Washington state House lawmakers vote to regulate rent increases
House lawmakers on Tuesday approved statewide legislation that would limit annual rent increases for Washington tenants.
The vote came before a key deadline to keep legislation alive this session. Bills had to be passed from their house of origin Tuesday to continue to be considered.
House Bill 2114 would limit rent increases to 7% for tenants in a 12-month period. Additionally, landlords would not be able to raise the rent within the first year of tenancy.
The bill passed by a vote of 54-43 and was the last bill to be considered in the House before the cutoff.
Rep. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle, is the bill’s prime sponsor.
“Across Washington, in rural, suburban and urban communities, people are getting crushed by rising rents,” she said during the floor debate Tuesday. “Rents are going up faster than wages. Seniors see rents going up faster than Social Security. Families are making impossible choices while paying more and more to landlords, and a record number of Washingtonians are spending more than half of their income on rent.”
Republicans have been firmly against the proposal since its introduction.
Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, said he believes it will give renters “false hope.” Corry said that to tackle the housing crisis in the state, more housing needs to be built.
Rent stabilization would have the opposite impact of the intent “thus leading to more rent increases, fewer availability and more of the problem that this underlying bill is trying to address,” Corry said.
Other Republican lawmakers argued that the proposal would discourage landlords from renting out properties.
But Rep. Monica Stonier, D-Vancouver, said she was voting for the bill for people, not the market, and urged votes from her colleagues before the bill’s passage.
Several amendments were introduced, and a majority of them were withdrawn without debate.
Two amendments sponsored by Democrats were adopted, while a Republican-backed amendment was voted down.
Amendment 1034 was introduced by Rep. Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla, and would have changed the bill entirely, instead replacing the current proposal with a study on rent stabilization.
Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, argued against the amendment and said that it would just kick the can down the road on housing issues in the state.
A Senate version of the bill died in executive session after state Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, voted against the measure. That vote prompted multiple organizations representing Black, Indigenous, and other people of color to send the lawmaker a scathing letter for voting against the interests of her constituents.
The House version of the bill will now move to the Senate. If passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, the bill would go into effect immediately unless it is not funded in the budget.
