Impound/Storage Facility, $370,000 – Builds a secure police impound yard with fire-resistant storage for electric vehicles.
  • Cathlamet – Wahkiakum County Courthouse renovation, $365,000.
  • Longview – Library Elevator Repair, $300,000.
  • South Bend — Willapa Harbor Hospital replacement, $285,000.
  • Tokeland – Tokeland Hotel foundation repairs, $261,000.
  • McCleary — Beerbower Park athletic field improvements, $253,000.
  • Cathlamet — Julia Butler Hansen House restoration and repairs, $115,000.
  • Curtis – New roof for Baw Faw Grange Hall, $12,000.