Bellevue Chamber News
The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce and the Northwest U.S.-India Chamber of Commerce, a subsidiary of the National U.S. India Chamber of Commerce (NUICC) are in the process of establishing a strategic partnership via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to encourage and strengthen ties between the two... Continue Reading
One third of the 2025 session is done! This week committees were busy voting on bills before the first deadline next Friday, February 21st. If a bill has not moved out of its policy committee by this Friday, it will be considered dead (unless it’s deemed necessary to implement the budget).... Continue Reading
The Chamber's PLUSH (Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing) Committee just submitted their feedback to the City of Bellevue's Planning Commission regarding its ongoing affordable housing strategy. Read the letter below. Continue Reading
Tale of Two Chambers? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," at our most recent board meeting, as we not only met with our own board, but with our colleagues over at the Seattle Metro Chamber, too. The first meeting of its kind since, frankly, most of us have been working, we... Continue Reading
We are quickly approaching the first cutoff of the 2025 legislative session. This is the point in session where it will be harder (but not impossible!) for a bill that hasn’t already been introduced to be heard and passed before the house of origin policy cutoff on the 21st. This is also the... Continue Reading
Surprise, surprise: We have some new board members! Get to know them each below. David Winokur - Chief Administrative Officer, Overlake Hospital Medical Center David joined Overlake in 2014, and prior to being named Chief Administrative Officer, served as Overlake's Medical Imaging and... Continue Reading
Washington voters are in the know – they know why the state is facing a budget deficit and they are aligned on the solution, saying it’s a bad idea to increase state spending. Fulcrum Strategic and EMC Research conducted a statewide poll of 600 registered voters in January that also... Continue Reading
Week three of session continued with a focus on policy committee activity that again included work sessions, hearings, and executive session. The first cutoff of session is quickly approaching. All bills must pass out of their policy committee in their house of origin (in other words the chamber... Continue Reading
Rent control and road-usage charges were at the top of folks’ minds at the Bellevue Chamber’s most recent Policy Council meeting, as the group welcomed some new members, and received their scheduled update from the Chamber’s Olympia lobbyist, Lyset Cadena. The New... Continue Reading
The second week of the legislative session began with Martin Luther Jr Day celebrations in the House and Senate. The Legislature honored the life and legacy of the civil rights leader during their Floor sessions with bipartisan remarks and the passage of HR 4602 in the House and SR 8605 in the... Continue Reading
The legislature convened for the 2025 legislative session on Monday, January 13th. This year’s session is considered a “long-session” when legislators convene for 105 days and do the hard work of writing the two-year (biennial) operating, capital, and transportation budgets. They... Continue Reading
Our President & CEO Joe Fain, as well as Patience Malaba with the Housing Development Consortium, recently submitted the following letter to the Bellevue Planning Commission on behalf of the Eastside Housing Roundtable. (That’s a mouthful.) Read the letter below: Continue Reading
