The 2025 legislative session is set to end April 27th but it’s possible the legislature will go into an extended period.
On February 26th, 35 BOMA Members traveled to Olympia to talk about our industry and the issues important to commercial real estate recovery. Read more about it here.
BOMA Priority real estate bills still alive in the Legislature in 2025:
HB 1543/SB 5514 – Clean Building Standards – SUPPORT
The state of Washington is facing a two-year budget deficit of some $16 billion dollars. Representatives and Senators are looking to close the gap via new taxes and revenues while the governor wants to see at least 25-30% in spending cuts.
An issue of high importance to real estate is a measure that if passed, would raise the annual maximum property tax increase capacity from 1% to 3%. A new version of that House bill has now been incorporated into a Senate bill that removes any cap (the way it appears to be written – we are still analyzing the bill) and would allow annual property tax increases tied to population growth or CPI - whichever is higher. Unfortunately, this bill does have some momentum in both chambers.
Another key session issue is the continued effort to impose rent control on residential property investments. Rent control is prohibited in Washington State since 1981, so the sponsors are calling the bill “rent stabilization” which is, of course, rent control. BOMA is engaged because we don’t want to see this slide over into any form of commercial rent regulation.
Note: For those following the Lithium Ion Battery Standards bill, BOMA has worked to introduce and shepherd through the U.S. Congress, that bill has passed the Senate committee and is on its way to the full Senate. (S. 389 / H.R. 973) - A BILL TO ESTABLISH CONSUMER STANDARDS FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES.
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