WA Legislature considers establishing a new state housing agency
Homes and apartments in the Queen Anne neighborhood, seen from the Space Needle in a May 2022 photo. (Amanda Snyder/Crosscut)
Forty-seven Democrats are pushing a bill through the Washington House to study the creation of a new state agency — a housing department.
The Housing Committee heard testimony Tuesday on House Bill 2270, which would have the Office of Financial Management hire a consultant to study consolidating all the state government’s scattered housing-related sections into one department.
That consultant would also be asked to identify gaps in the state’s housing efforts; set up a clear mission for the new agency; recommend how the proposed department would be structured; and come up with a cost estimate for the reorganization. If the bill passes, the consultant’s recommendations would be due Dec. 1.
Rep. Melanie Morgan, D-Spanaway, proposed a similar bill in 2022, but it never made it out of committee. This year’s bill has 46 Democratic co-sponsors in addition to Morgan.
“We have not been able to end homelessness,” Morgan told the committee Tuesday. Washington would need roughly 1.1 million new housing units to do so, she said. With the housing department proposal, “We will go from a broad patchwork to a one-stop shop,” Morgan said.
No one testified against the bill Tuesday.
Those testifying in favor included the Association of Washington Business, the largest business coalition in the state; Futurewise; Habitat for Humanity for King and Kittitas counties; the Washington Low-Income Housing Alliance and Local 1199NW of the Service Employees International Union, which represents health care workers.
“It’s a good move for the state of Washington,” said Morgan Irwin, representing the AWB.
A member of the public, Arthur West, said: ”What I see now is various agencies putting band-aids on the problem.”