{"id":3181,"date":"2026-03-26T11:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T18:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/?p=3181"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:39:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:39:13","slug":"legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislature increases support for affordable housing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friends and neighbors,<\/p>\n<p>One of the greatest challenges our state faces is the lack of affordable housing. This problem is acute in the 43<sup>rd<\/sup> district, where the median home value is $1.1 million and the median gross rent is $2,158 per month.\u00a0 For far too many people in our community, homeownership is out of reach while rental prices continue to climb. I worked with my colleagues in the Legislature this year to make meaningful progress to tackle this challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Last session I was proud to co-sponsor legislation to cap most rent increases across the state annually at 7% plus inflation, not to exceed 10%.\u00a0 The purpose was to prevent extreme price hikes that have forced too many people out of their homes. In the longer term, the best solution is to increase the supply of all types of housing, including social housing, public housing, and transitional housing to help people exiting homelessness.\u00a0 This session we passed several more bills to increase housing supply, cut red tape and lower construction costs, and increase density and middle housing options.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3182 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png 650w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing-150x100.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last October, a renter in Wallingford reached out to me to let me know that her landlord had installed a new \u201csmart lock\u201d system on her apartment that required her to download an app to get into her own home.\u00a0 That app was designed to track her location and capture her personal data, which she thought was unfair.\u00a0 I agreed and was proud to join Gov. Bob Ferguson as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tvw.org\/video\/gov-bob-ferguson-bill-signing-2026031169\/?eventID=2026031169\">he signed my bill<\/a>\u00a0to put controls on the use of electronic smart locks in residential rentals. <a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary\/?BillNumber=5937&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 5937<\/a> requires landlords using smart access systems to provide tenants with alternative, non-biometric, or non-app-based access such as a fob or physical key. Here are some other bills we passed this session that will make housing more fair, affordable, and available:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=1687&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">HB 1687<\/a> allows local governments to streamline and waive red tape and requirements for\u00a0mixed-income and\u00a0affordable housing projects being built by a social housing developer.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=6026&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 6026<\/a> changes zoning laws to open up more land, such as the parking lots in strip malls, to build housing such as apartments and condos.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary\/?BillNumber=2266&amp;Chamber=House&amp;Year=2025\">HB 2266<\/a>\u00a0helps ensure shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing can be built more predictably by requiring cities and counties within urban growth areas to allow these housing types subject to the same zoning standards wherever residential housing or hotels are allowed.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=1974&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">HB 1974<\/a> allows cities and counties to establish land banks that can acquire and hold land until housing projects are ready to move forward.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=6237&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 6237<\/a> ensures that renters get the same notice and warning about known flood risks that homebuyers get.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=2418&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">HB 2418<\/a> cuts red tape to streamline and speed up permitting for local housing development.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=6027&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 6027<\/a>\u00a0preserves existing permanent and supportive housing by expanding allowable uses of local housing-related sales tax programs to support operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation instead of primarily new construction.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/BillSummary\/?BillNumber=5156&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false\">SB 5156<\/a> makes it easier to build small apartment buildings by allowing smaller elevators that still meet accessibility requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The final supplemental capital budget approved by the Legislature and awaiting signature by Governor Ferguson includes an additional $200 million in housing and homelessness funding, including $123 million for the Housing Trust Fund, supporting affordable housing projects across Washington state. This investment directly builds affordable homes for Washingtonians of all income levels, from shelters and recovery housing to senior living and homeownership opportunities, lowering the cost of housing for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. If you missed my newsletter on\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/19\/millionaires-tax-passes-as-2026-session-ends\/\">Millionaires Tax<\/a>, it is available on my\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/\">website<\/a>. Please don\u2019t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov\">Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Best wishes,<\/p>\n<p>Jamie<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear friends and neighbors, One of the greatest challenges our state faces is the lack of affordable housing. This problem is acute in the 43rd district, where the median home value is $1.1 million and the median gross rent is $2,158 per month.\u00a0 For far too many people in our community, homeownership is out of reach while rental prices continue to climb. I worked with my colleagues in the Legislature this year to make meaningful progress to tackle this challenge. Last session I was proud to co-sponsor legislation to cap most rent increases across the state annually at 7% plus&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":3182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news","category-news-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear friends and neighbors, One of the greatest challenges our state faces is the lack of affordable housing. This problem is acute in the 43rd district, where the median home value is $1.1 million and the median gross rent is $2,158 per month.\u00a0 For far too many people in our community, homeownership is out of reach while rental prices continue to climb. I worked with my colleagues in the Legislature this year to make meaningful progress to tackle this challenge. Last session I was proud to co-sponsor legislation to cap most rent increases across the state annually at 7% plus...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. Jamie Pedersen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-26T18:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T15:39:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"aaronw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"aaronw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\",\"name\":\"Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-26T18:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T15:39:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/fcb8b555b67866d8282fc938cd3f46ef\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png\",\"width\":650,\"height\":433},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislature increases support for affordable housing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/\",\"name\":\"Sen. Jamie Pedersen\",\"description\":\"Putting People First\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/fcb8b555b67866d8282fc938cd3f46ef\",\"name\":\"aaronw\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b772fd725b4f7e384416136779a6bd36e04fc153cba40f9a0fd2803066ea3edf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b772fd725b4f7e384416136779a6bd36e04fc153cba40f9a0fd2803066ea3edf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"aaronw\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/author\/aaronw\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen","og_description":"Dear friends and neighbors, One of the greatest challenges our state faces is the lack of affordable housing. This problem is acute in the 43rd district, where the median home value is $1.1 million and the median gross rent is $2,158 per month.\u00a0 For far too many people in our community, homeownership is out of reach while rental prices continue to climb. I worked with my colleagues in the Legislature this year to make meaningful progress to tackle this challenge. Last session I was proud to co-sponsor legislation to cap most rent increases across the state annually at 7% plus...","og_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/","og_site_name":"Sen. Jamie Pedersen","article_published_time":"2026-03-26T18:18:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T15:39:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":433,"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"aaronw","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"aaronw","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/","name":"Legislature increases support for affordable housing - Sen. Jamie Pedersen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png","datePublished":"2026-03-26T18:18:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T15:39:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/fcb8b555b67866d8282fc938cd3f46ef"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png","width":650,"height":433},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/2026\/03\/26\/legislature-increases-support-for-affordable-housing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislature increases support for affordable housing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/","name":"Sen. Jamie Pedersen","description":"Putting People First","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/fcb8b555b67866d8282fc938cd3f46ef","name":"aaronw","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b772fd725b4f7e384416136779a6bd36e04fc153cba40f9a0fd2803066ea3edf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b772fd725b4f7e384416136779a6bd36e04fc153cba40f9a0fd2803066ea3edf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"aaronw"},"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/author\/aaronw\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/Pedersen_bill_signing.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3183,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3181\/revisions\/3183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/pedersen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}