Kill Bills

The Senate's Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Monday

The American Senate has a long and dishonorable tradition of ruining things.

Not wanting to be outdone in Olympia by the right-coast Capital, the Washington State Senate killed several of the most promising bills this session. 

Let’s survey the wreckage of a Democratic near-supermajority in this disappointing end to a short session.

Odd-Year Elections: Democracy, Just Without the Voters

Failed former Senate Transportation Chair and now Secretary of State Steve Hobbs led the effort to kill even-year elections. Joining with conservatives like Tim Eyman, Sara Nelson and the Seattle Times Editorial Board, whose power is threatened by younger, browner and working-class people, they prevented a potential increase of nearly 600,000 voters in our local elections. 

You may recall that in the Senate, Hobbs struggled to pass transportation bills, fought against transit, and opposed Governor Inslee’s clean fuel standard. Insiders speculated that Inslee was playing the long game when he helped Hobbs fail up into his role as Secretary of State, where he would presumably do less damage to the climate. 

Instead Hobbs seems intent on damaging small-d democracy. He opposes rank choice voting, which is better at capturing voter preferences. Now it is clear he doesn’t prioritize making it so voters actually vote! His stated reasons are primarily related to bureaucratic inconvenience, but are belied by the experience of other jurisdictions that have made the same switch.    

Rent Destabilization

Joe Manchin-wannabe Mark Mullet, who is running for Governor against Bob Ferguson, killed the Rent Stabilization Bill. Mullet’s efforts were also aided by Senator Kevin Van De Wege, who is running for Public Lands Commissioner. 

(Side by side photo credit to The Stranger)

HB 2114 passed 54-43 in the House and would have limited rent increases to 7% a year. Newer buildings would be exempt, and rent could go up as much as landlords want when tenants turn over. This kind of “second generation rent control,” as economists call it, appears to have very little negative impact on housing supply, and is obviously good for preventing rent-gouging and displacement.

Apparently that is a problem for these guys.

A note on these two and their politics:

Mullet’s effort to defeat mainstream Democrat and Attorney General Bob Ferguson in the race for Governor is apparently particularly exciting to conservative Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson. Nelson has already donated $750 to Mullet’s campaign. 

Remember also that Mark Mullet’s progressive challenger lost by 58 votes after all these Senators endorsed him for reelection, knowing full well what his politics are. Please consider that during their next election cycles. 

Likewise, Van De Wege is running for Public Lands Commissioner in a crowded race. Without support from Seattle and King County voters, he is unlikely to succeed. The next time he calls for volunteer hours or campaign contributions, be sure to let him know that screwing over people without the security of a 30-year mortgage has consequences.

Transit Oriented Stasis

The Transit Oriented Development Bill, HB 2160, passed 56 - 40 in the House. It would have made much better use of the tens of billions in taxpayer dollars going into Sound Transit and other frequent transit by requiring cities to allow lots of housing next to stations. This would maximize ridership and minimize car traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

And, in a housing crisis, all that extra zoned capacity would loosen up our over-tight housing supply and relieve some development pressure on less well-connected areas. An amendment that was on the table would have made the bill go from decent to pretty darn awesome, but the Senate seems more interested in the “eh, some other time” version.

Supply + Stability = No love from the Senate

Alex Brennan, Executive Director of Futurewise, had a nice op-ed explaining why increased housing supply and moderate price stabilizers like these two bills go hand in hand. In fact, economists and policy experts are increasingly framing the solution to the housing problem as a “supply, stability, subsidy” trio. These bills represent the first two. 

Unfortunately, the two carefully coiffed exurban centrists pictured above aren’t too worried about the housing crisis—they have higher office to run for after all!

All in a (Mon)day’s work, I guess.