Return to 2026 Legislative Issues and Updates


Social and Economic Policy
Housing and Homelessness

In summary, the League believes that it is government’s responsibility to assure that there is equality of opportunity for housing and to help alleviate the housing shortage in the low-income sector.

Issue Team Chair: Cynthia Stewart, cstewart@lwvwa.org
 DOWNLOAD the Housing and Homelessness Issue Paper [Coming soon]
Interested in getting involved with this topic? Contact Cynthia Stewart .


Take Action!

Updates

Legislation


Get Involved

Overview
Lack of affordable housing remains a crisis across the country, and in Washington state the financial problems make it challenging to solve. In prior years, there have been increasingly large investments in the Housing Trust Fund as well as changes to development policies intended to make development of new affordable housing less expensive and tenant protections.

This year, Governor Ferguson has proposed a task force to develop a potential new Department of Housing, which would emphasize both the issue and solutions, as well as even greater investments in the Housing Trust Fund.

The League works closely with the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and supports much of that organization’s legislative agenda, which includes these requests to the legislature:

  • Secure a new significant Capital Budget investment for affordable homes

  • Keep people in their homes: Secure $3 million for eviction prevention

  • Adoption of new progressive revenue

  • Prevent local governments from blocking permanent supportive housing and shelter: Pass HB 2266

  • Stop the criminalization of homelessness 

  • Defend against rollbacks of tenant protections or homelessness prevention

  • Protect against federally driven cuts to permanent supportive housing and homelessness prevention program

Overview of the 2025 Legislative Session
Over the last few years, the legislature has passed a large number of policy bills to address affordable housing and homelessness. But there is more to do. In the previous session, there were bills related to rent stabilization, additional tenant protections, and examination of how local governments are handling housing needs in their comprehensive plans.


Updates
At times during the session, an Issue Chair may write a "Weekly Update" to provide more details on what happened during the week. When they are available, they can be found below


 2026 Housing and Homelessness Legislation

Bills in green are supported. Bills in red are opposed by the League. Bills in black the League is watching.


HB 2299/SB 5964 Establishing an independent living ombuds to support seniors living in independent living facilities and the independent living portion of continuing care retirement communities.
This bill would create an ombuds position in the Department of Commerce through which individuals may have complaints about their senior living arrangements be investigated. The ombuds would also provide reports and data about the types and locations where issues were identified. This would offer greater protection for seniors who may not be able to address concerns on their own.


SB 6026 Concerning residential development in commercial and mixed-use zones.
This bill would restrict any jurisdiction subject to the Growth Management Act from prohibiting residential uses in a commercial zone. This would allow greater opportunity for development of new affordable housing units, particularly when so many commercial units are unoccupied and could potentially be redeveloped for affordable housing.


SB 6027 Modifying requirements and allowed uses for certain funding related to providing and maintaining affordable housing and related services.
This bill would add rehabilitating existing affordable housing, which may include emergency, transitional, and supportive housing; and affordable and supportive housing O&M costs to the permitted uses of the local option 1/10 of one percent tax for affordable housing. It would also allow interlocal agreements among jurisdictions to pool the tax receipts and pledge those taxes to bonds issued by one or more parties to the agreement. It also broadens the allowable uses for any grants given by jurisdictions operating their own homeless programs.


SB 6028 Establishing a revolving loan fund for mixed-income affordable homeownership development.
This bill would create a revolving loan fund in the Department of Commerce to provide loans to eligible organizations to finance mixed-income affordable homeownership development in which a portion of the development is permanently affordable for low-income households and would provide for audits to assure that the low-income affordable housing is sustained. The loan could serve as an incentive for private sector developers to invest in affordable low-income housing.


How To Be Involved

  •  Respond to Action Alerts in the legislative newsletter. These will primarily appear in the section of the newsletter related to transportation.

  • If you are interested in a particular bill, use the links above to go to the webpage for that bill. These pages include staff summaries and reports including who testified PRO, CON, or OTHER on the bill, if there has been a public hearing. There is also information about how to access videos of hearings that have been held. 

  • Contact Cynthia Stewart, Housing and Homelessness Issue Chair, to receive additional information. 

The League of Women Voters of Washington is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization.
The League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. LWVWA Education Fund contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. The League of Women Voters Education Fund does not endorse the contents of any web pages to which it links.

League of Women Voters of the United States

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software