On Thursday December 12th, Futurewise hosted our campaign kick-off for the 2025 legislative session. A huge thank you to the 75 volunteers and partners that attended to celebrate the launch of the Growing Together campaign.  We are especially grateful for Representative Emily Alvarado that spoke about what to expect with the upcoming legislative session and about her own housing work. If you weren’t able to make it, no worries; here is a quick recap.

Growing Together

Going into 2025, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.  Every corner of Washington is seeing housing costs go up.  Climate change has made this year the hottest year on record — again.  We’re still working to undo racist zoning practices.  And on top of it, our state’s population grew by more than 84,000 in the last year.  Washington is growing, and we have the option to grow together and tackle these problems. That’s why this legislative session our Growing Together campaign is prioritizing these issues and continuing our work from last year:

• Rent stabilization by setting price caps on how much rent can be increased each year.  This will keep rents predictable and allow more people to afford to stay in their homes.
• Transit-oriented development (TOD) and allow more homes near transit so we are better connected to work, family, and more and make it easier to get around without a car in cities.
• Rural housing solutions that protect our farms and natural resources against sprawl.

In addition to these top-line priorities, Futurewise will also be supporting a number of other bills, including legislation to support better compliance with the Growth Management Act, reforming parking requirements for new development and protecting Climate Commitment Act funding in a budget deficit year.

Check out our full list of 2025 legislative priorities here.

What to expect this session

This legislative session will be different than recent years.  Legislators will be primarily focused on closing gaps in the budget, and protecting people and their rights, which means we’ll have to work even harder to show our leaders that we still need to pass housing and anti-sprawl bills.  Additionally, there’s a lot of new legislators and a new Governor in office, so there may be unexpected obstacles (or advantages!) as we move through session. Things may change fast, but we’ll have weekly updates so you can stay in the loop (see more below).

The way we work on TOD may look different too. While we are hopeful we can pass it this year, we’ve worked on it for the last two sessions and have faced some pretty big hurdles.  At Futurewise, we’re optimists with a dose of skepticism, and that’s why we’re working on a big organizing plan to get TOD over the finish line. We’ll stay in this fight as long as it takes to pass, but may mean working on this bill outside of session as well, by going door-to-door to talk with folks, working with cities to pass resolutions in support, or hosting big community events.  Stay tuned!

How you can get involved

Big problems like climate change, racial inequities, and protecting our environment, require big solutions.  And that means we need you and your neighbors to get involved.  If we’re going to make it clear that Washington supports rent stabilization, transit-oriented development, and rural housing solutions, we’ll have to make our voices heard every step of the way.  That means signing in pro or con on bills and emailing legislators, but also writing letters to the editor, attending lobby day, and getting your friends and family involved.  The only reason we’ve been successful in the past is because of the thousands of Washingtonians that got involved, and we need to keep that momentum up.

We’re also looking for volunteers to take on leadership positions.  The only way we can make a lot happen is with everyone doing what they can to take a stand, and that may mean helping host volunteer events, calling new, interested volunteers, getting your local community involved and more.  You can check out more of the leadership positions we’re looking to fill here, and if you’re interested we can reach out with next steps.

Next Steps

Leading up to session, we will be having great opportunities for you to get involved! You can sign up for events here.

• Tues Dec 17, 6-7pm– Letters to the Editor Writing Night (virtual)
• Over the holidays – Holiday Cards to your Legislators
• Weds Feb 5, all day – Lobby Day (Olympia)

Here’s the best ways to stay in the loop:

• Sign up for email updates.  During session we will send weekly updates and the top actions to take.
• Join the Discord. Get timely updates, meet other volunteers, and have fun!

We’re grateful you’re a part of the campaign, we’re stronger when we’re Growing Together. Email Marcella, the State Organizer, with any questions at [email protected].