First Month of Legislative Session

Well, it was an extremely busy first month of session. The Empire Strikes Back with Rent Control as the Rebellion of the Rental Housing Association Coalition (RHAC) tries to hold them off on the frozen tundra of Hoth… I mean Olympia. I apologize for all the puns. In all seriousness, rent control is back with House Bill (HB) 1217 and Senate Bill (SB) 5222. These bills are a virtual carbon copy of last year's rent control bill, only worse. As a reminder, I'll go over some of the lowlights.

• 7% cap on rent increases.
• Requirement for housing providers to provide 180-day notice for any increases of 3% or more.
• Limitation on late fees to 1.5% of the rent.
• It would empower local governments to establish and enforce their own regulations related to these matters.
• Tenants may pursue a private right of action with the backing of a possible Consumer Protection violation.
• Prohibits housing providers from offering preferential terms for longer lease agreements.
• Limits the combined total move-in and security deposit to one month's rent.
• The legislation also extends to vacation rentals while exempting nonprofits and government-run entities.
• There is an exemption for properties within the first ten years of their certificate of occupancy.

The initial rent control hearing for HB 1217 was scheduled for the first full day of session on January 13, which is extremely odd for such a bill as this, but more on that in a minute. RHAC members still came out in force and packed the hearing room as well as two overflow rooms. All united to help lawmakers understand the unintended consequences of rent control.

Unfortunately, the hearing started 45 minutes late due to the opening day pomp and circumstance, which is exactly why important bills such as rent control are not normally scheduled for the first day of session. The delayed start meant that only about ten members of the public were able to testify before the Housing Committee. We had RHAC members drive over from Spokane, Yakima, Tri Cities, Ellensburg, Vancouver, and many other places who were not able to speak because the hearing began late and was not extended. Our signature “NO CAP” red shirts were all over the Capitol and the hearing rooms and garnered media attention from multiple outlets.

Mirroring last year, the primary sponsor of the House Rent Control Bill was Representative Emily Alvarado of the 34th Legislative District. An interesting wrinkle with all of this: the Senator for the 34th Legislative District, Joe Nguyen, has been appointed by Governor Ferguson to run the Washington State Department of Commerce. That left an opening for the Senate seat in this district. Legislative appointments are handled by the county council where the district resides. In this case, King County Council. So, keep that in the back of your mind, and we’ll come back to that in a minute.

HB 1217 was then voted out of the House Housing Committee during the executive session where only the committee members debate with no public input. It was moved out of the House Housing Committee by only one vote and thus moved on to the House Appropriations Committee. The bill was given a public hearing in the Appropriations Committee, which is where the bill sits at the time of this printing. The House Appropriations Committee is where every bill in the House of Representatives must stop if it has what is called a fiscal note attached. A fiscal note means that the bill will cost money in some fashion and will need money “appropriated” towards it for the bill to be able to function.

Now, let’s go back to the primary sponsor of the bill, Representative Emily Alvarado of the 34th Legislative District. The Rent Control Bill HB 1217 was voted out of the housing committee by only one vote, as I mentioned before. One vote. Remember I mentioned we would come back to the Senate seat for District 34 that was vacated by Senator Joe Nguyen as he was tapped by Governor Ferguson to be the head of the Department of Commerce. The buzz for weeks was that Representative Alvarado would get the nod for the Senate opening, but nothing had officially been done to make that happen… yet. Ok, so check out the timeline below. Illegal? Not as far as we can tell. Unethical… you be the judge.

The Senate version of bill 5222 had a full-length hearing with a lot of public testimony and at the time of this printing still sits in the Senate Housing Committee.

RHAWA was also asked to take part in a debate on the TVW show “The Impact” where RHAWA lobbyist Chester Baldwin spoke to all the negative impacts that the rent control bills would have on housing in Washington. The full interview is available on the TVW website, but check out the RHAWA Facebook and Instagram pages for an easy link to the interview.

Now last but not least, a positive bill. House Bill 1099, which RHAWA helped draft over the last year and is called the Tenant Assistance Program or TAP. What TAP is designed for is as follows:

• Offers short-term rental assistance to seniors, low-income households, veterans, and others on fixed incomes.
• Prevents evictions and preserves affordable housing for at-risk families.
• Provides gap funding to cover the difference between what tenants owe and what they can afford.
• Helps ensure family stability and reduces the risk of homelessness.
• Strengthens partnerships between tenants, housing providers, and the state to maintain community resilience.

TAP had a public hearing in the House Housing Committee and had a very impassioned introduction by the primary sponsor, Representative Sam Low, where he spoke about how something like TAP would have helped his single mother stay in their duplex with her three children and out of the system of low-income housing.

“I lived in low-income housing from sixth grade until twelfth grade. Today when you call 211 for a situation similar to ours in Snohomish County, it’s my understanding you need to wait eight years. Had this program been in place, we probably could have stayed in our duplex and potentially stayed out of the system.”

Again, at the time of this printing, TAP sits in the House Housing Committee and we will have to wait and see if it moves on. As I said, it was a very busy first month of session and I sincerely hope the RHAC is strong enough with the force to fend off The Empire once more.

I want to extend an immense thank you to all the RHAC members who have testified virtually or in person, sat in our weekly and pre-bill briefing rooms, signed in PRO or CON on important bills, and submitted written testimony. Your voices all matter and we thank you for all of the enthusiasm and support.

If you would like some more highlights or would like to listen to some of the testimony provided by the public, RHAC members, and staff, check out the RHAWA YouTube Channel for our 2025 Legislative Weeks in Review videos, which have a lot of great interviews and testimony. Also, keep an eye on all social media platforms as RHAWA has been very active with updates and information all session long.

Lastly, keep looking at your emails. I know RHAC members have been getting a copious amount of emails from us, but I assure you they are all important, so please read them and if a Call to Action email comes through, we always appreciate your help in fulfilling those requests.