
March 10, 2025 Moving into the second half of session With more than half of the 105-day session behind us, we are looking ahead to a slightly smaller list of bills still moving through the process and a new focus on budgets and revenue. The first part of this week is still dedicated to floor action, with a 5 pm deadline on March 12 for bills to pass out of their house of origin to stay alive and keep advancing through the process. On Thursday, the Legislature moves back into committee meetings and hearings on bills in the mad dash to the next cutoff on April 2. AWC’s Bill Hot Sheet is a little lighter as a few bills have dropped off; we are still awaiting the outcome of floor action on many others. We will see the updated state revenue forecast on March 18, which will set the stage for legislators to release their budget proposals, likely on March 24. Once legislators have a sense of how much revenue the state can expect, they will fine-tune cuts and reductions and new revenue proposals. We’ve heard that revising the property tax cap for the state and local governments remains in the mix of revenue ideas under discussion. Now is a good time to reiterate your support for preserving the Public Works Assistance Account and for revising the property tax cap. Remember to share our letters of support (PWAA, property tax) with your legislators. We expect many legislators will host town hall meetings this coming Saturday. Check your legislators’ websites for more information and plan to attend. If you need help engaging in the legislative process, feel free to reach out to the Government Relations team. And for more in-depth information, join our Friday City Actions Calls each week. Candice Bock Government Relations Director Public safety funding proposals still in the mix The three remaining public safety funding proposals are still awaiting a full vote before their respective houses. We anticipate an amended version of HB 2015 will be considered as early as today. We are also still pushing to advance SB 5060 with $100 million in grants and SB 5775 revising the existing public safety sales tax. There will likely be an amendment to SB 5775 expanding the authority for cities to match what counties currently have. It is important for city officials to reach out Senators about the importance of SB 5775 and ask them to support. 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. Parking preemption bill continues to advance SB 5184 will receive a hearing in the House Committee on Local Government on Friday. The proposal significantly restricts cities over 20,000 in population from requiring a minimum number of parking spaces to be provided during development. SB 5184 does not account for staff parking, customer parking, or meeting Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, which are allotted based on parking spaces required—let alone residential parking. The bill is based on a Sightline Institute report detailing all the “unreasonable” parking requirements of cities. How unreasonable are the most common city requirements? Read the article to see the statistics and decide for yourself—then reach out to your House members. More Two RVs on every residential lot? HB 1443 would require cities to authorize as permanent housing temporary structures like RVs and truck campers on every residential lot. The current bill proposes two mobile dwelling units per lot. While there is talk about limiting to one unit per lot, the underlying wisdom and projected enforcement costs still leave this as a bad proposal for cities. If you are concerned about this, there is still time to talk to your House members. More Oppose HB 1380 – Litigation is not the solution to public camping AWC needs you to reach out to your House members now and ask them to oppose HB 1380. Read our Legislative Bulletin articles for background on this concerning piece of legislation. HB 1380 is unnecessary. It will not shelter any unhoused individuals, but it will divert limited city resources for homeless response to responding to litigation. Contact your House lawmakers and ask them to oppose HB 1380. Contact Carl Schroeder with any questions. 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. Cityvoice Podcast: Legislative mid-session update Last week marked the middle of the 2025 session, and with policy and fiscal cutoffs behind us, it’s time for an update on what bills are moving forward and how they could impact cities. In this 20-minute podcast, new Government Relations Advocate Derrick Nunnally joins Government Relations Director Candice Bock and Government Relations Deputy Director Carl Schroeder to talk about the status of key priorities like public safety, infrastructure, affordable housing, and much more. 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: Emergency management Pet accommodations bill amended and passed by House (HB 1201) More HR & labor relations Senate passes UI benefits for striking workers (SB 5041) More After back and forth, AI bargaining bill passes House (HB 1622) More Land use & planning Growth Management Act appeal bill amended (HB 1135 & SB 5197) More Pensions Plan to sweep $3.3 billion surplus from firefighter and police pensions introduced (HB 2034) More Public safety & criminal justice Firearms ban in public buildings and parks passes Senate, moves to House (SB 5098) More Community custody requirement for unlawful gun possession passes Senate (SB 5268) More Public works & infrastructure City concerns addressed in “Dig Law” striker; stakeholder work still under way (SB 5627) More Prevailing wage bill linked to proposed fix to collective bargaining problem (SB 5061) More Submit comments on proposed changes to water system plan requirements by April 11. The Dept. of Health requests public comment on changes it has proposed related to the rule on a new climate resilience element in HB 1811. More Still no agreement on federal budget as March 14 deadline approaches. As the March 14 deadline approaches, Congress has not passed another continuing resolution to avoid a federal government shutdown. The most likely agreement will fund programs at existing levels through the end of September. More Commerce seeks feedback on draft language in climate planning rulemaking.The Dept. of Commerce is requesting comments on draft changes to WACs 365-195 and 365-196 to implement HB 1181 (2023), the session law that requires cities to incorporate climate planning into their Growth Management Act comprehensive plans. Comments are due March 20, 2025. More Update to model business license threshold finalized for adoption by January 1, 2026. Last year, AWC worked with a group of cities to propose an update to the 2018 business license minimum threshold for out-of-city businesses. The updated model is available for adoption by cities by January 1, 2026. More AWC advocacy tools We offer a variety of tools to help you engage during with the legislative session. Check them all out on our advocacy tools page. They include helpful how-to videos, data-driven reports, and tips for talking to your legislators.
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