GMA gets its day in the sun, but the heat is too much for the biggest proposals

The 2024 Growth Management Act (GMA) update cycle is rapidly approaching as jurisdictions begin their efforts two years before the deadline. The Legislature took aim (at what is perhaps their last attempt) to integrate new planning responsibilities into the GMA in time for local governments to incorporate them in an orderly fashion. This urgency led to increased attention and effort on HB 1099 and HB 1117, integrating climate change and salmon recovery into the GMA, respectively. 

Despite the support of cities and counties for HB 1117, and from cities for HB 1099, neither proposal made it to the finish line. Particularly disappointing was the failure of HB 1099 to advance on the final day of session, as the House ran of out of time to pass the agreed-upon bill before sine die. Even though the policy had been largely agreed to and planning funding was appropriated, the failure of the House to act on this bill left all that progress on the cutting room floor. This disappointment was punctuated by the loss of a newly proposed provision that provided an innovative incentive for cities that wanted to pursue middle housing policies as a climate response.

We appreciate the recent recognition that these sorts of policies need to be funded to be successful and are hopeful progress on this front can be maintained in future sessions. However, the future is murky as advocates and cities consider whether it is still feasible to have these new requirements apply in the most urban areas of the state—jurisdictions that are updating their comprehensive plans beginning in 2024.

As those two bills wound through the process, a package of smaller GMA tweaks was developed and advanced at the same time: extending the update timelines, facilitating tribal engagement, updating authorities for counties in limited areas of more intensive development, and clarifying the process for moving land in and out of urban growth areas. All of these passed the Legislature.