Bill to curtail rent increases appears dead in WA Legislature

OLYMPIA — After a dramatic series of twists and turns throughout this year’s short legislative session, a proposal to cap annual rent increases is likely dead after the Senate Ways and Means Committee decided not to take action on it Monday.

Committee Chair Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, said House Bill 2114 did not have enough votes to pass the committee, but declined to comment on what specifically stymied the bill.

“I don’t feel like I can comment on that,” she said, when asked about sticking points in the legislation.

Monday was the deadline for policies from opposite houses to pass budget committees in order to survive. That means most House bills, like the measure to limit rent hikes, had to pass the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Legislators have ways of reviving bills even after deadlines, but the bill’s failure to move out of Ways and Means is a strong indicator that it won’t move forward this year.

The bill has been one of the most controversial to get consideration in this year’s short legislative session, which is scheduled to end March 7. Supporters of the measure say they want to limit excessive rent increases. Opponents have argued that limiting the cost of rent could depress investment in housing when the state sorely needs more housing supply.

“I feel strongly that if this bill were to pass, you would actually be deterring private capital from coming to our state to build residential housing,” said Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, a member of the committee who opposes the legislation.

At least one other Democratic member on the committee, Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Lake Sutherland, did not support the legislation. A spokesperson for Van De Wege said in an email that “the senator isn’t interested in commenting.”

The Ways and Means committee has 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans; the bill does not have Republican support, so the Democrats could only afford to lose one vote for the policy to continue through the process.

Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, said he would have voted to pass the bill out of Ways and Means with an amendment that Robinson had introduced to extend an exemption for new construction from 10 to 15 years.

After Robinson said in the committee meeting that they wouldn’t take action on the bill, advocates for the policy released a statement urging legislators to move the bill forward.

“Senate leadership has the authority and 10 more days to take action, including pulling this critically needed legislation out of committee for a floor vote,” said Michele Thomas, advocacy and policy director for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. “Without rent stabilization, nearly 1 million households will continue to face unchecked rent hikes, which are causing displacement and contributing to homelessness.”

In a statement Monday afternoon, Robinson said work would continue on the proposal next year.

“There was no Republican support and not enough Democratic support to get the bill out of committee,” she said. “I’m proud of the work we have done to make housing more affordable across Washington, but we fell short in this instance and will continue to work on the issue next year.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle, said she was “deeply disappointed” in the Senate.

“The Senate’s inaction will have dire consequences that our communities can’t afford,” she said. “It means more housing instability and more financial insecurity for far too many Washingtonians, renters and manufactured homeowners.”

An earlier version of the bill died in the Senate Housing Committee in late January when it didn’t get enough votes to pass, which meant the House version was the sole bill that had legs after late January.

After the House version passed in that chamber and came over to the Senate, Senate leaders had routed the House bill to Ways and Means instead of sending it to the Housing committee again.

House Bill 2114 would have limited annual rent increases to 7% but exempted new construction and certain landlords. It also would have limited late fees.