In this year’s legislative session, the Washington State Legislature passed extensive housing reform. House Bill 1110 compelled many cities in Washington to open up single-housing residential zones to long-banned duplexes, cottage courts, and small apartments. Such middle housing has been missing from the calculation for years, and it’s
This week, state legislators were in special session pursuing the urgent business of continuing the war on drugs. Lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise during regular session, which prompted Governor Jay Inslee to call the special session. The temporary fix to the state Supreme Court’s Blake decision (which
This week, Dave Amos over at City Beautiful does an excellent job discussing the history and pitfalls of historic districts. From their early application to preserve important landmarks to their recent use as another hurdle to prevent density, the video emphasizes the differences between saving historic buildings and backdoor rezoning
Single family zoning will soon be a thing of the past for most Washington cities thanks to passage of statewide “missing middle” housing reform this state legislative session. This monumental success was thanks in large part to lawmaker heroes named below and the far-ranging coalition that coalesced behind the bill.
In this week’s episode, podcast host Ray Dubicki discusses the Heroes and Zeroes of the recent state legislative session with Urbanist Executive Director Doug Trumm. Heroes and Zeroes is a standing tradition at The Urbanist, and this year’s session concluded on some high notes as missing middle housing
WALeg Wednesday considers the housing package that passed, led by HB 1110. As the legislative calendar winds its way to adjourning sine die (until next year) on Saturday, it’s easy to focus on issues that were lost in the process or ideal bills that did not get out of
With time ticking, a flurry of floor votes in Olympia advanced reforms of single-family zoning, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and design review, leaving concurrence or conference committee as final hurdle. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: So You’ve Passed Your Second Chamber! Now what? Adjournment
The legislative clock ticks closer to its late April conclusion this WALeg Wednesday. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: Slim, Difficult Housing Bills Continue to Progress The striker amendments that were stalking many of the housing bills in the Washington Legislature have caught up to their
WALeg Wednesday considers bill shrinkage and more legislative budget proposals fill in the state financial picture. * In This Digest: * Striker Amendments Threaten 75% to 94% of TOD * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: Washington’s Operating Budget Starts to Take Shape Striker amendments threaten 75% to 94% of potential
WALeg Wednesday starts eyeing up the looming disagreements as the legislative session moves to finances. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: A First Look at Washington’s Budget Five of the bills that we have been following continue moving forward, with a few making their committee
WALeg Wednesday on a Thursday follows the bills that got to swap chambers as the music goes on for some and others fail for the year. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: What is a “Striker” amendment? The winnowing continues as the deadline for legislation to
Almost every single Monday or Tuesday night of 2023 has seen city councils in cities of all sizes across Washington meet with a common topic on agenda after agenda: House Bill 1110. The bill has become a lightning rod since its introduction at the beginning of this year. It would
This week we had the opportunity to host Governor Jay Inslee on The Urbanist podcast. It was good timing as we reached the midpoint of the state’s 100-day legislative session. Several of the bills the governor has championed, such as legalizing missing middle housing statewide and adding a climate
WALeg Wednesday Prepares for Floor Vote Frenzies and Small Improvements to Regulations. * In This Digest: * Important Bills At A Glance * Weekly Focus: Lot Splitting and Statewide ADUs Another week in the Washington Legislature and another legislative calendar cutoff has passed. Bills that did not get out of their respective chamber’
WALeg Wednesday faces another calendar cutoff and looks at lobbying efforts by agencies, organizations, and corporations. The Washington Legislature is in the week between legislative calendar cutoffs, so there is some tumult in what bills are moving forward. As discussed last week, the calendar cutoffs are deadlines imposed by the
In this WALeg report, we look at the progress that’s been made by housing bills, brewing opposition, update other legislation, and listen to the ticking legislative clock. * Also in this digest: * Important Bills at a Glance * This Week’s Focus: What is the “Policy Cutoff”? HB 1110 and HB
A public school is an essential part of any community. Here in Seattle, public schools are in crisis. Last month, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) announced their intention to close schools and consolidate students into schools with larger student populations. This comes on the heels of recent reports that SPS may
In this WALeg report, an introduction to the loud voices yelling for municipal home rule. * Also in this digest: * Important Bills at a Glance * This Week’s Focus: What Is a Substitute Bill? Who is the Association of Washington Cities? The Association of Washington Cities (AWC) is a 90-year-old nonprofit
A bill allowing single-stairway “point access block” buildings would enhance housing and neighborhoods. On February 2nd the Washington State Senate held its first hearing on SB 5491, a bill that adds a powerful tool to the state’s housing arsenal by permitting point access blocks — compact single stair buildings with
In this WALeg report, predictable opposition arises against missing middle housing bills. * Also in this digest: * Important Bills at a Glance. * The Week’s Focus: Condominium Act reforms. The legislature’s housing bills faced a small tempest of push back this weekend. Former chair of the House housing committee and
The bills we have been tracking from previous weeks did not see a lot of movement. Design review reform made it out of its first committee and the Evergreen Basic Income Pilot survived a flurry of amendments. But really, the big news this week is a few big new bills
“This is the year for bold progress to make sure everyone has a home,” Sen. Marko Liias (D – Edmonds) said in a tweet shortly after dropping a bill aimed at encouraging denser housing near rapid transit. On Saturday, Rep. Julia Reed followed up on Liias’ SB 5466 by introducing the
Rep. Andrew Barkis hopes 2023 will be the year for supply-side housing legislation in Washington State. It’s no secret that Republicans have been in short supply when it came to signing on to bills to increase housing in Washington State. Relatedly, statewide zoning reform bills have repeatedly failed in
More housing bills queued up in Week 2 Welcome to the second week of the Washington State Legislature 2023 Session. We have added two new bills to the following list, for your convenience, as well as some consideration of the term “jaywalking” and the differences between comments versus testimony. * Comments
In this first week of the long Washington State legislative session, we’re going to look at: * Welcome Back! A reminder how to legislate. * Important Bills at a Glance * HB 1110 – Missing Middle * HB 1181 – GMA Climate Change provisions * HB 1045 – Evergreen Basic Income pilot * HB 1026 – Local Government Design