Two bipartisan bills from Rep. Kevin Waters passed the Washington State House of Representatives this week, including one allowing alcohol producers and breweries to sub out their kitchen space to people with restaurant experience.
House Bill 1602, which passed unanimously, would allow breweries to subcontract the restaurant part of their business to individuals or entities better suited for running the food service side.
“This bill would help our breweries and allow them to provide safely prepared food options to their customers,” said Waters, R-Vancouver. “It would also open the door to several breweries waiting for this statute to change before they can open for business.”
In most cases, breweries that make and sell beer are not restaurateurs. Currently, a brewery must meet specific food service requirements to operate a new location using a restaurant liquor license. HB 1602 would change that.
“Not all breweries want to operate their own kitchen, and this bill is the answer,” concluded Waters.
The House also passed House Bill 1609, which would promote the efficient administration of state education agencies by allowing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to use a designee on the Board of Natural Resources.
Current law specifies that the superintendent is a board member and does not authorize the use of a designee. HB 1609 would change that and allow the superintendent more time to supervise the administration of school policies and procedures by sending a designee in his or her place to meetings about timber sales that fund schools.
“This bill would simply allow the superintendent to focus his attention on more pressing education issues occurring in our state,” said Waters. “Education in Washington is suffering, and the superintendent deals with so many things. This bill would allow him to spend more time on the most significant issues.
“However, if this does become law, it’s important that the OSPI chooses a designee with timber expertise who can make the right decisions for our timber communities.”
The BNR sets policies to guide how the Washington State Department of Natural Resources manages the state’s lands and resources. The OSPI is on the BNR because public schools receive money from timber sales off DNR trust lands.
The BNR met 11 times in 2024; meetings often ran for three hours each. Having a designee attend the BNR meetings would save the superintendent significant time.
Both bills now head to the Senate for further consideration.
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