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Legislative Tracker

The 2026 Washington State legislative session begins on January 12 and we’re closely tracking the bills and budget items that can make a real impact for affordable housing.  Our lead priorities this year are to increase funding for affordable homes, build equitable, sustainable, and complete communities, and ensure housing is healthy, stable, and safe. Learn more about our full legislative priorities by clicking the tab below.

Your participation in the legislative process is critical to our advocacy! Here’s a few ways you can stay informed and engaged throughout the 2026 legislative session:

  • Visit our calendar and register for our Weekly Legislative Update Calls: Join us most Mondays at 1 PM during the legislative to gather for an update on the Housing Development Consortium’s policy priorities. We’ll discuss where our bills stand and what you can do to advocate!
  • Sign up for Advocacy Alerts: Every Tuesday morning, we will send an update on where our lead and support bills and a list of actions to take.
  • Sign In Pro: We will keep our Legislative Tracker updated throughout session, with links to easily sign in pro on time-sensitive public hearings and send messages to lawmakers.

HDC is a resource for you to understand and advocate during this legislative session. We need your voice, passion, and advocacy. We hope you join us!

Date

Legislative Deadline

January 12, 2026

First day of session

February 4, 2026

Policy Committee Cutoff. Last day to read in committee reports in house of origin, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.

February 9, 2026

Fiscal Committee Cutoff. Last day to read in committee reports from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees in house of origin.

February 17, 2026

House of Origin Cutoff. Last day to consider bills in house of origin.

February 25, 2026

Policy Committee Cutoff – Opposite House. Last day to read in committee reports from opposite house, except House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.

March 2, 2026

Fiscal Committee Cutoff – Opposite House. Last day to read in opposite house committee reports from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees.

March 6, 2026

Last day to pass opposite house bills, except budgets and matters “necessary to implement budgets.”

March 12, 2026

End of session

2026 Legislative Session

View the full list of legislation and budget items we’re tracking or filter by topic or status. More bill numbers, links to bills, and ways to take action are expected throughout the first and second week of the session.

Filter Legislation
Action Needed

Affordable Housing Sales & Use Tax Remittance

  • Create a local option for a sales tax remittance program for affordable housing.
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Establishes a process for affordable housing developers to receive reimbursement from the local portion of the sales & use tax on construction materials.

  • ☑ Jan 29, 2025 - First reading, referred to Finance.
  • ☑ Feb 21 - Public hearing in the House Committee on Finance.
  • ☑ Feb 25 - Passed out of the House Committee on Finance
  • ☐ Jan 15, 2026 - Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Finance at 1:30 PM
Action Needed

Commercial Corridors

  • Allows for by-right residential development in commercial and mixed-use zones, including in ground floor spaces.
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Requires cities or counties with a population of 30,000 of more to allow for by-right residential uses in areas zoned for commercial or mixed-use development, and prohibits those jurisdictions from requiring ground floor commercial or retail.

  • ☑ Jan 7 - Prefiled for introduction
  • ☐ Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing at 10:30 AM
Action Needed

Mixed-Income Housing on Faith-Owned Land

  • Produce more affordable homes on faith-owned land by allowing for mixed-income development.
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Allows mixed-income developments on property owned by a religious organization to qualify for a bonus, provided that at least 50% of the homes are affordable at 80% of Area Median Income.

Requires cities and counties to implement a density bonus if it receives a request from a religious organization.

Establishes a sales and use tax exemption for the construction or improvement of existing buildings to be used for affordable housing if the project is owned by, built on land owned by, or owned or built in partnership with a nonprofit religious organization

  • ☑ Feb 6, 2025 - First reading, referred to Housing
  • ☑ Feb 13 - Public hearing in the House Committee on Housing
  • ☑ Feb 20 - Passed out of the House Committee on Housing
  • ☑ Feb 21 - Referred to Finance
  • ☐ Jan 15, 2026 - Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Finance at 1:30 PM
Action Needed

OMS Funding Flexiblity

  • Creates additional flexibility for using local affordable housing funds for operations, maintenance, and services
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SB 6027 creates additional flexibility for the use of a variety of affordable housing fund sources, to allow greater ability to respond to emerging needs for funding.

In particular, it amends HB 1590 local sales tax authority (RCW 82.14.530) to allow the funding of rehabilitation of existing affordable housing, as well as operations and maintenance for affordable and supportive housing.

Additionally, it creates more flexibility for the Department of Commerce to use document recording fee funds for resident services, case management, basic needs, and maintenance for permanent supportive housing, while removing the requirement that such grants be used solely for buildings that require a supplement to rent income to cover ongoing operating expense.

  • ☑ Jan 7 - Prefiled for introduction
  • ☐ Jan 16 - Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing at 10:30 AM
Action Needed

Removing Barriers to Permanent Supportive Housing

  • Restricts cities from rejecting permanent supportive housing developments.
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Requires cities and counties to allow transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency housing (STEP housing) in any zones within an urban growth area that are not zoned for industrial use. Prohibits a county or city from applying any standards or permit review processes for STEP housing that are more restrictive than those required for other types of residential development.

  • ☑ Jan 6 - Prefiled for introduction
Moving Forward

Coordinated Land Banking

  • Coordinated land banking will move land into the hands of those who are ready and willing to build solutions for our state.

Land bank authorities will provide the comprehensive support necessary to turn vacant, abandoned, underutilized, and deteriorated land into future sites for affordable rental and for-sale homes. Coordinated land banking is a practical, flexible, equity-centered framework that connects housing and community benefit goals to land actions.

  • ☑ Feb 14, 2025 - First reading, referred to House Committee on Housing.
  • ☑ Feb 18 - Public hearing in the House Committee on Housing
Moving Forward

Stacked Flats Condo Reform

  • Reforms condo liability laws to unlock stacked flats as attainable homeownership options.

HB 1403 created a 2-10 express warranty alternative for small condo projects, including most middle housing types up to two residential floors and ADU condos. HB 2304 is a trailer bill that expands the alternative warranty to another critical middle housing type: stacked flats up to four residential floors. This solution makes sense because the express 2-10 warranty is commonly used for detached single-family homes; condos up to four floors use similar construction techniques. Stacked flats have been prioritized in many cities’ recent Comprehensive Plan updates, but condominium liability regulations pose a major barrier to feasibly developing this middle housing typology at scale. HB 2304 would remove this barrier to the development of more attainable homeownership options throughout the state, especially for first-time homeowners. 

  • ☑ Prefiled for introduction
Moving Forward

Housing Trust Fund

  • Fund affordable housing development through the supplemental 2026 capital budget.

The capital budget funds the Housing Trust Fund, Washington’s major state-level source for affordable housing development.

The Governor’s proposed budget allocates $225 million in bonds to the Housing Trust Fund:

  • $50 million for the Housing Trust Fund Preservation Program to maintain and protect Washington state’s existing affordable housing portfolio
  • $20 million to acquire and preserve mobile and manufactured home communities, preventing 426 households from displacement
  • $81 million to develop approximately 1,933 new affordable rental units
  • $73 million for the Homeownership Program to create 664 units for first-time homebuyers

Both the House and Senate will propose capital budgets, before reconciling them for a final capital budget.

Moving Forward

Permanent Supportive Housing Operations Funding

  • Through the operating budget, protect and expand operations, maintenance, and services (OMS) funding for permanent supportive housing.

OMS funding for permanent supportive housing is heavily dependent on the state operating budget and document recording fees. These revenues are facing a major budget shortfall this year. Additionally, the looming threat of federal cuts to permanent supportive housing only increases the importance of robust state support for supportive housing and the residents its serves. We need lawmakers to prioritize immediate backfill of operating budget funding in 2026, and identify a sustainable source for supportive housing moving forward.

Moving Forward

Mobile Dwelling Units (MDUs)

  • Requires cities to allow for up to two mobile dwelling per residential lot if certain conditions are met.

A mobile dwelling is a tiny house on wheels or a type of vehicle primarily designed for recreational camping or travel use that either has its own motor or is mounted on or towed by another vehicle. A fully planning city or county must allow at least one mobile dwelling on each lot zoned for residential use if the following conditions are met:

  • the lot has at least one existing housing unit;
  • the lot is located within an urban growth area; and
  • the mobile dwelling is not located in a designated critical area, natural resource land,
    or shoreline of the state.

The mobile dwelling must be connected to electrical service through a dedicated outlet. If a mobile dwelling has internal plumbing, it must be connected to potable water and sanitary sewer services. If a mobile dwelling does not have internal plumbing, the occupants must have access to potable water, toilets, and showers in an existing housing unit on the lot.

  • ☑ Jan 21, 2025 - First reading, referred to Housing
  • ☑ Jan 27 - Public hearing in the House Committee on Housing at 1:30 PM
  • ☑ Feb 6 - Passed out of House Committee on Housing
  • ☑ Feb 10 - Referred to Appropriations
  • ☑ Feb 22 - Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations
  • ☑ Feb 26 - Passed out of House Committee on Appropriations
  • ☑ Feb 28 - Referred to Rules Committee
Pending Introduction

Affordable Housing Risk Mitigation Budget Proviso

  • Allocates $5-10 million in the capital budget to fund cost-effective risk mitigation measures in affordable housing.

The budget proviso allocates $5-10 million in capital budget funding to the Affordable Housing Urgent Capital Fund, dedicated to low-cost, high-return risk mitigation measures. This fund would provide small, strategic grants to affordable housing providers to install low-cost, high-return risk mitigation measures to prevent the most common and costly types of property damage, particularly fires and water losses. These improvements can and should be made outside major re-capitalization/re-syndication cycles, enabling property owners to act quickly rather than waiting for full building rehabilitation. The aim is to improve the long-term sustainability of affordable housing operations and availability of property insurance.

Example risk mitigation measures include:

  • Stovetop fire suppressors
  • Stove auto shut-off devices
  • Standpipe locks
  • Water detection & shut-off devices
  • Pipe insulation / freeze prevention
  • Replace rubber and plastic water supply lines
  • Recessed sprinkler heads OR retrofit sprinkler cages
  • Themographic roof / exterior envelope scan
Pending Introduction

Permitting Reform

  • Reforms permitting processes to reduce the uncertainty, time, and cost to build housing.

This bill reforms the permitting process to decrease uncertainty in housing development and facilitate jurisdictions meeting existing permitting timeline regulations. The bill:

  • Vests residential development earlier in the process, at the time a fully complete project permit application is submitted. This prevents jurisdictions from changing zoning rules mid-review and reduces regulatory uncertainty for housing development. This vesting rule applies only within urban growth areas, excludes building permit ordinances, subdivision ordinances, floodplain and water pollution control ordinances, utility rate charges, impact fees, or permit review fees. It establishes a minimum vesting period of two years for projects with 50 or fewer units, three years for larger projects, and four years for affordable housing, with vesting extended upon submission of a building permit.
  • Extends existing permit timeline requirements under RCW 36.70B.080 to all entities involved in permit review, including utilities and special districts.
  • Requires cities to designate a single permit responsible official for each application, who shall provide coordination between departments and agencies as necessary to meet required timelines.
  • Outlines best practice permitting reforms that jurisdictions are encouraged to adopt, with mandates triggered for jurisdictions that repeatedly fail to meet statutory timelines.
  • ☐
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