The 2022 legislative session adjourned “sine die” on March 10. It capped an intense 60 days of work. There is a lot to celebrate and a few disappointments. Overall, this was a successful—but occasionally challenging session for cities.

Let’s start with some of the challenges

This session brought another round of preemptive housing related legislation. While cities rarely welcome state preemption, our arguments against the mandated density bills were numerous and complex; and the bill proponents made no significant effort to engage with cities in a meaningful way to see if we could find a solution that achieved everyone’s desired outcome of more affordable housing. It was frustrating to spend so much time and energy on ill-conceived proposals and have our opposition categorized as simply “against preemption” and “clinging to the status quo.” We know that cities are on the forefront of creative housing solutions and will continue doing the hard work necessary to build housing capacity in your communities.

The Move Ahead WA transportation package also falls in the challenging category. While some cities will celebrate specific projects included in the 16-year package, overall the funding for cities is meager at best. This is the first time in recent memory that the state has passed a transportation package without meaningful funding for city transportation needs. Things really went sideways with the late decision to sweep funds from the Public Works Assistance Account (PWAA) to backfill the state’s transportation needs. Thanks to the response from cities, the sweep was reduced from $100 million a year to $57 million a year.

While we are grateful the impact was mitigated some, this was hugely disappointing especially considering all the additional revenue available this year. The sweep points to a lack of partnership from the state when it comes to supporting locally owned critical infrastructure that is the backbone of our state. This is an area we will all have to work on with legislators this interim if we are going to succeed in restoring the PWAA in the next biennial budget.

Now to the good news and the success!

With record revenues, the Legislature funded a wide variety of city priorities. We were excited to see the investment in housing and programs to support individuals experiencing homelessness. There is $100 million in customer utility assistance. There is full funding for Basic Law Enforcement Academy classes and other required training. That’s just a snapshot—you can see a full rundown in our budget article

On the policy side, we had great success with our priority to enhance Transportation Benefit District sales tax funding authority. While the specific policy bill didn’t pass, it was rolled into the Move Ahead WA package. Also passed were various bills needed to clarify some of the police reform changes adopted last year. There were good results on some Growth Management Act policy bills as well as more funding for local planning requirements. Cities will also see a bump in cannabis revenue sharing with the passage of a bill that restructures how those monies are distributed.

Let’s celebrate these successes and continue to engage—keeping with our mantra, strong cities great state!

A heartfelt “thank you”

On behalf of the whole AWC Government Relations team, thank you for your support and engagement this session! City leaders really went above and beyond during this wild session to make your voices heard on a heap of critical policy and spending decisions. We wouldn’t have been successful without your involvement. We also appreciate the support, encouragement, and gratitude you share with our team. A heartfelt “thank you” to everyone!

As we begin the legislative interim, we encourage you to stay engaged with your legislators. As we always say, “Advocacy is a year-round job.” Now is a good time to invite your legislators to a council meeting for a legislative update and talk about the impact this session had on your city.

Governor’s role

The Governor is the final step in the legislative process. Bills that have passed now head to the Governor’s desk for signature. The Governor has five days to act on bills sent to him during session and 20 days (minus Sundays) after session. You can use the Governor’s bill action page to track which bills have been signed, what’s upcoming, and to find out more about the process. Before the pandemic, it was tradition for bill proponents to attend bill signings to get a photo and pen from the occasion, but that tradition hasn’t yet returned to the Capitol.

Legislative wrap-up webinar & recap Bulletin

Looking for more about what happened during this short, but intense session? Join us March 29 for our popular session recap webinar where we’ll review the highlights and how it impacted cities.

Also watch for our annual recap edition of the Legislative Bulletin coming out on April 4. That edition of will include a more complete roundup of what happened during session.

After that, watch for monthly editions of the Legislative Bulletin during the interim.