In The News

Since 2019, the Washington state legislature has been hard at work to pass state policy that addresses our housing affordability crisis. This effort has been anchored by a three-pronged approach: supply, subsidy, and stability. In recent years, the legislature has made nationally celebrated strides on the supply front. The legislature has also been prioritizing funding for the State Housing Trust Fund ...

Last Friday, Feb. 21 was policy cutoff in the Washington state Legislature — the first big milestone on the lawmaking calendar. Since it’s the first year of the biennium, bills that didn’t make the cut can get revived for another shot during the next session. In the meantime, plenty of high-priority bills — including those focused on housing, education and ...

OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers are looking at various new proposals to eliminate barriers to construction of new housing, hoping to build on progress they’ve made in recent years to increase the state’s housing supply. On Wednesday, state senators passed one of those bills from the debate floor. Senate Bill 5184, also known as the Parking Reform ...

  By a 40-8 vote Wednesday, the Washington State Senate approved a comprehensive overhaul limiting the ability of local counties and medium- and large-sized cities to require off-street parking in new development. The final passage of Senate Bill 5184, sponsored by Senator Jessica Bateman (D-22nd, Olympia), represents a seismic shift when it comes ...

In the weeks after Donald Trump was elected a second time and Republicans secured a majority in both houses of Congress, urbanists and progressives in the Seattle area have watched with trepidation as the incoming president has nominated a motley assortment of celebrities, CEOs, and anti-vaxxers to his cabinet. But while most of the country shifted red this election cycle, Washington ...

If the Parking Reform and Modernization Act introduced this week at the state legislature is able to advance, Washington’s cities could be severely limited in their ability to mandate copious parking as part of new residential and commercial development. Senator-elect Jessica Bateman (D-22nd, Olympia) introduced the proposal as Senate Bill 5184, formally capping almost all ...

The Washington State Senate is implementing major changes to committee leadership and structure ahead of the 2025’s state legislative session, due in part to significant turnover of its members. In one of the splashier moves, Senator-elect Jessica Bateman (22nd LD, Olympia) will chair a reconfigured Housing Committee, raising hopes of passing major housing legislation. Following ...

A Washington lawmaker is raising concerns about Seattle’s plan for housing at least 200,000 new residents over the next 20 years, suggesting it might not comply with a law passed by the Legislature last year. In the 2023 legislative session, Rep. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, ushered through new rules (House Bill 1110) mandating more density in residential neighborhoods across ...

OLYMPIA – As behavioral health staffing shortages take a severe toll on Washington residents who need care, state officials are searching for ways to encourage psychologists to stick around. On Monday, the state House of Representatives voted 97-0 in favor of a bill that would create an associate-level license for psychologists in the state. If passed, the bill would ...