2020 Legislative Update: Week 8

Week Overview

General Update

Opposite house fiscal cutoff was on Monday, March 2nd, which means any bill that did not pass out of the fiscal committee in the opposite house by that day is considered dead. There were 482 bills that were alive following Monday’s cutoff. Following fiscal cutoff, attention quickly shifted to floor action where both chambers were on the floor everyday Tuesday through Friday last week, some days going late into the night, in order to pass bills by opposite house floor cutoff on Friday, March 6th. The exception are bills deemed necessary to implement the budget, which are not subject to the cutoff calendar.

Budget negotiations have also been happening in earnest behind the scenes. Negotiators have been working on the operating, capital, and transportation supplemental budgets. The budgets are expected to be unveiled soon in order for final versions to be agreed upon and passed by both chambers before session adjourns on March 12th. The Prevention Alliance has produced a memo on the operating budget comparing the House and Senate proposals. This memo provides helpful context on the budget as we anticipate release of the final budget.

In addition to the budgets, this week the focus will be on working through bills that were amended by the opposite house. When an amended bill is sent back to the house of origin, that chamber can choose to concur with those changes, dispute them, or seek resolution through a conference committee. See the primer below that further explains these processes.

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

Electeds & Elections

Rep Norma Smith (R) from the 10th legislative district announced that she will not run for re-election in November. In her announcement, Rep Smith stated that she will be returning to teaching and mentoring. Smith will complete her two-year term, which ends in January 2021. She has served in the legislature since 2008.

Sen Randi Becker (R) from the 2nd legislative district also announced she will not be running for re- election in November. In her announcement, Sen Becker stated that she will be moving to Wyoming with her husband. Becker will complete her term, which ends in January 2021. She has also served in the legislature since 2008. Graham Fire Commissioner Gina Blanchard-Reed and Orting Mayor Josh Penner have both announced their intent to run for the seat left open by Becker’s retirement.

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. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Primer on Concurrence, Dispute, and Conference

If a bill was amended in the opposite house from which it was originally introduced, the house of origin has to decide whether it will concur with the amendments or not. This step must happen before a bill can be sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. Leadership in each chamber decides which bills returned from the opposite house will be discussed and then places them on the concurrence calendar. There are three potential paths for bills that go into concurrence:

• Concurrence: If the house of origin concurs with the amendments, the bill has passed the legislature and it will head to the Governor.

• Dispute: If the house of origin disagrees with the amendment(s) from the opposite house, they can ask the opposite house to recede from the amendments. If the opposite house recedes, the bill has passed the legislature and it will head to the Governor.
• Resolution: If the two houses cannot resolve their differences, they can ask for a conference committee to reach a resolution. Members from each house are selected to meet to discuss the differences. If they agree on what is to be done, the conference committee makes a report. Both houses must adopt the conference report for the bill to pass the If one house does not adopt the conference report (either by vote or inaction), the bill has not passed.

Primer on Timing for Bill Signings

Bills that are delivered to the governor more than five days before the legislature adjourns have five days to be acted on. The governor may decide to sign a bill, veto part of it, or veto all of it. Bills that are delivered fewer than five days before the legislature adjourns have 20 days to be acted on by the governor. The days are counted as calendar days, not business days. Sundays are not counted, but

Saturdays and holidays are. The clock does not start until the bill ‘hits the governor’s desk’. It is important to note that the clock doesn’t start immediately when it passes the legislature. After passage (or concurrence), the bill must be signed by both the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate and then it must be delivered to the governor. Doing this paperwork can sometimes take days, and sometimes it happens very quickly. Once it has been delivered to the governor the clock begins. If the governor does not act on a bill after the allotted number of days, it is as if it were signed. In other words, if the governor doesn’t sign a bill it doesn’t die, it defaults to passing. You can find the schedule for upcoming bill signings here.

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 was heard in the Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd and is deemed necessary to implement the budget and therefore not subject to the cutoff calendar.

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 was heard in the Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd and is deemed necessary to implement the budget and therefore not subject to the cutoff calendar.

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, passed by the House Finance committee on March 2nd. The bill passed off the House floor on March 7th with a vote of 93 to 4. It is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Ways & Means on March 9th. The bill has been deemed necessary to implement the budget so is not subject to the cutoff calendar.

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. On March 6th the Senate passed the bill with a 27-21 vote count and now heads to the House for concurrence.

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 was amended and passed out of Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd. The amended bill restores language from the original bill and requires DOR to evaluate the home-improvement exemption with a report due at the end of 2020. It been referred to Senate Rules for further consideration. HB 2630 was passed by the House Finance on February 27th and has been referred to House Rules for further consideration. The bills are deemed necessary to implement the budget and therefore are not subject to the cutoff calendar.

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 was amended by the House and passed with a 94-3 vote count. It was amended to limit the scope of ADU policies addressed by the bill to parking-related policies, and 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 of a mile away from a major transit stop. Because it was amended by the House, it now goes back to the Senate for concurrence.

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 was heard on March 2nd and passed by the Senate Ways and Means committee on March 2nd. The bill was amended by the Senate and passed on March 6th with a 46-3 vote count and now heads to the House for concurrence. It was amended to remove the 10 year extension and the 5 year halfway review requirement and instead extends the next update cycle from 2023 to 2024.

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 passed the Senate on March 3rd with a 36- 11 vote count and the House concurred to the changes on March 7th with a 92-5 vote count.

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 heard on March 2nd but was never moved out of committee and is now considered dead.

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 on February 28th and passed by the Senate Ways & Means on March 2nd. On March 5th, the Senate passed the bill with a 28-21 vote count and now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

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. The Senate passed their budget on March 3rd with unanimous support and the transportation budget writers are currently in negotiations and trying to reach agreement.

Automated traffic safety cameras

Sen. Liias and Rep. Fitzgibbon sponsored SB 5789/HB 1793, which establishes a pilot program through the end of 2023 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 was amended and passed on March 2nd by the Senate Transportation committee. HB 1793 was amended in the Senate Transportation committee to require 50% of the penalty monies to be deposited into the new state Copper Jones Active Transportation Safety Account and 50% to be spend by the city on transportation infrastructure mobility improvements for persons with disabilities. The Senate passed the bill on March 7th with a 27-22 vote count and now heads to the House for concurrence.

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 passed on March 2nd. The bill did not advance and is now considered dead.

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 and passed by the House Transportation committee on March 2nd. The House passed the bill on March 4th with a 77-20 vote count and now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

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 did not advance before the opposite house fiscal cutoff and is now considered dead.

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. The ability for owners to pay for the MVET fees was added to the Senate supplemental transportation budget by requiring the Department of Licensing to implement a pilot program to allow vehicle owners to pay their MVET with a quarterly or monthly payment plan and requires the Department of Licensing and WSDOT to report to the legislature by June 30, 2021 on a recommended approach to allow payment of renewal vehicle registration fees with a Good to Go account for owners subject to MVET fees.

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.

Lookin Ahead

This week will be focused on concurrence votes for bills changed by the opposite house and conference committees for bills seeking resolution. The final capital, transportation, and operating budgets will be released and passed by each chamber leading up to sine die on Thursday, March 12th.

Bellevue Chamber Bill Status Report