The Urbanist sat down with State Rep. Jessica Bateman, who is running for the Washington State Senate pledging to bring the same urgency around housing issues that she has brought to the lower chamber.

Check out our top ten lawmakers who distinguished themselves for good and bad from the 2024 session of the Washington State Legislature.

The "Year of Housing 2.0" at the state legislature yielded less progress than expected. Our March 26 virtual event will conduct an autopsy.

The state's 60-day legislative session wrapped on March 7 with only a few housing bills headed to Governor Inslee's desk. Rent stabilization, transit-oriented development, lot-splitting, and a builder's remedy all failed to pass.

A bill pushed by Bothell Rep. Davina Duerr and approved by the Washington legislature this week would prioritize trees when retention policies come into conflict with local parking mandates.

A popular neighborhood cafe bill that sailed through the Washington House has run into problems in the Senate, mostly dealing with the question of local control. The Association of Washington Cities and the City of Bellevue have lobbied against the bill.

Last week, the Washington House passed HB 2160, which has the potential to open up significant areas around transit for new homes. Hurdles remain to win passage in the Senate, including objections to the bill's requirement that 10% of new units be affordable.

Time is running out to pass rent stabilization in the state house or miss a key bill cutoff, putting off rent relief for another year. Supporters are rallying support in a last ditch effort.