WA House approves rent stabilization bill, teeing up legislative showdown in the Senate

After weeks of debate, a proposal to slow rising rent costs in Washington just barely made it past a key cutoff deadline in the Legislature Tuesday.

The most recent version of the legislation, House Bill 2114, would cap the amount landlords can raise existing tenants' rent each year at 7% and enhance some tenant protections – among them, requirements for landlords to notify tenants of significant rent increases and a limit on late fees.

The bill's forward movement came after days of uncertainty and surprisingly brief back-and-forth on the House floor. Two dozen amendments were filed on the bill, mostly from Republicans who are largely opposed to the policy. But many of those amendments were withdrawn before debate began.

Rep. Andrew Barkis (R-Olympia) said after the vote that the Democratic majority didn't work with Republicans on the bill. Barkis and other critics of the proposal have said they worry the measure won't be effective and could stifle housing supply.

"The reality is there's no fixing this bill," Barkis said. "So we put some stuff out there to see if it would be considered, maybe a hope for a last minute collaboration – didn't happen."

But supporters say the policy is a key tool to provide immediate stability for struggling renters and keep people in their homes, as recently passed policies to boost the state's housing supply take root.

"Seniors cannot wait, our children cannot wait for housing stability," said Rep. Emily Alvarado (D-Seattle). "Working people can't wait one more paycheck – they deserve fairness and predictability and stability in their housing costs now."

House Democrats said early on this session that some sort of rent stabilization remains a high priority, but the proposal has been a heavy lift. Previous iterations of the proposal have failed in past legislative sessions, and although the current House bill passed out of the chamber, a handful of Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it.

The legislation now faces a difficult path forward in the Senate. A similar proposal stalled after failing to gain enough support in a Senate committee earlier this session.

Lawmakers backing the bill have called on legislative leaders to help get the proposal to the governor's desk. [Copyright 2024 Northwest News Network]