Housing affordability and access continue to be a top priority for the Legislature, and many related proposals were advanced again this year. One unfortunate reality is that we are many years into the housing crisis and new tools to invest in local solutions have been extremely hard to secure. Once again, a local option to levy a 4% tax on short-term rentals did not pass this year under heavy opposition from industry. Sadly, even a proposal to authorize cities to waive their own sales tax for housing purposes didn’t pass despite no opposition and no cost to the state.

The Legislature did at least provide important flexibility with existing local revenues by authorizing uses of sales tax and sales tax credit authorities to support operations of existing and new facilities. Likewise, legislators slightly tweaked other existing laws, including condominium insurance and the religious bonus density program.

Regrettably, on affordable housing, the session will likely be remembered as another in a long line of missed opportunities to create new means to invest in the housing the state needs that the market cannot be expected to deliver.