Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Republicans say housing bills mostly help marginally and urge pausing rent control
Summary
Republican leaders told reporters that transit‑oriented development, parking and lot‑splitting bills will not offset rent‑control measures and warned the state is "in a net negative" on housing policy; they urged delaying rent control until supply measures are stronger.
Reporters asked Republican leaders about housing legislation amid a broader debate over rent stabilization. House and Senate Republicans said the array of bills moving this session would offer only marginal relief for housing supply and urged caution on rent-control measures.
Sen. John Braun said lot-splitting had passed both chambers and could help, but called the transit‑oriented development bill "somewhere between does nothing and might even do a little bit of harm" because of affordable‑housing requirements he said could deter development. He said the parking bill had moved but that concerns remained about a "one size fits all" approach to parking minimums.
Rep. Chris Corey said, "overall as it stands today, if you look at the entire slate of bills around housing, we are in a net negative," and recommended putting the rent‑control bill down for the session so other supply measures could mature and have an effect. The caucus also raised concerns that advocacy in Puget Sound blocked rural housing proposals and said they would continue working to change the Growth Management Act and urban‑growth boundaries to permit development where infrastructure exists.
Republican leaders acknowledged some bills may provide modest improvements but said they do not amount to a suite of pro‑development changes sufficient to offset rent control’s effects without additional supply‑side actions.
