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Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing bills to watch as the Washington legislative session enters its final weeks
Apartment construction in Olympia in January 2025. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard) Washington's 'Year of Housing' in 2023 brought a record $400 million investment into the state's affordable housing fund. Last year's short legislative session, on the other hand, saw legislators make only modest progress on solving Washington's housing shortfall. This time around, the hot topic in Olympia has been rent stabilization — Democrats' idea to cap rent increases at 7% per year, with some exceptions. To curry votes from moderate Democrats in the Senate, the legislation may need softening around the edges. But more than halfway through this 105-day session, lawmakers are also eyeing a slew of other policy changes in hopes of spurring more housing. With a major deadline that felled numerous bills in the rearview mirror, this year's housing talking points have become clear. Some of the ideas aren't sexy, but legislators say they will pave the way for gobs of new homes across Washington. 'We continue to do a lot of work on housing, and are pleased with the work that we were able to send over to the Senate for consideration,' said House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma. The focus on supply is a priority on both sides of the aisle. 'The cost is driven by insufficient housing,' Senate Minority Leader John Braun told reporters last week. 'We need to build more. We know that we can't build more as the government. We have to get the private sector more engaged in our state. To do that, we need a better regulatory system.' Some proposals are likely dead for the year. Republicans were particularly frustrated a bill to allow backyard cottages in rural Washington didn't get a vote from the Senate despite bipartisan support. Now, with less than six weeks left in the session, a handful of bills will drive much of the remaining discussion on housing. Many were included in a report on the housing crisis from Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and Gov. Bob Ferguson's transition team. Most cities and counties require a certain number of parking spaces for housing developments. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say this takes up valuable space and makes building more onerous. Senate Bill 5184 would prohibit jurisdictions from mandating more than one parking space per two residential units or more than one spot per 1,000 square feet of commercial space. Developers could still choose to build additional parking, but it could not be required. Cities and counties also could not require parking minimums for homes under 1,200 square feet, commercial spaces under 5,000 square feet, affordable housing, senior housing and child care facilities, among other buildings. The measure passed out of the Senate with bipartisan support last month. It is set for a vote out of a House panel, its first step in getting to the chamber's floor. House Bill 1491 aims to increase multi-family housing, such as apartment buildings, near bus and train stations, by setting new requirements for the types of construction cities must allow in these areas. The legislation also requires either at least 10% of rental units built near stations to meet affordability guidelines for those making under 60% of the area median income, or 20% of homes for those making 80% or less of the area median. Developers meeting these affordability benchmarks would get a 20-year property tax exemption. The bill also sets up a grant program to assist cities in planning for transit-oriented development. The affordability component is the main sticking point for Republicans, who worry this will make development unfeasible. The House passed the bill on a party-line vote. Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, said he was looking forward to his chamber considering the proposal. It is scheduled for a Senate Housing Committee vote Friday. Similar measures the past couple years have passed out of one of the chambers before dying in the other. Republicans hope not to feel deja vu over this one. In 2023 and 2024, Rep. Andrew Barkis' proposal requiring cities to allow landowners to split their lots to make room for more homes cleared the state House with little opposition. But each time it failed to get to the Senate floor. The House passed this year's version, House Bill 1096, with ease. 'It's a bill that makes good sense, allows for more density, allows for lower cost, entry-level homes,' Braun said. The measure is set Friday for a key vote out of the Senate Housing Committee. In recent years, lawmakers pushed to allow for the redevelopment of commercial buildings into housing as remote work left vacant office space. But that work has been focused on properties in land zoned for commercial and mixed-use buildings. House Bill 1757 goes further, extending the effort to allow for conversion of commercial buildings in residential zones. The legislation would bar cities from requiring a change-of-use permit for this sort of redevelopment and exempts the conversions from state energy code requirements. Supporters think this will lead to more walkable neighborhoods. The bill passed the House by a 95-2 vote, and awaits a Friday committee vote in the Senate. Another idea would look to convert vacant commercial properties like strip malls into 'housing development opportunity zones.' Senate Bill 5749 would allow cities to waive impact fees for developers building in these zones. Last year, one consultant found redeveloping underused shopping centers could result in nearly 675,000 new housing units in the state. After near-unanimous passage out of the Senate, the bill was heard in committee Wednesday. This wonky measure called the 'Housing Accountability Act' aims to ensure local governments comply with state laws seeking to expand options for affordable housing, like duplexes. Under Senate Bill 5148, the state Department of Commerce would review land use proposals from cities and counties planning through the Growth Management Act. If found to be out of compliance, the local governments would be unable to deny affordable housing developments. It could also affect eligibility for state infrastructure funding. The measure has bipartisan support. The House Housing Committee will hear the bill Thursday. Lawmakers are looking to fill a gap in housing supply by spurring new condominium construction, giving another option to first-time homebuyers. House Bill 1403 seeks to reduce legal risk for builders who shy away from condo developments out of fear they could face litigation. The bill passed out of the House with bipartisan support. The Senate Housing Committee is scheduled to host a public hearing on it Friday. The Washington attorney general's office joined other states and the Department of Justice last year in suing a software company accused of working with landlords to inflate rental prices. Ferguson, who was attorney general at the time, said RealPage's software helped price about 800,000 leases since 2017. Legislation now looks to ban this alleged algorithmic price fixing by prohibiting the collection of data that feeds recommendations for rental rates. Senate Bill 5469 also bars landlords from obtaining those recommendations. The attorney general could enforce violations of the proposed law. The bill passed the Senate along party lines and is now set for a committee hearing Thursday in the House. A top housing priority for Republicans this session has been paving the way for more small premade homes. Builders can construct the kit homes quicker and cheaper than traditional houses. Senate Bill 5552 would require the state Building Code Council to develop rules specific to kit homes by the end of this year. The Senate passed the bill unanimously. Another bill would have allowed cities and counties to site kit homes as 'emergency housing' in single-family zones. That measure failed to make it to the Senate floor, and so is likely dead for the year.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Here's how Congress could push Washington state lawmakers into a special session
Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins speaks during the inauguration of Gov. Bob Ferguson on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Wash. (Ryan Berry/Washington State Standard) The leader of the Washington state House of Representatives said the quiet part out loud this week: lawmakers should brace for a special session if Congress slashes funding for Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans. In Washington, Medicaid is known as Apple Health. The program covers about 1.9 million people in the state, around 20% of the overall population. According to a report congressional Democrats released on Thursday, if the Republican budget cuts a third of federal Medicaid funding across all populations and geographies, Washington could see: 61,000 rural residents lose their health coverage 210,000 children lose their health insurance Nearly 1 in 5 seniors lose their nursing home care More than 600,000 people in total cut off from their health insurance Cutting the program by a third could be a heavy lift to get through Congress, but some Republican lawmakers have floated it as an option to help pay for tax cuts. 'We're on a plan to finish our work by Sine Die. If they just decimate Medicaid, there's no way to plan for that,' House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, told reporters on Wednesday. Such a move, she said, would put Washington and the rest of the country 'in completely uncharted territory.' The state Legislature is in the midst of a 105-day session that is scheduled to end April 27. Finishing on time is already going to be a challenge as legislators and Gov. Bob Ferguson wrestle with how best to plug a roughly $6 billion hole in the next two-year state budget. Meanwhile, the Republican-led U.S. House passed a budget last week that assumes an extension of the 2017 tax cuts and $880 billion in reduced spending from an array of programs that include Medicaid and Medicare. If the federal government pares back its Medicaid spending, it could force states to pick up the tab. Rural hospitals would be affected too as they rely heavily on Medicaid and Medicare dollars. For Washington, backfilling the potential cuts could amount to several billion dollars a year depending on what the state would want to cover and could afford to pay for. Washington received more than $12.5 billion in federal Medicaid funding in the 2023 fiscal year, according to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington. Total spending in the state operating budget was on track to be around $37 billion this fiscal year. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, with whom Jinkins spoke recently, last week outlined several potential consequences of Medicaid cuts. For example, if the federal government stops providing matching funds to states like Washington that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, it would force Washington to spend $2.8 billion to maintain coverage for about 647,000 people. With so much uncertainty, Jinkins said no state can plan for what might occur. 'The way that we're thinking about this is: What do we need to do to balance our budget, and know there's the potential that there are Medicaid implications to that?' she said. As to adjourning on schedule, she said, 'I really don't know where we'll be should the federal cuts happen.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
