Washington Legislative Session 2027 Starts Jan. 11, Prefiling Dec. 7

Washington’s Legislature convenes Monday, Jan. 11, 2027, and members can prefile bills from Monday, Dec. 7, 2026, under the state’s own statute and chamber rules on the Washington State Legislature site. Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 44.04.010 says regular sessions are held annually, “commencing on the second Monday of January,” read Nov. 12, 2026. A free printable tracker puts the dates in order, and a table below turns last year’s cutoffs into 2027 dates.

The 2027 cutoff calendar, the State of the State date and the first-day schedule are not yet announced. Special sessions can follow a regular session; none is announced for 2027.

Washington legislative session 2027 dates

Date	Weekday	What it is	Source
Dec. 7, 2026	Monday	Prefiling opens	House Rule 10, Senate Rule 55
Dec. 20, 2026	Sunday	Statute deadline for the governor’s budget	RCW 43.88.060
Jan. 11, 2027	Monday	Session convenes	RCW 44.04.010
April 25, 2027	Sunday	Scheduled last day (105 days), not yet official	History of session dates

The weekdays are our computation. The Legislature’s session-date history lists 2027 as “Convened Jan. 11, 2027, Adjourned April 25, 2027,” length 105, and marks both dates “not yet official.” Length is “the total number of calendar days from the convening date to the adjournment date, inclusive.”

How long is the 2027 Washington session?

Article II, Section 12 of the Washington Constitution says: “During each odd-numbered year, the regular session shall not be more than one hundred five consecutive days.” In even-numbered years the limit is “not more than sixty consecutive days.” The history lists the 2025 session as Jan. 13 to April 27, 2025, also 105 days, and a 2028 session of Jan. 10 to March 10, 2028, 60 days, also marked not yet official.

When can Washington bills be prefiled for 2027?

House Rule 10 lets members prefile “commencing the first Monday in December preceding any regular session.” Senate Rule 55 lets holdover members and members-elect prefile bills with the secretary of the Senate “on any day commencing with the first Monday in December preceding any session year.” For 2027 that is Monday, Dec. 7, 2026. These are the current rules, the House’s adopted Jan. 24, 2025 and the Senate’s for the 2025 session; each chamber adopts its rules for 2027 when the session starts.

By statute, the governor’s budget is submitted “no later than the twentieth day of December in the year preceding the session,” RCW 43.88.060: Dec. 20, 2026, a Sunday.

Washington cutoff dates by day number: 2025 and 2027

Washington sets its cutoffs by resolution each session. House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 4401 set the 2025 cutoffs, and session day 1 in 2025 was Jan. 13. The 2027 resolution is not yet adopted, and the Legislature’s cutoff-calendar archive lists 2026 as its newest. If 2027 follows the 2025 day numbers, with Jan. 11 as day 1, the dates fall two days earlier in the calendar. This is our computation, not an announcement.

2025 cutoff (HCR 4401)	2025 date	Day	Same day number in 2027 (if it follows 2025)
House-of-origin policy committee reports	Fri., Feb. 21, 2025	40	Fri., Feb. 19, 2027
House-of-origin fiscal committee reports	Fri., Feb. 28, 2025	47	Fri., Feb. 26, 2027
Last day to consider bills in house of origin, 5 p.m.	Wed., March 12, 2025	59	Wed., March 10, 2027
Opposite-house policy committee reports	Wed., April 2, 2025	80	Wed., March 31, 2027
Opposite-house fiscal committee reports	Tue., April 8, 2025	86	Tue., April 6, 2027
Most bills may not be considered after 5 p.m. (exceptions in the resolution)	Wed., April 16, 2025	94	Wed., April 14, 2027

Each 2027 date falls on the same weekday as its 2025 cutoff. Day 105 in 2027 is April 25, the scheduled last day.

How do you follow or testify on a Washington bill?

The Legislature has a page on how to testify at a committee meeting and a District Finder for looking up a legislative district. Committee schedules for 2027 are not yet announced.

Print the Washington Legislature 2027 session tracker

The tracker lists the dates above in order with days left to the scheduled end and a box to check off each. Pair it with a December 2026 calendar, a January 2027 calendar or an April 2027 calendar. Other legislatures open on their own schedules: see the Colorado Legislature 2027 session, also opening Jan. 11, the Montana Legislature 2027 session and the Utah Legislature 2027 session.