Plans and Policy

In choosing how to fill a $1 billion budget hole over the next two years, Washington State lawmakers are being forced to take a hard look at deferring or even cancelling some long-planned highway capacity projects.

Seattle and King County are reeling from both immediate and anticipated impacts from the second Trump administration. Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci are leading efforts to prepare for the volatility and protect community members. 

Keeping all 30 proposed Neighborhood Centers is essential for a more affordable, sustainable, and thriving Seattle. If we chip away at Neighborhood Centers, we’ll be left with the same housing shortages, rising costs, and inequitable growth patterns we’ve seen for decades.

Newcastle Mayor Robert Clark pushed to remove references to promoting racial and social equity as "vague," "subjective," and "irrelevant," and called climate change "subjective." Many of his recommendations were adopted by the Newcastle Planning Commission.

After weathering a budget scare, Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative is growing, with $22 million in new awards aimed at combating displacement and anchoring communities of color.

Seattle City Councilmembers and top planning officials are making the rounds visiting homeowner-dominated community councils in their district to get feedback on the One Seattle growth plan.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) set a new record of 52.6 million passengers in 2024, and the Port of Seattle is advancing an improvement plan to better accommodate 56 million passengers by 2032.

The appeals, filed by residents in Madison Park, Mount Baker, and Hawthorne Hills, seek to require additional environmental review, pushing back the City's plan to allow more housing.