Bill Would Create Grant Program to Hardening Homes; Insurers Worry About Nonrenewal Prohibition
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Summary
Substitute Senate Bill 6,079 would establish the Strengthen Washington Homes grant program to retrofit dwellings to IBHS wildfire-prepared-home standards and prohibit insurers from using wildfire risk to disqualify properties that have an IBHS designation. Regulators and firefighter groups supported the pilot program; insurer trade groups said Section 7 (a ban on nonrenewal for designated properties) should be removed or modified.
The committee heard Substitute Senate Bill 6,079, which creates a Strengthen Washington Homes grant program to retrofit homes to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) wildfire-prepared-home standard (or equivalent), administered by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner if funding is available. Grants would be contingent on required permits and meeting IBHS standards. The bill would also prohibit insurers from using wildfire risk as a disqualifying factor for properties that hold a current IBHS designation.
Megan Mulvihill explained the bill creates an interest-bearing account and permits the OIC to accept grants and run localized pilot projects; unexpended funds in certain OIC accounts could be used through Dec. 31, 2029. Lauren Burns of OIC described homeowners’ increased nonrenewals and said a grant program focused on hardening individual homes would complement community mitigation efforts.
Senator Marcus Racilli, the bill’s sponsor, framed the proposal as a pilot using regulatory funds to test mitigation investments and improve insurability. Ryan Spiller (Washington Fire Commissioners Association) supported the bill, calling it critical to keeping people insured and in their homes.
Insurance trade associations supported the mitigation goals but pressed the committee to remove or amend Section 7, which would bar nonrenewal for wildfire risk when a property meets the IBHS standard. Kenton Bridal (Northwest Insurance Council), Chris Tefft (APCIA) and Brandon Vick (NAMIC) said that while the grant program is valuable, the nonrenewal prohibition could improperly constrain underwriting where risk concentration or geographic factors still make a property unattractive to insurers.
OIC and proponents said the program is modeled on programs in other states, that the sunset and pilot language would inform future funding and scalability, and that the IBHS standard is a higher mitigation threshold than other local programs. Committee members raised equity and HEAL Act engagement questions; OIC said it would consider amendment language to address those concerns.