2025 Legislative Update
In addition to helping us and other organizations locally, our partner Futurewise advocates for sane land use legislation at the state level. You can find their advocacy page here.
Futurewise’s priorities this year include Rent Stabilization, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), and fighting sprawl. Sign up for updates to get their Grow Together campaign alerts so that you can act when needed here.
In addition to Futurewise, FOCC has been tracking any number of bills that could have land use or housing implications in this session. We’ve been told that, generally, only around 10% of bills that are submitted get through the process. Some bills will take several sessions to get across the finish line, so bills we support and bills we oppose may be back again next year if they don’t make it this time around. February 28th was the cut-off for bills to get read in the fiscal committees. There are some exceptions (such as those relating to budget) but the number of bills to watch has shrunk considerably.
We are watching bills that would allow/regulate accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in rural areas, bills that impact agricultural lands, bills that either induce or protect against sprawl, changes to the Growth Management Act (GMA), zoning and building code issues, affordable housing or loosening of rules under the guise of affordable housing, rent stabilization and other protections, and changes within urban growth areas (UGAs) to allow more housing, middle housing, etc. Many of the bills we started watching have now died in committee.
One bill that has come back after failing last year is HB 1058 (companion bill SB 5063), that would provide tax breaks for making improvements to short line railroads, which would be a gift to Eric Temple & PVJR – the operator of Clark County’s Chelatchie Prairie Railroad. Yes, you read that right: the out-of-town millionaire who appears to be getting a slap on the wrist for major environmental destruction in Clark County is also being teed up for a large tax break in the legislature. The House version is in appropriations, so it is still alive and well. We are hoping that given the budget issues this year, a tax break for a rogue millionaire is not a winner. You can send a comment on these bills to your legislators by clicking on this link for the House bill, and going to the ‘send a comment on this bill on the right. Click on this link to companion bill 1058 to do the same for the Senate version.
A bill we are watching, House Bill 1593, would create a children’s social equity land trust. Sounds nice, huh? But it calls for adding to the things (like schools) that are funded by logging our state forests, even precious legacy forests like the Dabbler. If it is important, it needs another way to pay for it, because our kids need those forests for a stable climate.
Be sure to keep an eye out for FOCC alerts on social media as bills come up for votes!