With Washington in need of more than a million additional housing units to meet future demand, state legislators say more must be done to address the state’s shortage.
“We need more housing, period,” Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, said Jan. 4. “Housing of all types; big homes, little homes, starter homes, town homes, apartments, condos, mobile homes, every type of housing imaginable. In urban areas, in suburban areas, in rural areas, we just need more housing. By creating more supply, we will be able to lower the price of housing.”
According to a Crosscut/Elway Poll released Thursday, the economy is the top concern for Washingtonians, with 32% of respondents citing it as the top legislative priority. In the poll, 13% of respondents cited the cost of living or inflation, while 11% said the cost of housing was their top priority.
The findings come after a 2023 session described as the “year of housing” as the state looks to add housing in the coming years.
A report by the state Department of Commerce published in March found Washington will need to add 1.1 million homes in the next 20 years to keep pace with the projected population growth. The report found that Lewis County will need to add roughly 5,600 housing units, Thurston County will need 52,500 units and Pierce County will need 135,700 units.
“In the meantime, the lack of affordable housing continues to damage low-income families as their rents have risen much faster than their incomes,” Lt. Gov. Denny Heck wrote in a letter to legislators on Jan. 4, signed by a collection of unions, trade organizations, corporations and other stakeholders. “More families are becoming homeless. Older adults have a harder time ‘aging in place.’ Fewer young families can afford to buy their first home. And workforce housing is increasingly out of reach.”
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Washington renters have the fifth highest hourly wage needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment, at $36.33 an hour. At minimum wage, an employee would need to work 92 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom rental.
“Housing is obviously going to continue to be a significant issue for us, and especially in the house, stability for renters is going to be a big issue,” Speaker of the House Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said Thursday, adding a lack of housing is interconnected with access to child care and behavioral health.
“They’re all connected to each other, right? They drive costs and approaches. How you address one of those impacts how you address other parts.”
Stokesbary said proposals like rent control may be a “Band-Aid” in the short term, though they will “end up as failed policies.”
“You’re going to see the capital that we need to finance the building of new multifamily housing just dry up in Washington state and go to other states,” Stokesbary said.
In his 2024 supplemental budget proposal, Gov. Jay Inslee proposed an additional $100 million from the capital budget for the Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition Fund. Created in 2021, the fund allows state agencies and local partners to quickly open new shelters and housing units.
Since it began, Inslee said the program has moved more than 1,000 people out of encampments near freeways. The funds would support an additional 1,200 units of housing.
“That’s not going to solve the homelessness problem. We all know that we’ve got to build our way out of this, and that takes time,” Inslee said in a press conference Jan. 4. “But having seen the progress we’re making on our highways today, I think Washingtonians want to continue that progress.”
Stokesbary said Thursday that the removal of homeless encampments near schools, parks and playgrounds is among House Republicans’ top priorities.
“Acknowledging that Sen. Billig said some of these investments take time, and certainly a permanent housing solution is going to take some time,” he said. “But in the meantime, we can at least remove the public health crisis that is these encampments that are becoming a scourge near our schools, parks and playgrounds.”
The 2024 legislative session began Monday. The 60-day session will end on March 7.
