Major Week for Priority Bills: Housing Affordability, REET, Energy Efficiency, Rent Control. 

The Seattle City Council recently rejected a proposal to move forward with a comprehensive plan amendment that would pave the way for Transportation Impact Fees in the City. As a commercial real estate association that advocates on behalf of our members, NAIOP Washington State opposed this effort to add unnecessary and harmful fees to the already costly development process. Though the City made the right decision, other municipalities continue to consider impact fees or fee increases, and the proposal could come forward again in Seattle in the future.

In 2023, NAIOP Washington State successfully defeated a bill during the legislative session that would have increased the real estate excise tax (REET). We anticipate similar legislation during the 2024 Washington State Legislative Session. During this session, REET may be rebranded as a “transfer tax.”  While we were previously successful in our efforts to stop a REET increase from moving forward, NAIOPWA’s Government Affairs team is actively engaged to defeat its passage once again.

With the start of the 2024 Washington State legislative session, bills overturning the current state pre-emption to rent control have been brought forward, as well as proposals which would implement state-wide rent control measures.  We strongly oppose any efforts to implement rent control, as well as efforts to overturn the state’s pre-emption.  It is important to take a sober look at why rent control is bad policy.

The latest results of the 2023 Seattle City Council election indicate a new phase for NAIOPWA’s local advocacy.  Through a substantial fundraising effort, we were able to support candidates in key races who offer a change in direction for many important issues our industry faces.

The 2023 legislative session drew to a close in April, marking the end of a session that has been billed by some as the ‘Year of Housing’ for Washington State. A remarkable 1,776 bills were introduced, and a staggering number of those bills pertained to housing, development, and commercial real estate.

NAIOP Washington State, a nonpartisan organization committed to creating a favorable political and regulatory environment for the commercial real estate industry, engaged deeply with lawmakers to advise on these bills and advocate for our industry. Lawmakers engaged NAIOPWA’s Government Affairs Committee leadership before session, requesting input on proposed bills and assistance in authoring bills, and continued to engage with NAIOPWA throughout the legislative session.

Ballots are now in the mail for the August 1st Primary Election, and to help NAIOP members support business-friendly candidates in key local races. Please see our Primary Election Voting Guide for voting insights. It recommends the top two most business-friendly candidates in important local races. 

NAIOP Washington State is proud to announce the recipients of its 2023 Legislator of the Year Awards: Senator Mark Mullet and Representative Strom Peterson.

Senator Mullet, a Democrat representing the 5^th Legislative District, showed a commendable commitment to understanding the concerns of the commercial real estate industry during this year's legislative session. His leadership on bills to streamline and expedite the land use review and permitting process has better positioned our industry to address our pressing housing crisis and will enable greater investment in Washington. Senator Mullet also sponsored legislation that, if passed, would have greatly expanded allowable density near high-capacity public transit and would have required deeper study of anticipated costs associated with the state energy performance standards prior to code implementation.

The 105-Day 2023 legislative session wrapped up as scheduled on April 23, with legislators approving a final budget and related policy bills before session adjourned sine die. NAIOP Washington State defended against numerous bills that would have negatively impacted the commercial real estate market. In fact, no bill that NAIOPWA opposed passed into law.

To read more, click below. You must be logged in to your NAIOPWA member profile to access the full report. For more details about membership, email Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

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On Monday, April 17, the legislature enters the final week of the 2023 legislative session.  Next week will focus on reconciliation of changes to bills from the opposite house.  The main priority will be passage of the two-year operating budget. To read more, click below. You must be logged in to your NAIOPWA member profile to access the full report. For more details about membership, email Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Read the full report

The Washington State legislature is moving into the final two weeks of session.  Adjournment is scheduled on April 23. Full legislative reports are available exclusively to our NAIOPWA chapter members. To learn more about the benefits of membership, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

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Today is day 75 of the 105-day legislative session.  Hearings in policy committees will be held Monday to Wednesday of next week, ending on March 29.  Fiscal committees will then meet until April 4.

Read the rest of the report, including exclusive bill tracking, using your NAIOPWA member profile. For more information about joining, email Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Read the full report

The Washington State legislature has completed work in policy committees for this session. Fiscal committees meet over the weekend and have a deadline of Tuesday, April 4 to complete their work.  Other than bills that are part of the budget, committee consideration will end, and the focus for the remainder of the session will be floor consideration of the bills that remain.

Log in to your NAIOPWA member profile to access the complete report. To join, please reach out to Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Read the full report

The legislature is now focused on the policy committees considering bills from the opposite house.  The next deadline is March 29 when bills from the opposite house need to be passed from the policy committee.  Next week the focus will be on committee hearings, and you will see that reflected in the upcoming events section of the report.

On Monday at 2:00 the State Economic Forecast Council will release the final economic forecast that the biennial budget will be based upon.  The Senate is expected to make their budget public sometime next week, and on Friday the Senate Ways and Means committee will hold a marathon public hearing on the budget.

Join now to read the full report. For more information, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Click here to read the full report.

Wednesday, March 8 was the last day for bills to pass out of the House of origin, unless they are necessary to implement the budget.  You will see on the report that a number of bills did not survive the cut off and are now in the dead bill file. You may also see bills that appear to have not moved out of various committees that are still part of the active list.

To access the full report, log in to your NAIOPWA member profile. Now is a great time to join the association and get access to exclusive legislative updates like this one. For more information, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Click here to read the full report.

Today is day 54 of the 105 day legislative session.  We are past the halfway mark. The focus this week has been on floor action and the legislature has been working long hours to act on bills prior to the March 8 deadline for bills to pass out of the Houses of Origin. 

NAIOP Washington State members have full access to our state legislative reports. For more information about joining, please contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected]. 

Click here to read the full report.

Today, February 24, 2023, is the final day for consideration of bills in the fiscal committees (unless necessary to implement the budget). Starting Monday and until March 8, legislators will be focused on floor debate in each chamber. By March 8, bills from the original chamber need to be passed to the other chamber.

To view NAIOP's bill tracking report and the full legislative update, log in to your NAIOPWA member profile by clicking below. 

Read the full report

For more information about becoming a member, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

Friday, February 17 is policy committee cutoff, meaning all bills need to be out of their policy committee or they will not advance.  The fiscal committees will meet next week and have until February 24 to act on bills. Today’s report still shows bills that may be voted on in today’s hearings.

To view NAIOP's bill tracking report and the full legislative update, log in to your NAIOPWA member profile by clicking below. 

Read the full report

For more information about becoming a member, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].

The last week of bills to be heard in policy committees is next week.  The focus next week will be considering amendments and voting bills out of committee. Bills with a fiscal impact will have until February 24 to be considered and voted on.  In the meantime, both the Senate and the House will start to spend more time on the floor debating and passing legislation to the other body.

Log in to your NAIOPWA member profile to see the status of the bills we are following and committee hearings next week.

Read the full report here

For more information about joining NAIOP and receiving exclusive legislative updates, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected]. 

The week of February 6 is week five.  The focus will be on policy committee activity on hundreds of bills.  We have two weeks to go prior to the February 17 cut off. You can find next week’s hearings in the upcoming events section by logging in to your NAIOPWA member profile below.   Also, the bill status section of the bill tracking overview will illustrate where the bill is at in the process as of Friday, February 3.

I will provide a more detailed update of which priority bills have moved out of committee after February 17. 

Click here to read the full report

For more information about joining NAIOP and gaining access to exclusive legislative reports, contact Danielle Duvall, [email protected].