
March 3, 2025 Session hits the halfway point This week marks the midpoint of the 105-day legislative session, and action moves from committees to the floor of the House and Senate. Bills that are still alive after the committee cutoff deadlines now have until March 12 to be voted on by their respective house of origin. There are still a lot of bills in the mix—some good, some not so good—that impact cities. Now is a really important time to let legislators know how you feel about these proposals. You can use our weekly Bill Hot Sheet to help you. We have streamlined the Hot Sheet, removing bills that are dead as well as some that may still be alive, but just aren’t “hot,” to help focus our efforts. As we enter the second half of session, the budget writers are gearing up to tackle their work. We don’t expect to see budget proposals until mid-March, but Gov. Ferguson did release his suggestions for additional state spending reductions. It is important for cities to convey our funding priorities, including preserving the Public Works Assistance Account. Thank you to all of the city officials who signed on to our letter supporting funding for this invaluable infrastructure funding tool. We expect to see additional revenue proposals released as they approach the budget proposals. We also appreciate all of the city officials who added their names to the letter calling to revise the property tax revenue cap from 1% up to 3% tied to inflation. Happy reading, Candice Bock Government Relations Director Three priority public safety funding bills alive and well The legislative session came strong out of the gate with a handful of bills aimed at our legislative priority to increase local public safety funding. Now midway through the session, three bills are still moving: HB 2015: Establishes new local option sales tax for public safety funding and creates a new grant and direct funding model for eligible cities and counties SB 5060: Creates a $100 million grant program to hire new officers SB 5775: Expands authority for cities and counties to impose the existing local public safety sales tax councilmanically Contact your legislators and tell them which of the above approaches works best for your city. Camping on public property bill doubles litigation risk In what seems to be a theme this week, HB 1380 doubled down on changes that came out of its fiscal committee and now includes a litigation path based on enforcement of public camping ordinances, not just on the ordinances themselves. The bill also expanded the “totality of the circumstances” test a court must use to determine what is “objectively reasonable.” Although AWC continues to work with the proponents of this proposal, all requests to clarify and understand what a city could do to meet these requirements without litigating it in court have been declined. AWC’s maintains that if the state wants to manage how cities can regulate public property, they should define the expectations rather than delegating those decisions to the courts. Ask your House lawmakers now to oppose HB 1380. More Gov. Ferguson releases proposal for additional $4 billion in budget reductions Gov. Ferguson released a proposal for an additional $4 billion in efficiencies and cuts to state agencies, programs, and services to help bridge the state’s operating budget gap over the next four years. These reductions are in addition to the $3 billion already proposed by former Gov. Inslee in December, and together they represent about half ($7 billion) of the estimated $15 billion four-year budget shortfall. These difficult budget decisions mean that cities will need to continue speaking to legislators about the importance of programs like the Public Works Assistance Account. More See who signed on to our letter urging legislators to revise the 1% property tax cap this session A huge thanks to the 130 city officials from 67 cities and towns who signed on to our letter urging the Legislature to act this session on our legislative priority to lift the arbitrary property tax cap from 1% to an optional 3%. AWC will share this letter with budget decision-makers. You can help out by sending a copy to your legislators along with a note about why you support this change in your city or town. Read the letter and see who else signed on. Share AWC’s letter with your legislators, calling for protection of the Public Works Assistance Account Thank you to the 153 city leaders from 106 cities and towns that signed AWC’s letter to legislators urging protection of the Public Works Assistance Account. This week, AWC will send the letter to legislative leadership. Whether or not you signed on, there is still time to contact your legislators and ask them to oppose new diversions from the account. Read the letter and share it with your legislators now. How to explain Washington’s property tax (and the tax cap) How does Washington’s property tax system work—and how would changing the property tax cap impact costs for your residents? In this brief video, AWC Government Relations Director Candice Bock provides an easy-to-follow and easy-to-share overview. Check it out for a clear and simple explanation of how property tax works and how raising the cap would (or wouldn’t) change costs for your constituents. More CityVoice Podcast: State of the Cities—Inspecting city roads and infrastructure with Brianna Morin In our third episode covering AWC’s 2025 State of the Cities report, we chat with Brianna Morin, AWC Legislative Policy Analyst, about the current state of city roads and infrastructure. We delve into funding challenges, PFAS issues, and ways city leaders can engage on public works matters. Additionally, we discuss innovative funding ideas under consideration by the Legislature, such as a road usage charge and a retail delivery fee. If your city has roads or pipes, this episode is a must! Listen here. Visit AWC’s bill tracker for easy access to the bills you’re most interested in and to filter by the information you’re looking for, whether it’s a brief description of a bill, the status of bills you’re tracking, or AWC’s comprehensive coverage. Tip: Don't forget to bookmark the tracker and check it regularly for the latest updates. This week’s bill highlights: Affordable housing STEP housing bill amended in fiscal committee, concerns remain (HB 1195) More Mobile dwelling bill doubles-down (SB 5332) More Bill would require development regulations to be “clear and objective” (SB 5613) More The Housing Accountability Act advances (SB 5148) More Budget & finance Youth athletic facilities sales tax exemption not moving forward (HB 1148) More Fish landing tax proposal amended to add counties but does not survive fiscal cutoff (HB 1806) More No action taken on county utility tax proposal (SB 5088) More State property tax relief for residential owners and renters moves out of committee (SB 5770, SB 5771, SJR 8203) More General government Several AWC amendments added to VRA preclearance bill (HB 1710) More VRA claims bill survives committee cutoff (HB 1750) More New funding method for local public libraries passes the Senate (SB 5365) More HR & labor relations PFML job protection bill leaves Appropriations with helpful amendments (HB 1213) More Bill undermining grievance settlements awaits floor action (SB 5503) More Public safety & criminal justice AG police department investigations bills fail to make cutoff. Thanks to the cities that engaged (SB 5066) More AWC needs your city’s input on how volunteers aid public safety work (HB 1399) More It’s the end of the road for our favorite public safety funding bill—but others keep moving (HB 1428) More AWC testifies in opposition to a bill that would cap competency evaluations and fine cities (HB 1218) More Public defense funding bill fails to pass fiscal cutoff this legislative session (HB 1592) More Public works & infrastructure Update to performance bond requirements could lower costs for public works projects (HB 1967) More AWC working to mitigate proposed changes to utility excavation practices, aka “dig law” (SB 5627) More Cities propose fixes to responsible bidder bill on its way to House floor (HB 1549) More Impact of prevailing wage proposal narrowed, improved with local government input (SB 5061) More Transportation “Shared streets” designation amended to include required traffic safety reporting (SB 5595) More March 14 deadline for federal budget agreement looms. Congress has been working on setting budget levels as the deadline looms to pass another continuing resolution and avoid a federal government shutdown. Agreement is complicated by concerns over executive funding directives impacting programs funded by a continuing resolution, but the eventual agreement is likely to fund programs at existing levels through September 30. More CJTC announces restriction on certain Sig Sauer gun models in its training academies. The state Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) issued a report outlining their reasoning behind restricting the Sig Sauer P320 pistols at its Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) and other trainings. More What city workers can do to protect their student loan info amid federal upheaval. Some ongoing developments may impact federal student loans for city workers, possibly with short notice. Here, we pass along some advice that borrowers should consider right away amid the upheaval at the federal level, especially city workers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. More Want the latest on all the legislative action? Join AWC’s City Action Call this Friday (city members only) During the legislative session, AWC hosts City Actions Calls every Friday at 12:30 pm. In these meetings, AWC lobbyists provide legislative updates and city officials have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. The calls occur every Friday during the legislative session. You’ll need to register each week. Looking for some tips on advocating? Don’t forget about AWC’s advocacy guide Our pocket advocacy guide covers some of the basics about the legislative process and tips for communicating with your legislators. Connect with your legislators at local town halls Legislators will be hosting their own town hall meetings over the coming weeks, sometimes in person and sometimes virtually. 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.
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