Anticipated Key Issues

For this short session, our major land use and housing priorities are to advocate for changes to annexation statutes that will better facilitate them and if possible, to explore ideas to encourage cities and counties to better coordinate boundary, finance and governance transition issues. Secondarily, cities support passage of legislation that addresses housing affordability issues through infrastructure funding and new fiscal incentives and support proposals that provide flexible tools to continue creating environmentally and fiscally sustainable communities.

Below is an overview of the extent to which these priorities are on the legislative radar screen and an update on priority bills. For information on any of the following items, please contact either Dave Williams, davew@awcnet.org, or Tim Gugerty, timg@awcnet.org.

Annexation Reform (HB 2483/SB 6238, SB 6239/HB 2484, SB 6240/HB 2482)

During the first week of the session, the House Local Government Committee heard and moved forward HB 2483, a bill that standardizes the property owner petition-method form of annexation between code and non-code cities. This bill would allow all cities to annex property if owners of at least 60% of the assessed valuation of land supported the annexation. Currently, non-code cities are required to gather petitions of at least 75% of assessed valuation. The Senate companion, SB 6238, is scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, January 22 at 1:30 pm in the Government Operations and Elections Committee, along with two other technical clean-up bills, SB 6239 & SB 6240. Identical versions of these bills, HB 2484 & HB 2482, were heard in House Local Government and are awaiting committee action.

This package of bills does not significantly change annexation statutes. AWC hopes to advance in the near future bills that add new forms of annexation that would allow annexations to go forward based upon enhanced public involvement and interlocal agreements between cities, counties and the involvement of special purpose districts.

We have heard that fire district commissioners are circulating a bill that would put them in a more advantageous position when it comes to annexations. They have not yet shared their bill with AWC.

Climate Change & Land Use

Climate change issues and challenges are being earnestly discussed and debated in Olympia and beyond. How cities fit in both as impacted by and contributors to climate change are topics that will likely be on the legislative radar screen for years to come.

Prior to the start of the session, AWC anticipated climate change-response proposals. AWC President Rich Munson, Mayor of Spokane Valley, created a Climate Change Task Force to help identify and articulate city perspectives on this topic (for more information, see http://news.awcnet.org/awcleg/issues/2008-01-11/2.html).The Governor’s Climate Advisory Team (CAT) has been meeting since early 2007 and has issued draft recommendations (www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/public_comments_dec2007.htm). AWC will be submitting comments on these draft recommendations.

The environmental community, a strong and respected voice in Olympia, has identified climate change initiatives as three of their four priorities for the session. At least two of these directly impact cities and will be the subject of hearings beginning the week of January 21 and are discussed below.

Evergreen Cities/Urban Forestry (HB 2844/SB 6469, HB 2468/SB 6249)

Similar to an AWC-supported Department of Natural Resouces Department (DNR) bill (HB2468/SB 6249) that was heard this past week, the Audubon Society initiated bill (HB 2844/SB 6469) seeks to help cities that evaluate and care for their existing trees on both public and private lands and increase the number of cities that do this.

Unlike the DNR bill , the Audobon bill (HB 2844) mandates that all GMA cities over 5,000 in population conduct and assessment of their "urban forests" and regulate them based upon new standards developed and adopted as rules by the State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED). Failure to adopt such standards, or issues of whether locally adopted regulations are sufficient, would be appealable to Growth Management Hearings Boards. No state funding is provided and authority is granted to accept voluntary donations to a new state account that would fund competitive grants to comply with the mandate, as long as cities match any grant.

AWC has been consulting with Audubon representatives and has suggested alternatives to this approach – most of which have so far been rejected. We will continue discussion and will express opposition to this bill in its current form at the hearing before the House Ecology and Parks Committee on Tuesday, January 22 at 10 am.

Local Solutions to Climate Change/GMA (HB 2797/SB 6580)

After several months of back and forth discussions, the environmental group Futurewise has introduced a bill that would require GMA-planning cities of 30,000 or more in population to include a new Climate Change element in their GMA plans and regulations. Futurewise has been talking to individual cities and city officials, as well as AWC about their ideas. AWC has welcomed and appreciated their willingness and interest in hearing divergent viewpoints from those cities that would be initially impacted by their proposal.

Although the House and Senate versions of the bill have been introduced and scheduled for hearings before the Senate Government Operations & Elections on Tuesday, January 22 at 1:30 pm and the House Local Government Committee on Friday, January 25 at 1:30 pm, proponents are narrowing the bill significantly and are working with AWC and other interests in an attempt to present a less ambitious bill this session so they can work over the interim on a more comprehensive bill for 2009.

As of this writing, they seem to be focusing on a bill that would:

Add a new or amended goal to the GMA that would have cities and counties considering climate change issues in future plan and regulation updates.
Establish support for and/or a requirement that currently available computer software used by cities to evaluate a community’s carbon emission "footprint" be modified to include other components, such as current and future vehicle miles traveled.
A pilot program that would support a small number of cities and counties who wish to explore ways to address climate change issues in local GMA plans and regulations. It is not clear where funding would come from.
Create some sort of study during the remainder of 2008 that would look at issues, challenges and opportunities to address climate change in land use and transporation planning. Findings would be reported back to the Legislature prior to consideration of other changes to statute.

A new scaled back version of the bill won't likely be available for discussion in time for the Senate Committee hearing on January 22, but is likely to be available for discussion and distribution in time for the House Committee hearing on January 25.

Housing Affordability (HB 2604, SB 6411, HB 1727, HB 2279)

Prior to the session, the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate Majority Leader announced a joint interest and approach to Housing Security and Affordability Issues. The details and associated bills and fiscal components are emerging and seem aimed at helping people stay in the homes they have and provide greater access to homes for lower income individuals. Nothing we’ve heard indicates there will be initiatives that cities would oppose. We are appreciate of and encouraged by their focused look at a very critical issue for cities across the state.

Of note this coming week, the House Local Government Committee is holding a hearing on Thursday, January 24 at 8 am on HB 2604, which would allow GMA-planning cities to exempt impact fees for low-income housing. The current statute authorizes such an exemption at the discretion of the city, but requires replacement of lost fees by other means. This AWC-supported bill removes the replacement requirement.

We also expect two housing/land use bills to move quickly from the House to the Senate on January 18. HB 1727 and HB 2279 are of interest to cities and will be "worked" in the Senate and reported on in next week’s Bulletin.

The Senate Consumer Protection & Housing Committee holds a hearing on Tuesday, January 22 at 1:30 pm on SB 6411, which extends protections to residents of rental units that are converted to condominiums. This is an issue in several cities where conversions are occurring in significant numbers.

Funding for Housing

In keeping with the focus on increasing housing security for Washington citizens, the Governor has included and addition $50 million in her budget for the Housing Trust Fund, increasing its overall appropriation to $180 million. Advocates are seeking an additional $70 million, but were generally pleased with its increased ability to improve and increase the supply of affordable housing using the Housing Trust Fund.

In addition, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed SB 6335, appropriating $6 million to the Washington families fund to provide state matching funds for housing-based supportive services for homeless families. All state money must be matched with private donations. To date, the Gates Foundation and 17 other private, philanthropic, and corporate organizations have contributed, but it is currently fully obligated. Without this infusion of new state dollars, private funding would be lost. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Other Bills of Interest

Exempting Regional Growth Centers from Concurrency Centers (HB 2577)

This bill will be heard in the House Local Government Committee on Friday, January 25 at 1:30 pm. Please see the Infrastructure section of this Bulletin for more information.

Technical Advisory Committee on Residential Fire Sprinklers (HB 2575)

This bill will be heard before the House Local Government Committee on January 22 at 1:30 pm. It would create a committee to look at issues surrounding expanded use of requiring residential fire sprinklers and issues associated with water flows.

Promoting the Availability of Affordable Housing (HB 2576)

This bill adds definition of "low" and "moderate" income to the GMA and seems to imply that all cities planning under GMA are obligated to provide opportunities to house residents of specific income levels – something cities should be able to decide. This bill will be heard before the House Local Government Committee on January 22 at 1:30 pm.

New Reporting Requirements on GMA and Housing Issues (HB 2854, HB 2855)

AWC staff is evaluating these late additions to the committee’s agendas. We welcome input from cities prior to the hearing.

Eminent Domain Issues (HB 2921, HB 2920)

These two bills are schedule for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, January 23 at 1:30 pm. These bills that are somewhat of a result of the Attorney General’s eminent domain task force that met a few times over the summer.

HB 2921 amends the Community Renewal Law to respond to concerns raised by some that the blight definition in the statute is too similar to the authority upheld by the Supreme Court in the Kelo case. AWC is seeking feedback about the bill's effect, especially from cities that have used or tried to use this authority.

HB 2920 would require cities to send out the AG's proposed pamphlet with the required notice to a property owner of an eminent domain action.

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