The Washington State Legislature has recently kicked off its 2022 session. It’s going to be a shorter session than last year since even-numbered years only have a 60-day session period. However, the legislative agenda promises to be full with both new bills and some bills that were introduced last session coming up for consideration.
At the moment, we’re tracking a very large number of bills. It’s important to highlight that some bills have effectively been ruled out and have little chance of gaining traction. Still, a lot could happen in the next 60 days, providing for exciting progress on transportation, housing, land use, and the environment. New bills, such as House Bill 1782, and companion Senate Bill 5670, which would legalize missing middle housing statewide, have been filed in recent weeks. These bills could see momentum despite the short nature of this session.
Other bills to watch include House 1099 and Senate Bill 5042 which would close the sprawl loophole in the Growth Management Act (GMA). Futurewise has been advocating strongly for the passage of legislation that would close the sprawl loophole and they are hopeful that this will be the year it gets accomplished.
Another topic we have covered in the past is Senate Bill 5528, which would allow for any city, subarea, or county within Sound Transit’s Regional Taxing Area to create an “enhanced service area,” effectively allowing voters to raise additional funds for transit. Seattle Subway has been advocating for this law to pass in effort an effort to advance their vision for a Sound Transit 4 expansion plan. The organization is encouraging supporters to submit a note in favor of the bill online.
Here’s our complete list of bills to watch. We will continue to monitor and update the list as the session moves ahead.
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