Process
How would an official "state cactus" be designated?
The official "Washington State Cactus" would be a status conferred by the Legislature through the same lawmaking process as all of the other state laws that govern everyday living. The Legislature has its own webpage that describes the lawmaking process thoroughly but also concisely located here. An abbreviated version of that discussion follows, infused with specific details from our State Cactus initiative.
AN IDEA
However serious or inconsequential the matter, most lawmaking addressing said matter begins with someone's idea. In our case, while many people may have thought about ways to protect, feature, or educate about Basalt Cactus over the years, the idea to make it the official "state cactus" seems to have originated with a group of students in Ellensburg in 2022.
THE DROP
If someone has an idea that they want to convert into law, they need a legislator to get that ball rolling by introducing a bill. Usually one would initiate this with a legislator -- House or Senate -- in the district where they reside, but there could be reasons for choosing someone else. This legislator would be the sponsor. Ellensburg is located in Washington's 13th Legislative District comprising the geographic heart of Central Washington (statewide district map here). It would be a safe bet to assert that a majority of all of the Basalt Cactus in Washington are located in the 13th District. Judith Warnick is the Senator for the 13th District, and she enthusiastically offered to sponsor a state cactus bill.
Bills are usually pre-filed before session begins, often referred to as "dropping a bill." The bill is then given a number. The state cactus legislation has been run twice, the first time during the 2023-2024 Legislature (Senate Bill 5698) and the second time during the current 2025-2026 Legislature (SB 5325).
Bills are read by title only during an open session of the chamber; in our case, the Senate. This is called the first reading. Chamber leadership will then assign the bill to a policy committee for review. Bills that are determined to have a likely effect on the state budget (called a fiscal note) will also be assigned to a fiscal committee. In our case, on both occasions the state cactus legislation carried no fiscal notes, so only policy committee reviews were assigned.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT
Committees review the bill and usually hold public hearings to take testimony. The committee may:
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Pass the bill with or without changes,
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Create and pass a new version of the bill,
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Reject the bill, or
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Take no action.
If the policy committee passes a bill, it will either then go to a fiscal committee or if there is no fiscal committee review then straight to the Rules Committee.
In our cases, the state cactus bills were assigned to the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs, & Elections on both occasions. SB 5698 never received a hearing and eventually died for lack of action. SB 5325 received a hearing in 2025 and was passed out of the committee.
RULES REVIEW
Each chamber has a Rules Committee which decides which bills the entire chamber should vote on, generally via a two-step process. SB 5325 passed out of Senate Rules and on to a Floor vote in both 2025 and 2026. SB 5325 also made it through House Rules in 2025, with 2026 pending as of this update.
THE FLOOR
If the bill makes it through Rules it may be scheduled for Floor sessions. At the second reading of the bill legislators may debate the bill and may vote to change it. If approved, it will be scheduled for a third reading at which point it will receive a final up-or-down vote from that chamber. If the bill fails it is dead, and if it passes it moves to the opposite chamber. SB 5325 passed the Senate twice in both the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
NEXT CHAMBER
The opposite chamber takes up the same process as the first. If the opposite chamber makes changes to the bill, then the chamber of origin must approve those changes. If there are disagreements on changes to a bill, a conference committee of members of both chambers is called to reconcile those differences. All of this would seem academic in regard to SB 5325. The Senate has passed this bill twice in its simple, original form. Either the House wants to designate a state cactus or it doesn't.
TRY AGAIN
In Washington, a meeting of the Legislature happens in two parts or sessions which follow the legislative elections that happen in even years. In odd-numbered years after a new Legislature is seated, a longer session of 105 days commences after which a shorter 60-day session follows in the subsequent even-numbered year. If a bill is dropped during the long session but does not pass or is not killed, it automatically recycles to the following session. This has happened on both occasions with the state cactus bills:
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SB 5698 was held in suspension for lack of action in the 2023 session. The bill had a chance again in the short session of 2024 but again suffered from lack of action. At this point the bill was dead.
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SB 5325 was introduced in the long session of 2025 and made it all the way down the field to the 2-yard line where it was placed on second reading and awaited a House floor vote to take it over the goal line. That vote never came. As such, SB 5325 was remanded back to the Senate for a third reading in 2026 where it again passed through that chamber. As of this update we await action in the House.
FINAL BOSS
After a bill passes both chambers, the Legislature sends it to the Governor. The Governor may:
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Sign the bill into law,
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Veto all or part of the bill (called a line item veto), or
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Do nothing, after which the bill will become law after a requisite amount time has elapsed.
The Legislature can override a Governor's veto with a two-thirds supermajority vote from each chamber.
The Governor signs most bills in Olympia as the signing windows are tight but occasionally will do road trips to sign more ceremonial or site/project specific bills at special locations. We would hope that Governor Ferguson could make a trip to Central Washington to sign a state cactus bill in the home of the Basalt Cactus.
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