Kevin Schilling
WSDA Advocacy Director

As is the case with most short, 60-day legislative sessions, the 2026 Legislature was a sprint to the finish.

This year, lawmakers were laser-focused on adjusting the supplemental budget — the main purpose of any even-year session. This left little time for bigger policy decisions, but it did present opportunities to begin educating legislators about issues that will emerge in upcoming sessions.

For WSDA, one of those “coming attractions” is the Preventive Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary or P-EFDA. We were fortunate that Sen. Annette Cleveland (D-Vancouver), chair of the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee, scheduled a work session for us to introduce the concept of P-EFDAs and explain the importance of this new role within the practice of dentistry.  Committee hearing testimony is often limited to just 60 seconds, but at a work session on Jan. 23, WSDA President-Elect Dr. Brittany Dean had significantly more time to talk with lawmakers directly and explain how creating the P-EFDA will lead to improved access to care and better oral health outcomes for patients.

You can read more about this proposal in this issue’s cover story. But from my perspective as advocacy director, it’s worth emphasizing that this is an effort that will require significant member input and involvement starting now and continuing through the 2027 legislative session. WSDA will be working to get legislation introduced and passed to authorize this new position, and it’s imperative that WSDA members engage with their lawmakers early and often.

Another issue that we must work on between now and 2027 is the regulation of dental sedation. Sen. Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) introduced Senate Bill 6138 in response to a patient death connected to dental sedation in the Spokane area. The bill, as drafted, would limit access for procedures requiring deep sedation and increase costs of care for patients.

Patient safety remains of paramount importance to the dental profession and lawmakers are looking to WSDA for help to explore potential new patient protections. We are committed to working in collaboration with the Washington State Medical Association, the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists, the Washington Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, and other stakeholders to evaluate additional patient safeguards or actions for deep dental sedation practices. Further research and data collection will be conducted during the interim to provide the Legislature with comprehensive information regarding deep dental sedation and strategies that ensure patient safety when it is used.

Patient safety remains of paramount importance to the dental profession and lawmakers are looking to WSDA for help addressing concerns about this practice. We are committed to working in collaboration with the Washington State Medical Association, the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists, the Washington Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, and other stakeholders to evaluate additional patient safeguards for deep dental sedation practices. Further research and data collection will be conducted during the interim to provide the Legislature with comprehensive information regarding deep dental sedation and strategies that ensure patient safety when it is used.

In addition to this data collection, we will also continue educating lawmakers about current dental sedation practices. We are excited to partner this fall with the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, which is hosting their annual meeting in Seattle. We plan to bring legislators to meet with WSDA/AAOMS members and see first-hand the extensive training requirements and safety procedures that already govern deep sedation.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the 2027 session will see legislators putting together the 2027-29 biennial budget. Projected state spending continues to outpace revenue collections, so WSDA and other business and professional trade associations will undoubtedly face several challenging proposals that would impact our members. Later this summer, we will have the results from the ongoing Ruckelshaus mediation on dental benefits reforms, which will constitute a significant part of our 2027 legislative agenda.

In closing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to our amazing Legislative Task Force, led by WSDA President Dr. Lisa Egbert. The group’s focus and passion for dentistry is central to our success in Olympia. We hope to carry that same energy into 2027 on these and other important WSDA policy issues.