
February 6, 2023
*The Legislative Bulletin* is produced weekly during the legislative session.**	One click to view all Legislative Bulletin headlines and articles.
Act now! AWC is asking city leaders to sign on to a letter to legislators urging action on vehicular pursuits. Deadline is February 8 Now is a crucial time to make your city’s voice heard. Please sign on to AWC’s letter to legislative leadership urging the Legislature to revise the restrictions of police vehicle pursuits. More Priority housing revenue bill up for hearing As prospects appear to dim for Governor Inslee’s $4 billion housing referendum proposal, the long-awaited introduction of an alternative proposal to provide significant new revenues for state and local governments for affordable housing purposes was very welcomed. We know that we need to increase housing supply across the board; but without additional revenue for housing for very low-income households, this type of housing will not be built by the private sector. And that is just half our housing need. HB 1628 will create a new state and local REET to support housing – please sign in with your support! More AWC needs your help to oppose costly prejudgment interest bill this week Red alert! Contact your senators to oppose SB 5059, a bill that could dramatically increase the price of tort claims against a city by requiring interest on damages going back to before the city even knew there was an injury. It is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday at 4 pm. The bill passed out of the Senate Law & Justice Committee on a party-line vote, so we need your help to slow this costly legislation down. More City Action Days is next week! February 15-16 \| Olympia We’ve been saying it, and it’s true: City Action Days is nearly sold out at 96% full! We have just a few spots left. Check out the updated agenda and register now before it’s too late. We can’t wait to see everyone in Olympia next week. If you are planning to attend and haven’t yet scheduled meetings with your legislators, do it today! Also, don’t forget to invite them to attend the legislative reception on Wednesday, February 15. Check out the Washington cities that won SS4A funding; prepare to apply for the next round Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $800 million in grant awards for hundreds of local road safety projects through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program. Sixteen communities in Washington were awarded funding, including five cities, for a total of $9.2 million heading to our state. Learn about the program and winning Washington projects. This is the first of likely five rounds of funding through the program. The next round of awards will open in April. Interested applicants should start preparing now. Check out the program webpage and sign up to attend a Local Infrastructure Bootcamp. The National League of Cities has launched a Safety First Challenge, open to any city committed to working on road safety. The sign-up form is simple and open to all. 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 press release.	Cutoff countdown commences The first cutoff deadline of session is in less than two weeks: February 17 marks the date when bills must have been voted out of their policy committees or they are likely dead for the remainder of the session. The next cutoff is for bills to pass out of their fiscal committees; it follows shortly after on February 24. With nearly 1,500 bills floating around somewhere in the legislative process, this week kicks off the crunch time to either advance bills out of committee or stop them before they move. Want to better understand what cutoff means? Watch this short video. Want to see which bills AWC is watching closely as cutoff nears? Check out AWC’s Bill Hot Sheet for the long list of bills we are supporting and working to advance, and the few bills we are trying to keep from passing these critical deadlines. 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. Affordable housing Update on AWC’s Housing Solutions Group proposal. Although no new bills were added to the housing proposal chart this week, ongoing and productive discussions with the sponsors of the zoning preemption bills continue. We hope to add bill numbers to the zoning portions of the proposal soon. Tax amendment bills that support housing. In a sea of complex and lengthy bills to address the housing crises (and yes, that is plural crises), here are two good little bills that offer what is needed most – direct support for funding housing. More Two more lengthy bills focused on permit processing. For the avid readers out there, you will recognize these bills as an approach tried for the last few sessions – changing what constitutes project permit “completeness.” There’s a lot to unpack with these extremely similar bills – your feedback is appreciated. More Broadband & telecommunications Washington may soon have a state broadband map showing high-speed internet coverage statewide. A bill directing the State Broadband Office to develop the map is up for a hearing this Wednesday at 8 am. More Budget & finance Senate proposal linking cap on property taxes to inflation and population introduced. We hope both the House and Senate bills will be scheduled for hearing soon, and we encourage city officials to talk to your legislators about the need for this local revenue flexibility. More TSWIFT consumer protection act seeks to protect ticket buyers but could impact local admissions tax. AWC is seeking feedback on potential impacts of HB 1648, which is intended to provide concert ticket buyers with additional protection from electronic bots that circumvent online ticket sales security and increase costs from ticket resellers. But it also includes a preemption of local ordinances related to ticket sales. More Cannabis House attempts to preempt local authority to prohibit cannabis businesses. A new bill requiring voter approval for local government prohibitions on the operation and siting of cannabis businesses has been introduced and heard in the House. HB 1650, sponsored by Rep. Sharon Wylie (D–Vancouver), removes local elected decision-making authority and attempts to reopen an issue that has long been settled. More Economic development Rural county sales tax extension keeps moving through process. Both bills would extend authority for the .09 sales tax to 2054 and are scheduled for hearings in their respective committees on February 7. More Federal How the debt ceiling impacts cities: NLC explains how the debate around the federal debt ceiling impacts local government. More General government Bill to limit city liability for police dogs gets a hearing. A bill to limit liability for use of trained police dogs to detect fentanyl is scheduled for a hearing this week in the House. More HR & labor relations Round-up of HR bills includes a new holiday. Several bills potentially impacting city workforces are scheduled for hearings this week. They include banning employee vehicle searches, expanding qualifications for police officer applicants, and a possible new legal holiday for Lunar New Year. More Land use & planning Planning bills not aimed at housing? They still have those? And relief for small cities? After reviewing so many bills proposing to change the ways our cities evolve and grow with a particular focus on housing supply, it feels like a bit of a vacation to see some proposals dealing with other aspects of city planning responsibilities. More Public safety & criminal justice Blake bills scheduled in Senate Law & Justice Committee. We urge you to reach out to your legislators on the Senate Law & Justice Committee with support for SB 5536 and SB 5467, making ‘knowing’ possession of a controlled substance a gross misdemeanor and encouraging individuals to participate in treatment programs in lieu of criminal penalties. Both bills had public hearings on Monday morning, and we appreciate the city officials who testified in support. More Senate hears bill authorizing criminal justice sales tax. SB 5361, sponsored by Jeff Holy (R-Spokane), is a bipartisan effort to address the shortage of law enforcement officers in Washington. More Bill raising the age of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction scheduled. The House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning committee will hear a bill raising the age that a child can be involved in the juvenile court system, barring certain circumstances. More Public works & infrastructure Bill proposes to expand definition of “public work.” SB 5418 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government & Elections Committee on Friday, February 10, at 8 am. More Transportation Changes to pedestrian crossing laws could reduce jaywalking infractions, increase safety risks. A new proposal to decriminalize jaywalking has laudable intentions yet raises safety and liability concerns for cities. More Washington sets rules of the road for fully autonomous vehicles. New legislation, as written, preempts city authority over the vehicles. AWC seeks city feedback on the bill, SB 5594, which is scheduled for public hearing on Tuesday, February 7, at 4 pm. More
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