Action Alert: Contact your legislators now to pass HB 1590

An AWC priority bill that we have been supporting needs your help to pass out of the Senate. Ask your senators to pass HB 1590 to give cities tools to address the housing crisis.

HB 1590 would convert the existing taxing authority for a 1/10th sales tax for affordable housing into a tax that can be enacted by a county or city councilmanically. Current law requires sending a ballot proposition to the voters.

This bill empowers local officials to step up and help address the housing crisis much more expeditiously and treat the crisis with the urgency it requires. A recent report indicated that the state is 225,000 housing units behind where we need to be, and 181,000 of those units are needed to serve low income individuals and families. This bill provides a means for cities to address this crisis.

In response to an AWC survey, 80% of cities reported that they needed more resources to address their housing challenges. This bill provides flexibility for locally tailored approaches to address community specific housing needs.

Ask your senators to please take swift action on this bill to give cities more tools to tackle the housing crisis.

Reach out to your senators now and ask for their support to pass this bill quickly.