2020 Legislative Update: Week 7

Week Overview

General Update

The past week was packed with every type of session activity. The flurry started on Monday when the Senate released their proposed operating budget and the House released their proposed operating, capital and transportation budgets. It was anticipated the House was going to release their proposed operating budget first, but the Senate unexpectedly released theirs a couple of hours ahead of the House. It is not typical for both chambers to release their budgets on the same day, so the compressed timeline for release was an added complexity. The next day, the Senate released their proposed transportation budget (they had already released their capital budget the previous week). The fiscal committee executive sessions on the operating budget bills went until about midnight for each chamber as the committees worked through numerous proposed amendments to the bills. Both operating budgets were debated and voted off their respective chamber floors later in the week. Links and updates on other budgets are provided in the budget section below.

In addition to the activity around budgets, it was also a packed week of hearings. With opposite house policy cutoff on Friday, February 28th, the week was full of policy hearings and executive sessions to move bills out of committee by cutoff. Opposite house fiscal cutoff is on Monday, March 2nd, which means there are just three days to hear and move bills referred to a fiscal committee. The House Appropriations,  Senate Ways and Means, and House Transportation committees all convened on Saturday for a full day of hearings. No committees met on Sunday, so there will be a marathon of executive sessions in fiscal committees on Monday to move bills out by cutoff.

Click here to watch this week’s TVW Week in Review, which provides a good wrap-up of the past week in Olympia.

Budgets

There was a lot of activity around all of the budgets this week. Below is a summary of the status of each budget and links to relevant documents.

• Operating Budget:
  • The House operating budget passed out of House Appropriations on February 25th and passed off the House floor on February 28th with a vote of 55 to 39. Documents related to the House operating budget can be found here.
  • The Senate operating budget passed out of Senate Ways & Means on February 26th and passed off the Senate floor on February 27th with a vote of 33 to 16. Documents related to the Senate operating budget can be found here.
    
• Capital Budget:
  • The House capital budget passed out of the House Capital Budget committee on February 27th. It has been referred to House Rules and awaits being pulled to the floor for debate and vote. Documents related to the House capital budget can be found here.
  • The Senate capital budget passed out of the Senate Ways and Means committee on February 21st  and unanimously off the Senate floor on February 26th. Documents related to the   Senate capital budget can be found here.
• Transportation Budget:
  • The House transportation budget passed out of the House Transportation committee on February 26th and passed off the House floor on February 28th with a vote of 96-1. Documents related to the House transportation budget can be found here.
  • The Senate transportation budget passed out of the Senate Transportation committee on February 27th. It has been referred to Senate Rules and awaits being pulled to the floor for debate and vote. Documents related to the Senate transportation budget can be found here.

Electeds & Elections

Representative Beth Doglio (22nd LD) announced that she will be joining the race for the 10th

Congressional District, which is open as the result of Congressman Denny Heck’s retirement. Doglio was first elected to the state legislature in 2016. The other Democratic candidates for the 10th CD race are former Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland; former state Rep. Kristine Reeves of Federal Way; Phil Gardner, a former district director for Heck; and Joshua Collins, a socialist running under the Democratic banner.

Session Primers

As we go through session, I will periodically do brief primers on things related to session and the legislative process. I often use jargon and things move very quickly, so my goal with these primers is to help you better understand what is going on in Olympia as we go along.

A Primer on the X-Files

You may have seen activity on some bills late this week saying they have been moved to the House or Senate Rules ‘X’ File. After certain cut-off dates, the Rules Committee sometimes places bills in the x-file if they are no longer available for consideration (aka dead). Bills placed in the x-file are removed from all calendars and daily status sheets.

Priority Areas

Affordable Housing/Homelessness

Affordable and supportive housing

Rep. Robinson sponsored HB 2797, which amends the local sales tax for affordable or supportive housing by extending the deadline to adopt a resolution of intent to adopt legislation to authorize the tax to July   28, 2020. The deadline to adopt legislation to authorize the tax is extending to December 1, 2020. HB  2797 was heard on February 7th and passed by the House Finance committee on February 11th. The bill passed the House on February 16th with 63-33 vote count. It was heard on February 26th, passed by the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability committee February 28th. It is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd.

County fees on the real estate excise tax

Rep. Chopp sponsored HB 2919, which increased the percentage of real estate excise taxes (REET) retained by counties with a population of less than 300,000 to 1.48 percent and directs a portion of the REET retained by King County to go to the maintenance and operations of permanent supportive housing programs. The amended bill states that 25 percent of the REET proceeds retained by King County must go to the maintenance and operations of permanent supportive housing program in the county. The bill was heard on February 26th, amended and passed by the Senate Housing and Affordability committee on February 28th. It was amended to increase the population threshold for counties that retain 1.48 percent

of REET taxes for administrative costs less than 300,000 to less than 400,000. It is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd.

Excise tax on businesses

A new bill on the King County payroll tax was introduced by Rep Springer and Sen Keiser, HB 2948/SB 6692, which allows the King County council to impose a 0.025% payroll tax on businesses with employees who earn at least $150,000 a year. The money raised would be spent on affordable housing, public safety, homeless services and behavioral health services. Additionally, it allows cities with a population of more than 60,000 to receive 0.01% of the payroll tax. HB 2948 was heard on February 27th and is scheduled for executive session on March 2nd in the House Finance committee. SB 6692 has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in Senate Ways & Means. The bills are considered necessary to implement the budget and therefore not subject to the cutoff calendar.

Multi-family tax exemption

Rep. Walen and Sen. Kuderer introduced HB 2620/SB 6411, which allows cities and counties to designate a residential targeted area and provide property tax exemptions for eligible multi-unit residential housing projects in urban centers. It also allows cities to authorize an additional 12-year extension to housing projects currently receiving a property tax exemption. HB 2620 was amended by House Appropriations and makes several changes, which can be found here. It is currently in House Rules and awaits further action by the House. SB 6411 was amended by Senate Ways & Means and prohibits a city or county from approving applications for new tax-exempt properties in the following calendar year if the city or county fails to meet the reporting requirements provided in statute. It has been placed on the Senate Rules “X” file. Both bills have been deemed “not subject to cut-off” and are still a work in progress.

Rep Macri sponsored HB 2950, which extend the 12-year multi-family property tax exemption to January 2022 only on buildings that are imminently scheduled to lose their exemption and requires the Department of Commerce to convene a stakeholder work group to study and make recommendations of the multi-family property tax exemption program by December 1, 2020. The bill was heard on February 27th and scheduled for executive session on March 2nd in the House Finance committee.

Sales tax for affordable housing

Rep. Doglio sponsored HB 1590 during the 2019 session and it retained its present status of 2nd Reading for the 2020 session. The bill authorizes county or city legislative authorities to impose the local sales and use tax for housing and related services and eliminates the requirement that the imposition of the tax be voter approved and instead allows for the tax to be imposed by the county council. The House passed the bill on February 19th with a 52-46 vote count. It was heard and passed on February 27th by the Senate Local Government committee and referred to the Rules committee for further consideration.

Land Use/GMA

Accessory dwelling units

Sen. Kuderer and Rep. Walen sponsored SB 6231/HB 2630, which provides a 3-year property tax exemption for the construction of an attached or detached accessory dwelling unit. SB 6231 was heard on January 15th and was amended and passed out of the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability committee on January 27th. The amended bill limits the property tax exemption for improvements to single-family dwellings to only include the construction of accessory dwelling units. Both bills were heard in their respective fiscal committees on February 20th. SB 6231 is scheduled for executive session in

Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd. HB 2630 was passed by the House Finance on February 27th and has been referred to House Rules for further consideration.

Sen. Liias introduced SB 6617, which requires counties planning under the Growth Management Act and cities within such counties to authorize up to two accessory dwelling units (ADUs) per lot, to not require the provision of off-street parking for ADUs close to major transit stops, and to not require an owner to occupy an ADU or other housing unit on the lot unless the owner owns more than five ADUs. The bill was amended by the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability committee to expand the owner-occupancy requirements for ADUs to include when the ADU is a short-term rental. SB 6617 was amended on the Senate floor and passed with a 31-17 vote count. The amended bill requires any county planning under   the GMA and any city within such county by July 1, 2021, to adopt or amend ordinances, regulations, or other official controls that do not establish a requirement for the provision of off-street parking for ADUs within 0.5 mile of a major transit stop within designates UGAs. By July 1, 2021, the new ADU requirements apply and take effect in any GMA county or city that has not adopted or amended such regulations and supersede, preempt, and invalidate any conflicting local development regulations. The bill was heard on February 25th, amended, and passed by the House Environment and Energy committee on February 27th. The amended bill limits the scope to cities, and provides that ADU requirements and the SEPA appeal exemption does not apply to counties; amends the areas in which cities may require off- street parking associated with the development of ADUs to include areas that are at least ¼ of a mile away from a major transit stop, rather than ½ from a major  transit  stop; and  authorizes  cities  to require parking associated with an ADU located with ¼ of a mile from a major transit stop if the city has determined that the ADU is in an area with a lack of access to street parking capacity. The bill has been referred to House Rules for further consideration.

Climate change in the growth management act

Rep. Duerr introduced HB 2427, which adds climate change to the planning goals that guide the development and adoption of city and county comprehensive plans and development regulation under the Growth Management Act. HB 2427 was amended and passed by the House Environment and Energy committee on February 4th. The amended bill removes references to vehicle miles traveled and by requiring jurisdictions to develop and implement plans, polices, and strategies that help achieve emission reductions limits, rather than by requiring jurisdictions to ensure that plans, policies, and strategies adopt to and mitigate the effects of a changing climate. Additionally, it limits the applicability of the climate change goal to counties required to develop a GMA review and evaluation program or to counties with a population of at least 300,000 and to the cities within those counites. The bill was amended by the House to require the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to contract with researchers at the UW or WSU for a report to be submitted to the Legislature by July 1, 2021, that assesses ecological and salmonid impacts of urban heat island effects from cities with a population of at least 100,000 and passed with 59-37 vote count. The bill was heard on February 25th in the Senate Local Government committee, but did not move forward before opposite house policy cut-off and is now considered dead.

Comprehensive plan updates

Rep. Fitzgibbon sponsored HB 2342, which changes the frequency of comprehensive plan updates under the Growth Management Act from every 8 years to every 10 years. It also requires counties and cities to update certain portions of their comprehensive plans at the 5-year mark between full updates of their comprehensive plans. The bill was amended and passed by the House Environment and Energy committee on February 4th. The amended bill provides small and slow growing cities and counties an

extension of 24 months to complete the required 5-year review and possible revision of their comprehensive plans. It was amended by the House to state that the 5-year update requirement is contingent on the appropriation of certain funding amounts in order to defray the expense of the 5-year update and passed unanimously on February 19th. The bill was heard on February 26th and passed by the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology committee on February 27th. It has been scheduled for a hearing in Senate Ways and Means on March 2nd.

Urban housing supply

Rep. Fitzgibbon sponsored HB 2343 makes changes to last year’s HB 1923 which required certain cities to take certain actions to increase residential building capacity and housing affordability. The bill modifies the list of planning actions certain cities are encouraged to take in order to increase residential building capacity, extends the date by which certain planning actions must be taken in order for those actions to be exempt from administrative or judicial appeal under the GMA and SEPA, and directs the Department of Ecology to initiate a rule-making process to remove parking as an element of the environment and as a component of the environmental checklist. HB 2343 was amended and passed out the House Environment and Energy committee on January 28th. The amended bill changes the date by which certain planning actions must be taken in order for those actions to be exempt from administrative or judicial appeal under the Growth Management Act (GMA) and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) from April 1, 2021 to April 1, 2023; and changes the frequency of transit service that triggers a cap on minimum residential parking requirements for certain affordable housing units, from four times per hour to two times per hour. The bill passed the House on February 16th with a 93-2 vote count and was heard on February 24th in the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability committee. It was amended and passed by the Senate Housing committee to add quadplexes, sixplexes, stacked flats, and townhouses to two items on the list of actions cities are encouraged to take, and modifies the requirement that the Washington center for real estate research produce a report every 2 years regarding housing supply and affordability metrics for cities planning under the GMA. The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules committee for further consideration.

Climate Change and the Environment

Greenhouse gas emissions

Rep. Fitzgibbon introduced HB 1110 during the 2019 legislative session and it directs Department of Ecology (DOE) to adopt a rule establishing a clean fuels program to limit greenhouse gas emissions per unit of transportation fuel energy to 10 percent below 2017 levels by 2028 and 20 percent below 2017 levels by 2035. On January 29th the House took up HB 1110 and after a 4-hour debate passed it with a 52- 44 vote count. The bill was amended and passed by the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology committee on February 25th. It was amended to make the clean fuels program contingent upon enacting a transportation funding act that includes (1) new revenues to the motor vehicle fund and multimodal transportation account that exceed $2 billion dollars and (2) sufficient funding and a plan to complete replacement of the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River and the US 2 trestle. Delays the start date for the clean fuels program one year, from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022, or as soon thereafter as the contingent effective conditions occur. The bill was referred to the Senate Transportation committee and is scheduled for a hearing on March 2nd.

Rep. Slatter sponsored HB 2311 on behalf of Governor Inslee and it revises the 2050 state greenhouse gas emissions reduction limits from 50 percent to 95 percent below 1990 levels and requires the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emission. Additionally, it amends greenhouse gas emissions reduction

targets for state agencies and requires all agencies to seek all practicable opportunities to cost-effectively maximize carbon sequestration. SHB 2311 modifies the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for both the state as a whole and for state government, to refer to actual tonnages of greenhouse gas emissions reductions in addition to percentage reductions. The bill was heard in House Appropriations on February 3rd and was amended and passed out of the committee on February 8th. The amended bill adds a reference to "natural and working lands" to intent language regarding increasing carbon sequestration; amends a policy of the state to prioritize "carbon sequestration" rather than "sequestration activities"; And requires all state agencies to seek practicable opportunities to maximize "carbon storage" in addition to "carbon sequestration." 2SHB 2311 passed the House on February 16th with a 55-41 vote count and was heard on February 20th in the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology committee and passed out of committee on February 25th. The bill was heard in Senate Ways & Means on February 28th and scheduled for executive session on March 2nd.

Transportation

Transportation Budget Overview

The House released their proposed supplemental transportation budget on February 24th and the Senate released theirs the following day on February 25th. Both budgets had sought to address the passage of Initiative 976, which has resulted in a loss of revenue to the state of $453 million. This loss in revenue increases in magnitude to $684 million in the 2021-23 biennium once fully phased in.

On February 28th, the House passed the transportation budget with a 96-1 vote count and it now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

Automated traffic safety cameras

Sen. Liias and Rep. Fitzgibbon sponsored SB 5789/HB 1793, which establishes a pilot program through the end of 2021 for the use of automated traffic safety cameras on certain state and local roadways in or near downtown Seattle and requires the Seattle City Council to enact an ordinance authorizing their use. During the 2019 session, HB 1793 did pass out of the House in 2019 but ran up against session timelines and did not move out of the Senate. On January 30th the House passed the bill with a 56-40 vote count. It was heard on February 24th and is scheduled for executive session on March 2nd in the Senate Transportation committee. SB 5789 was amended and passed by the Senate Transportation on February 10th. The bill was amended to extend the pilot program to June 30, 2023; adjust the location where cameras may be used to 4 miles from the downtown on non-interstate freeways; and requires that an

automated traffic safety camera may not use facial recognition technology in real time or after capturing any information. SB 5789 passed the Senate on February 18th with a 25-21 vote count. It was heard in the House Transportation committee on February 29th and is scheduled for executive session on March 2nd.

Bicyclists

Sen. Billig introduced SB 6208 allows bicyclists the right to treat a stop sign as a yield. The “safety stop” is described as a rolling stop and increases safety at intersections by allowing a person bicycling to avoid waiting in the blind spot of a motor vehicle and to get out ahead of following motor vehicles, creating space and less likelihood for interaction between the motor vehicle and bicyclists. SB 6208 was amended to replace the term “bicyclists” with the phase “person operating a bicycle” and requires a person operating a bicycle stop for a stop signal displayed by a school bus when the rules of the road require a stop. On February 12th, the Senate passed the bill with a 44-1 vote count and was heard on February 29th in the House Transportation committee and is scheduled for executive session on March 2nd.

Fish passage barriers

Rep. Barkis introduced HB 2503, which adds tribal governments to the entities that the state Fish Passage Barrier Removal Board (Board) must coordinate with, to the extent the tribal governments are willing to participate and choose to share certain information; requires the Board to prepare a prioritized list of fish passage barrier removal projects every even-numbered year until 2031, and allows WSDOT to only undertake fish passage barrier removal projects on the list, necessary for completion of another WSDOT project, or as directed in statute or an appropriations acts; and creates the Fish Passage Barrier Removal Account, which is allowed to keep its interest, and limits expenditures from the account to fish passage barrier removal projects on WSDOT’s land or on the Board’s list. The bill was heard on February 20th in the House Transportation committee and has not been scheduled for executive session at this time.

Health as a transportation policy goal

Rep. Riccelli sponsored HB 2461, which adds health to the list of transportation policy goals the Department of Transportation must consider for the planning, operation, performance of, and investment in, the state’s transportation system. HB 2461 was amended by the House and passed on February 17th with a 57-41 vote count. The amended bill declared there is a connection between transportation systems and individual’s health rather than the connection between transportation and health is indisputable. It was heard on February 25th in the Senate Transportation committee, but has not been scheduled for executive session at this time.

Sound Transit

Sen. Liias introduced SB 6606, which requires a regional transit authority that levies a motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) to use new depreciation schedules to determine the value of vehicles; allows vehicle owners to pay the MVET using a Good to Go! Account and to enter into a quarterly or monthly payment plan; and repeals parts of I-976. The bill was passed by the Senate Transportation committee and has been placed on 2nd Reading but has been deemed “not subject to cut-off” and is still a work in progress.

Transportation revenue

Rep. Fey sponsored HB 2913, which increases the gas tax by 9.7 cents over ten years to fund the replacement of state culverts as mandated by the fish passage Supreme Court case. The bill was heard on February 20th in the House Transportation committee but has not been scheduled for executive session. The bill is considered necessary to implement the budget, so is not subject to the cutoff calendar.

Looking Ahead

Monday will be focused on moving bills out of their fiscal committee by the March 2nd opposite house fiscal cutoff. Then attention will quickly shift to floor action as each chamber works to move bills off the floor by Friday’s opposite house floor cutoff.

Upcoming Dates:

• March 2nd - Opposite House Fiscal Cutoff
• March 6th - Opposite House Floor Cutoff
• March 12th - Sine Die

Bellevue Chamber Bill Status Report