Senate lawmakers voted Thursday to drastically change a House bill that would have capped annual rent increases at 7%. Instead, the bill has a cap at 10% plus the consumer price index, a tool which measures inflation.
After more than an hour and a half of tense debate, House Bill 1217 passed with a 29-20 vote, marking the first time both chambers of the Legislature have passed a bill that restricts rent increases throughout the state.
The House and Senate will have to agree on the amendments before it would go to the governor for his signature.
The amendment to increase the rent cap to 10% was sponsored by Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, and passed with just a one-vote margin, 25-24.
During the debate on the amendment, Shewmake gave an impassioned speech detailing her concerns about restricting rent increases after reviewing economic literature. She said she believed a 7% cap could be “dangerous.”
“The research as it stands suggests that 7% is risky,” said Shewmake. “So I’m asking for a 10% cap with a CPI adjustment, because that might be risky too, but it’s less risky.”
Another amendment sets an expiration date of July 1, 2045, for most provisions in the bill and lengthens how long landlords are exempt from the restrictions if they are renting newly built units from 12 to 15 years.
Additionally, the Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, that exempts single-family homes if they are not owned by real estate development trusts, corporations, or limited liability companies.
Before the final vote, prime sponsor Sen. Emily Alvarado, D-West Seattle, said she was “disappointed” in the amendments. Alvarado spoke to reporters afterward and refocused on how the bill, even as amended, is a landmark change in the state’s current law. If enacted, a large group of renters in the state will live in units with restricted rent hikes.
“With the cap increasing and the single-family home exemption it provides fewer protections and less market coverage than I had hoped,” she said. “The fact remains it’s the first time we’ve ever passed rent stabilization off the Senate floor. There are 40% of Washingtonians who before doing this had zero protections with how high the rent can go, now they will have more, and we’ll keep working to perfect the bill.”
Alvarado introduced the legislation earlier this year while she was still a House lawmaker along with more than 20 Democratic House lawmakers. Alvarado was then appointed to the Senate in January. She acknowledged with all of the changes made in the Senate there will be more conversations with House lawmakers as they try to pass “meaningful protections.”
Republicans have been firmly against any rent restrictions.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said he believed “rent control is a failed policy” with a track record of “reducing housing supply, discouraging new construction, and ultimately making it harder for families to find quality, affordable homes” and that Democrats were “condemning more people to homelessness” if they also pass a bill to remove the 1% annual cap on property taxes.
“Instead of working with us on bipartisan, evidence-based solutions that would expand housing options, lower costs, and protect tenants without punishing small property owners, Democrats chose to double down on a one-size-fits-all mandate that will fail,” Braun said.
The bill passed in the House on March 10 with a 53-42 vote.
The path for this proposal has not been an easy one. While introduced in previous years, this is the first time the bill has passed in both chambers. Last year, the House passed a version but similar proposals stalled in Senate committees.
Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, who effectively killed the Senate rent cap proposal in committee last year, also spoke against the measure Thursday. She was the only Senate Democrat to vote against the bill.
Some House lawmakers expressed their concern with the changes made in the Senate.
Rep. Shaun Scott, D-Seattle, said in a post on the social media site X that there were “many shaking heads and grimaces among House Dems” as word spread that the bill was “gutted” in the Senate.
“Speaking as the Rep. from the densest legislative district in the state, this isn’t what Washington renters were hoping to see,” Scott wrote.
If lawmakers can agree on a final version and it is signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson, the proposal would go into effect immediately under an emergency clause. Ferguson has not indicated whether or not he will sign the proposal.
The last day of the legislative session is scheduled for April 27.
