Bellevue Chamber News
End of Session Report At 10:05 p.m. on April 23, the legislature adjourned the 2023 legislative session, Sine Die. The 2023 Washington State legislative session was a long session, which means it lasted for 105 days and included the business of writing the full 2023-25 biennial operating,... Continue Reading
It’s Spring Cleaning time! Whether you are clearing out closets or sorting through the attic, there are multiple local resources to take advantage of to ensure you are properly disposing of any unique items, as well as recycling any eligible materials. Seattle Public Utilities has a... Continue Reading
The 2023 legislative session is almost over, but what the heck actually happened these past few months? A total of 1,655 bills were introduced over the course of the session, with 456 passing the Opposite House Floor Cutoff. Housing, behavioral health, and development processes were all... Continue Reading
The Chamber’s PLUSH Committee has been deeply involved in affordable housing policy in Bellevue, the most recent engagement being with Phase 1 of the City of Bellevue’s FAR LUCA incentive program. We submitted a letter to city officials back in March — read that here — and... Continue Reading
As the end of session nears, the East King Chambers Coalition wanted to reassert its commitment to providing a pathway for middle housing — check out the op-ed below! The housing supply shortage we face in Washington is a problem that we must work collectively to solve. The one million... Continue Reading
The City of Bellevue just released a draft of its first Curb Management Plan, which aims to establish a long-term framework to guide the development, operation, and maintenance of curbside areas in the city’s densest neighborhoods. In short, this plan creates a more official, streamlined... Continue Reading
Weekly Update The beginning of the week focused on getting bills passed by the opposite house floor cutoff on Wednesday. All bills except those deemed necessary to implement the budget had to pass off the floor of the opposite chamber by 5pm that day or they are considered dead. Legislators worked... Continue Reading
The Bellevue Chamber has some new board members! At our most recent Board of Directors meeting, we unanimously voted in three new representatives: J.P. Morgan’s Tim Howell, HCMP’s Abigail DeWeese, and Comcast’s Rachel Drake. Get to know our new board members: Tim... Continue Reading
The Chamber’s very own Sarah Martinez and Sam Jones were recently featured on Mainsail Financial’s podcast, Money Talk with Brandon Steele. The duo discussed what a chamber of commerce actually does, how the community can engage with our organization, and promoted a few of our upcoming... Continue Reading
The Chamber has some big news in the advocacy space — funding for the 124th/SR 520 project has been included in the draft budgets for both the House and the Senate! Our VP of Government Affairs, Jodie Alberts, testified multiple times on this issue, so we are thrilled to see the fruits of... Continue Reading
Weekly Legislative Report Last week both chambers were focused mostly on floor action, working to pass bills sent over from the other chamber by opposite house floor cutoff on Wednesday, April 12th. All bills except those deemed necessary to implement the budget must pass off the floor of the... Continue Reading
Weekly Legislative Report Wednesday, March 29 was the last day for bills to be passed out of their opposite house policy committees. Following that cutoff, attention quickly shifted to fiscal committees. There is a quick turnaround of just one week between opposite house policy cutoff and opposite... Continue Reading
