Legislative floor action means it's crunch time – your help is needed

As the Legislature moves to the floor to consider bills, we wanted to call a few specific bills to your attention because they are of particular importance to cities. We need all cities to engage with your legislators on these bills to ensure that the city perspective is heard.

Additionally, here is a link to our updated weekly Bill Hot Sheet with a more complete list of bills. Please share this list with your local legislators and talk to them about how these proposals will impact your city.

Priority bills for support

HB 1363: This bill revises the restrictions on police pursuits. Cities support this bill but are concerned about how much it was narrowed in the policy committee. Importantly, the bill returns to a reasonable suspicion standard, but the list of crimes for which a suspect can be pursued is again very narrow. The bill also has a two-year sunset. Here is AWC’s support letter for the original bill signed by over 200 city officials.

HB 1628: This bill creates new local REET authority to fund affordable housing. It also creates a new tier in the state REET for affordable housing. Additionally, it has provisions to harmonize the uses for the existing local REET 1 and 2 to make those funds easier to administer, and it makes permanent temporary flexibility to use the existing funds for limited operations and maintenance and affordable housing purposes. Don’t miss your opportunity to join your colleagues around the state in signing on to a letter of support for this proposal. The deadline is the end of the day Friday, March 3.

HB 1670: This bill revises the property tax cap to tie it to inflation and population growth up to 3%. This would be a significant improvement over the current arbitrary 1% cap, allowing cities to better meet the needs of their residents. This is a difficult proposal because it is considered a “tax” vote for legislators. They need to know why this increase in local revenue options is helpful to your community. Talk about what services you can better fund for your residents with this extra flexibility.

SB 5303/SJR 8201: These bills create and amend the Washington State Constitution to establish the Public Works Revolving Trust Account. Loan repayments from local governments made from the Public Works Assistance Account and the Public Works Revolving Trust Account will be paid into the Public Works Revolving Trust Account, guaranteeing that necessary funds are protected and made available to cities. The Public Works Assistance Account has been a crucial funding source for cities in supporting critical infrastructure projects and ensuring resiliency.

Bills that are still a work in progress

HB 1110: The middle housing proposal is still very much a work in progress, and we appreciate the bill sponsor’s willingness to work with us. We have worked and continue to work diligently with the bill sponsor to try to address our concerns. We are still concerned with the bill’s widespread mandate to allow four-plexes (six-plexes with affordability measures). We encourage cities to engage in this conversation with your legislators. AWC’s goal is to target density increases to residential areas where there is sufficient infrastructure to support that level of density – including near transit, arterials, community parks, and schools. As the bill currently stands, it requires middle housing in nearly every residential area with only limited exceptions.

SB 5466: This transit oriented development proposal is in line with much of what AWC proposed as part of our housing solutions process. However, there are provisions that unnecessarily preempt parking regulations in areas where there is still likely to be significant vehicle usage. Additionally, there are concerns about the distance (3/4 of a mile) from the high-capacity transit facility that must accommodate significantly greater density. We are continuing to work with the bill sponsor and other legislators to find options to address these concerns.

Bills to oppose

HB 1025: This bill expands the ability to bring claims and lawsuits against cities for law enforcement actions. The likely outcome will be more litigation driving costs for settlements and attorneys and increasing insurance costs for cities. This is an unnecessary expansion of liability given that Washington already has a broader waiver of governmental immunity than many other states.

HB 1337 and SB 5235: These bills both create new mandates around allowing for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). AWC is more comfortable with SB 5235 as it provides for requirements to allow more ADUs but does not include the significant micromanagement of development regulations reflected in HB 1337.