
January 30, 2023
*The Legislative Bulletin* is produced weekly during the legislative session.**	One click to view all Legislative Bulletin headlines and articles.
Bills related to police vehicle pursuits up for hearing this week We urge city officials to testify and speak to your local legislators about the need to support this bill. HB 1363 revises the pursuits restrictions to use a ‘reasonable suspicion’ standard as well as other safety measures. More Transit density bill joins the fray We have been looking forward to the scheduling of this proposal, as it is likely to be the vehicle for the conversation about how to maximize housing opportunities near transit, which is a pillar of the approach put forward by the AWC Housing Solutions Group. This proposal has other elements that are more challenging, however, especially the restrictions of authority to provide for parking. More Bill to link cap on property taxes to inflation and population introduced HB 1670 revises the property tax cap up to 3% for local governments to account for inflation and population growth. In a recent public opinion survey commissioned by AWC, 72% of respondents indicated support for a 3% cap on property taxes. The proposal was one of the recommendations of the State Tax Structure Work Group. More Hot off the press! Read our newest research highlighting city infrastructure AWC’s State of the Cities: Washington’s interconnected infrastructure report looks at city infrastructure across Washington to examine the present condition of our infrastructure systems, how cities are overcoming barriers to improvement, and what more can be done to support the statewide network. Read the report and share the findings with your legislators. Productive and reliable partnerships between cities and state-level actors are essential to successfully maintain our shared infrastructure and transportation systems. Listen to our podcast covering City Conditions Survey results We sat down with AWC Government Relations Director Candice Bock to go over AWC’s recent City Conditions Survey results. The survey asked 92 Washington cities and towns about current policy and fiscal conditions in cities. Survey findings highlight what cities are focusing on around community issues, city policy priorities, finance, housing, infrastructure, transportation, human resources, DEI, and more. Listen to this synopsis of interesting things we learned and how we’re using that data. Connect with your legislators at local town halls Legislators will be hosting their own town hall meetings over the coming weeks. Check your legislators’ websites to find out when and where they will be, and plan to attend. Listening in and voicing the issues important to your city at local town halls is a great way to ensure your legislators and constituents are aware of your city's legislative needs. Check out this new tool from NLC on federal funding sources for homelessness The National League of Cities recently released a tool for cities looking to comprehensively address homelessness at the local level. The tool offers a searchable list of federal grant programs designated for homelessness support, intervention or prevention, and those that are particularly relevant to support people at high risk of experiencing homelessness.	Wow, so much going on right now There is so much action at this point in session, it can be hard to keep track. A multitude of bills are being considered that impact cities. But there is lots of good news with AWC priority bills up for hearing this week and many others in various stages of the process. Exciting new bills are being introduced, including a bill revising the property tax cap and companion bills to reduce frivolous public records litigation. This is a great time to engage in the process – learn how to testify or send written comment on a bill, reach out to your legislators, and watch for opportunities like local legislative town halls where you can share the needs of your city. As always, we work to help you keep track of it all with our weekly Bill Hot Sheet. AWC city action calls Fridays at 12:30 pm \| Online Join our city action calls each Friday at 12:30 pm to hear updates directly from your team of AWC lobbyists on the latest action on the hill and progress on bills of importance to cities. Make sure to sign up in advance each week. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom link for that week’s call. Register now for this Friday's call. City Action Days is nearly sold out! February 15-16 \| Olympia It’s our first in-person City Action Days in three years and it’s nearly full! If you haven’t already, register now before it’s too late. We can’t wait to see you there! Affordable housing AWC Housing Solutions Group proposal update. Three weeks into session and the response by the Legislature has been very positive to the comprehensive policy package. The count now stands at 15 bills covering nine policy areas. More Three local option housing incentive bills emerge. One bill is especially promising, as it addresses part of the affordable housing issue in our vacation destination communities. More Three more bills aimed at streamlining housing permits. Three streamlining proposals have hearings in the House this week, but only one is aligned with our proposal. More Opening land for housing is a theme in recent proposals. To leave no stone unturned in its mission to address housing affordability and supply, the Legislature turns to bills that would in one form or another provide additional urban land for development or allow more urban levels of development in limited areas of counties. More Broadband & telecommunications $200 million request made for new Capital Broadband Investment Acceleration Program. Grant dollars would support efforts to increase broadband access in unserved areas of Washington. More Budget & finance State infrastructure bank proposal scheduled for hearing. The bank would be an option for local governments to invest funds and receive low-interest loans to help finance infrastructure and economic development projects. More Court security task force recommendations seek funding for small rural courts. The recommendations included a proposed budget request for $2.5 million annually to establish the Security Matching Grant Program. More Economic development Legislature looks to make TIF more useful. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) finally made it to Washington in 2021. This legislative session, we could see several helpful fixes coming to the program, making it more appealing to local governments. More Energy Help may be on the way to low-income households for energy efficiency upgrades. Washington’s electric utilities may see new loan-granting authority to support customers in lowering their energy bills and emitting fewer pollutants. More Federal NLC adopts 2023 National Municipal Policy. Each year, NLC members adopt national policy to address emerging topics of consequence for local government. This year’s policy covers finance, economic development, energy, and more. More General government Bills to prevent “doxing” scheduled for hearings. Two bills to curtail “doxing” (releasing someone’s personal information without permission) are scheduled for hearings in the House and Senate. One makes doxing a gross misdemeanor, and both would create a private cause of action for victims of doxing. More Bill clarifies authority to care for abused and neglected animals. Rep. Roger Goodman (D–Kirkland) has introduced HB 1234, clarifying the authority for law enforcement agencies and local animal care and control agencies to take possession of abused or neglected animals. More HR & labor relations Employer access to PFML claim info scheduled for hearing. In response to several years of employer requests, SB 5586 allows “interested parties” to access certain info on an employee’s Paid Family & Medical Leave claim. It has been scheduled for a hearing in the Senate. More Childcare and adult dependent care reimbursed as travel expenses in new proposal. SB 5485 would allow state and local governments to reimburse employees for childcare or adult dependent care as part of their travel expenses when they travel for work. More Bill requires new workers’ compensation standards for self-insured employers. A bill imposing a “duty of good faith” between self-insured employers (including many large cities) and their injured employees in workers’ compensation is scheduled for a hearing in the House. More Human services Trueblood bill defers responsibility to local governments without new funding. AWC opposes SB 5440, which is scheduled for a public hearing on Thursday. More Land use & planning Psilocybin bill scheduled for public hearing. SB 5263 would legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes for people 21+. Cities would not be authorized to impose a tax and would be limited to adopting ordinances that impose “reasonable” regulations. More Open government House and Senate introduce bipartisan bills that limit frivolous public records request lawsuits. SB 5571 and HB 1597 do not impact the ability to request records but focus on administrative problem-solving before a requester can file a lawsuit. More Public works & infrastructure Public Works Assistance Account 2.0. Following the Senate Joint Resolution proposed earlier this year, Sen. Mark Mullet introduces legislation amending state law to recognize the creation of a Public Works Revolving Loan Account and confer authority over the account to the Public Works Board. More Apprenticeship utilization requirements see further changes in response to stakeholder input. SB 5133 takes on a “two-strike” system and several other amendments, heading now to the Senate Ways & Means Committee. More New procurement standards aim to support local government needs. Towns and first- and second-class cities would see several changes to their procurement rules. More Transportation Right turns on red lights prohibited near schools, parks, and other community facilities. One more of many bills emerges to address the state’s worsening traffic safety conditions. More
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