Futurewise Legislative Advocacy
Futurewise is a powerful voice in Olympia with a track record to match. Every year, Futurewise works with hundreds of volunteers like to you advocate for land use policy that protects our habitat and farmland, and makes Washington a great place to live.
Growing Together: 2026 Legislative Priorities
Going into 2026, Washington state faces a lot of uncertainty. Housing costs have continued climbing year after year, climate change is creating more unpredictable extreme weather, and we’re still working to make every community equitable and accessible. While we’ve made great progress over the past years, our work isn’t done! We’re back in action on the top issues impacting your community, making sure communities are connected to transit, farms are protected from sprawl, and more.
Our top priorities this session are:
Tackling Homelessnesss
STEP housing refers to critical housing types like Shelters, Transitional housing, Emergency housing, and Permanent supportive housing; and Washington needs a lot more of it. A lot of our cities have added costly but unecessary regulations to these housing types, driven by stigma or neighborhood opposition. This is a follow-up from our successful passage of HB 1220, and will remove barriers to getting more of this housing built as outlined by state law.
Encouraging Middle Housing
Landmark missing-middle housing legislation was passed in 2023, but big, complex legislation like HB 1110 needs careful implementation, and often follow-up bills to support its successful implementation. This year, we’re working both with the legislature and the building codes council to make sure building codes are updated to make it feasible to implement this bill while maintaining critical quality and safety standards.
Balancing Rural Housing and the Environment
Growing equitably and intentionally in rural areas has always been extremely complex – requiring a careful balance of protecting agricultural, farm, and resource-lands from sprawl while providing affordable housing options that folks need, while still maintaining rural areas.
Both bills we are watching this year are aimed at striking this delicate balance.
There is no silver bullet solution, but you can always count on Futurewise to have everyone’s interest in mind and be a careful, thoughtful partner in this area.
Your Voice in Olympia for Land Use
As the steward of Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA), Futurewise advocates with people like you to pass state legislation that reflects our vision for the future and fight bad bills that would increase sprawl and pollution.
Our recent victories include closing the adding housing justice to the GMA (HB 1220), passing Middle Housing to allow more homes in all neighborhoods (HB 1110), adding planning for the climate to the GMA (HB 1181), and passing transit-oriented development to allow more homes near transit (HB 1491).
The Effects of a Proposed Transit-Oriented Development Law on the Puget Sound Region
Research Futurewise conducted in 2024 is relevant to the 2025 Transit-Oriented Development bill in the Washington Legislature.
Exploring the Potential Impact of the Community and Transit-Oriented Housing Development Bill HB 2160 Across Washington State’s Central Puget Sound Region
Legislative Updates
Legislative Update Week 4: Take Action on STEP Housing
February 2, 2026
It seems like every week we say “things are moving quickly!” but it’s true, all of our 2026 priority are on the move. This Wednesday, Feb 4th marks the first ‘cutoff’ deadline for bills – any that haven’t passed out
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Legislative Update Week 3: Help Keep All of Our Bills Alive!
January 26, 2026
Here with your weekly dispatch from Olympia! Grab your morning coffee and let’s dig in. This week lawmakers were busy in committee meetings, hearing lots of bills. This is a pivotal point for how bills take shape, and it will soon
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Livestream: Middle Housing Policy Roundtable
January 23, 2026
Right now in Olympia, WA lawmakers are considering a number of bills that can help Washington communities build more affordable housing, more quickly, in more places. Futurewise is supporting a few key bills – tune in to learn more about
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Legislative Update Week 2: More Middle Housing
January 21, 2026
Legislators are wasting no time this short session. Our bills have a lot of hearings next week, and we’re gearing up for in-person and virtual action opportunities. Still learning the ins and outs of session? I put together this Legislative
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