Rent stabilization bill stalls in WA Senate

OLYMPIA — The pressure was on Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, on Tuesday as her constituents urged the lone Democrat holdout on the Senate Housing Committee to agree to advance a bill to limit rent hikes as Washington grapples with a housing crisis.

The proposal initially called for a 5% cap on annual rent hikes for existing tenants, and the Housing Committee had appeared on Friday to advance a version with a higher cap of 15%. But in a highly unusual maneuver, Cleveland did not sign her signature indicating her position one way or the other and on Tuesday said she was undecided.

The proposal can’t continue in the Senate unless enough signatures are committed to pass it by the time the Housing Committee adjourns Wednesday, when an official “cutoff” deadline hits.

Most bills, with some exceptions, must pass out of policy committees by Jan. 31 in order to survive.

The stall shows that there is disagreement among majority Democrats in the Senate over measures to limit rent increases — tensions that could ultimately pose a risk to the policy getting passed into law this year.

Homelessness and housing costs are top of mind for Washingtonians, according to recent polling.

“They should try it”

Hundreds of advocates for housing and people experiencing homelessness, clad in red scarves, converged on the Capitol on Tuesday. About 50 people from Cleveland’s district, the 49^th in Southwest Washington, met with her, along with the two state representatives from the district. Other advocates fanned out to meet with other lawmakers and urge support on the bill and other housing policies.

Jennifer Klein, of Vancouver, who has experienced homelessness off and on five times since 2015, and who now works for the organization Outsiders Inn, said she doesn’t think state lawmakers would last a day without a home.

“They should try it,” Klein said. “Maybe they’d understand a little bit better what they’re doing, when they say no, that they’re not going to support something that’s so important.”

Cleveland told her constituents in a Senate hearing room Tuesday afternoon that she had not made a decision on the bill, but that she felt she needed to fully understand the bill’s ramifications and implications. She said she had been surprised by Friday’s committee vote and that price controls were failed Republican policies from the 1970s. She said she had been on the phone with every economist who would speak with her and that she had supported “housing bill after housing bill after housing bill” in the past.

Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, who represents the same district as Cleveland and was at the meeting with constituents, said the House was unlikely to bring its bill to the floor, which has already met the committee deadline, if the Senate didn’t advance its version.

Floor debates can be time-consuming, and if a bill won’t get through the Senate anyway, House leaders will have to decide whether it is worth the time.

“Our position has been, if we know there are challenges in the Senate, we have got other work we’ve got to do to help people,” Stonier said. “We need to see that there’s movement in the Senate in order to be able to move on this bill. We do have some options, but this would be an indicator of whether or not we have a path.”

Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, says that high rents are a “No. 1” issue across the state.

“We’re in a housing crisis”

In a recent Crosscut Elway poll, 22% of respondents — in a sample of 403 registered voters — said homelessness was the single most important issue for legislators to tackle in the short legislative session, which runs through early March. The single biggest group of respondents, 32%, said the economy was the most important issue, with a portion of those respondents identifying housing costs specifically.

“I truly do believe that passing this will give us something to talk about on the campaign trail that will resonate with voters, will resonate with folks, in a way that I think will encourage them to support Democrats in the fall,” Conrad said.

But the bill has met resistance from business groups, developers and some landlords, who argue it would damage the state’s ability to build enough housing for those who need it.

The proposal would scare away investment and force housing providers to leave the market, and down the line lead to fewer rentals, said Sean Flynn, board president and executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington.

“We’re in a housing crisis,” Flynn said. “ … And this proposal is counterproductive.”

Flynn said that instead of a cap on rent, housing should be treated like other basics like food and the government should subsidize it. Instead of limiting the price on apples, the government provides food stamps to low-income consumers, he said.

“For those who have not gained as much from that economic growth and are struggling, we should give them vouchers to help them pay their rent,” Flynn said. He said existing programs, like Section 8, aren’t enough in Washington. The state could be creative and do its own program on top of existing voucher programs through the federal government, he said.  

Initially, two proposals called for a 5% limit on annual rent increases for existing tenants. The Senate had appeared to advance a version of the bill that would increase the exemption for new construction to 15 years and would have the policy expire in 2044.

While the amended version raised the statewide cap to 15%, it would allow local governments to impose annual limits below that amount.

Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, another member of the Housing Committee, said in an interview that she had asked for that figure. An economist by trade, Shewmake entered the session skeptical about the initial proposal.

At the same time, she knew people who experienced 30 to 50% rent increases and she heard stories when she was ringing doorbells in 2022 for her Senate campaign.

“It’s not just stories that are hand-picked one-offs,” Shewmake said. “It’s pretty widespread, what is happening.”

She said 5% was probably too low, and worried that it could have negative effects on the supply of housing.

But Shewmake said it seemed like a landlord, especially a small landlord, would be able to make 15% work and that it could be enough to fix a roof or get a new air conditioning unit if they didn’t have access to other forms of capital. And she hoped a 15% limit could prevent “egregious” rent increases and create stability for renters who have already invested in living in that community — sending their kids to nearby schools, for instance.

Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, the sponsor of the Senate bill and a member of the Housing Committee, declined an interview.

“A lot is happening and not appropriate for me to comment while things are still in process,” she said in a text message. Her spokesperson, Christian Lamas, said in an email that Trudeau “remains optimistic, hoping that we can gather the necessary support” before the committee deadline Wednesday.