Week of January 28 Legislative Update

We’re close to the halfway point of the 2024 LegislativeSession, and we’re using last week’s Lobby Day as a launch pad to ramp up our work as we get closer to the first round of cut offsthis week.  There’s a series of cut offs that bills need to pass in order to continue through session.  The first one is this Wednesday January 31; bills need to be voted out of their policy committee by the end of the day.  The good news is both transit-oriented development and rent stabilization have passed these hurdles, but the bad news is that the bad rural ADUs bills have too.

The cut offs for the budget committees and the floor vote will be coming up quick after this week, so we need to start escalating our pressure to help our bills get over these hurdles (or prevent bad bills from even coming up for a vote)!  Read on to learn more about the bills, urgent actions, and get a recap from Lobby Day.

Farms First on February First — Call in Day

Connecting Communities means both creating livable, walkable communities, and making sure we are keeping development out of rural areas that don’t have the resources, especially the water, to support it.  We strongly oppose HB 2126 and SB 6029, which would basically allow second homes in rural areas.

We’ve turned out in a big way this session; thank you to the 300+ volunteers that have emailed their legislators to VOTE NO.  Unfortunately, HB 2126 was pulled from the Rules Committee in the House and is on its way to the floor.  We need to make it clear legislators can’t allow this bill to even come up for a vote.  Legislators that support housing may be afraid to come out against these bills, but if we increase the VOTE NO pressure we can give them the cover they need to comfortably oppose HB 2126 and SB 6029.

That’s why we’re organizing the Farms First on February First call-in campaign for this Thursday 2/1.  Calling is a direct way to tell our legislators to oppose HB 2126, and we can make a clear statement if we’re all calling the same day.  This is the most urgent and impactful way to kill this bill this week.  Sign up for calling and to get a script here.

Keeping up the pressure for rural lands protection

It takes a lot of pressure to kill bills.  We’ve already sent over 6,200 emails to legislators to VOTE NO on HB 2126 and SB 6029, but we need to keep up this momentum.  If you haven’t emailed your legislators yet, click the button below.  If you already have, think of any groups or individuals you can send the actions to.  Does your ski club have a group chat? What about the classmates you sit next to in your biology lecture?  Can you ask your roommate to share it in their massive League of Legends discord?  Click here for the link!

Promoting Transit-oriented Development HB 2160

Good news, HB 2160, which would allow more housing near transit, had a hearing in the Capital Budget committee in the house last Thursday.  We started the hearing with 680 pro sign ins, which is over three times the amount of pro sign ins from the first hearing.  Thank you for signing in!

Next step for HB 2160 is to get voted out of the Capital Budget committee. The more support we can show for this bill, the stronger it will be moving to a floor vote, AND the more pressure we are putting on cities that are updating their local comprehensive plans to add TOD now!

Rent Stabilization HB 2114/SB 5961

More good news!  HB 2114, which will create a swath of protections for renters, was heard in the House Appropriations committee on the 24th.  The next step is to get voted out of the committee.  Our friends at Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA) have been an organizing force to reckon with.  You can check out their advocacy guide here.

Connecting Communities Lobby Day

Thank you to the 40+ volunteers, partners, and board members that joined our Lobby Day!  It was a huge success. We met with over 30 legislators and staffers, called 110 offices, attended the transit-oriented development hearing and more.  We couldn’t have done this without the hard work of staff, partners and volunteers that made signs, scheduled meetings, ran campaign actions, brought food, and everything else in between.

Lobby Day was a great way to build momentum for the Connecting Communities campaign.  Not only did we meet with legislators and their offices directly, but we flooded the Capitol Campus with volunteers in the TOD hearing, dropped by offices to say hi and thank you, and more.  We learned a lot about where legislators are on our issues, and this was a great launch pad as we escalate our tactics further in session.  Nice work everyone!

Next Volunteer Campaign Meeting

Want to get more involved?  Join our next volunteer campaign meeting this Wednesday from 5:30-6:30pm over zoom.  We’ll share updates and brainstorm ways we can build momentum in our local communities.  This week we’ll focus on the Farms First on February First Call in Day.  I’d love to see you there, click here to RSVP!