State senators and representatives are scrambling to get their bills out of committee with a “Do Pass” recommendation before the cutoff on Monday, February 22nd. An exception allows revenue-generating bills a longer lease on life if they are declared “necessary to implement the budget,” so don’t worry about “tax the rich” or carbon fee bills dying just yet. Some exciting bills will need a boost to survive past this year’s cutoff.
The bill links below will take you to the webpage for each piece of legislation where you can weigh in as “PRO” to help pressure legislators to back the bills. Emails, calls, and public testimony during hearings is also a great tool to push bills over the top.
Suite of tenant rights bills
The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA) is focusing their advocating on a suite of four bills aiming to help rent-burdened tenants cope with the pandemic and recession. While none of the bills the state legislature is weighing would go so far as to cancel rent, some measures would provide considerable relief and help correct the power imbalance between tenants and landlords. Our state law is currently tilted pretty heavily toward landlords.
- HB 1236: Authored by Rep. Nicole Macri, HB 1236 requires landlords demonstrate a legitimate business reason to make tenants move. Rep. Macri has brought a just cause eviction bill in the past, but the pandemic may finally convince her colleagues to go along. The bill would seek to close a major loophole in the local just cause laws that cities like Seattle and Tacoma passed. (See below for more.)
- HB 1277: Authored by Rep. Timm Ormsby, HB 1277 creates a permanent state funded rental assistance and housing stability program with a new $100 document recording fee on real estate-related transactions. The fee could raise $100 million annually according to the City of Seattle government relations team. The bill would help replenish the rental assistance pot since the state has spent through the initial $100 million in federal assistance via the Eviction Rent Assistance Program (ERAP) program. HB 1277 has passed out of its policy committee, but must now pass out of the Appropriations Committee.
- SB 5160: Authored by Sen. Patty Kuderer, SB 5160 would boost tenant rights by requiring our eviction process to include the right to a payment plan for renters, the right to legal counsel, and solutions to prevent the harmful effects of debt. Sadly, many low-income tenants never get to assert their rights because they lack access to legal counsel. (Update: it passed out of Ways and Means and will survive cutoff.)
- SB 5139: Authored by Sen. Mona Das, SB 5139 would limit rent increases to reasonable amounts within a year of the eviction moratorium expiring. Effectively this is temporary rent stabilization to decrease displacement pressure on tenants and block loopholes in other protections as the eviction moratorium is relaxed or rescinded. It has been languishing in Local Government Committee through four executive sessions and may no longer be alive due to cutoff protocols, but expressing support could be influential in keeping the policy idea going during the session.
