HomeMy WebLinkAboutPresentation_2026 State Legislative Review2026 Washington
Legislative Session
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE | APRIL 20, 2026
ERIC PERRY, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS MANAGER
DAVID FOSTER, LOBBYIST
Post-Session Update
2026 Legislative Session
Overview
60-day short session
Began Monday, January 12
Ended Thursday, March 12
Three supplemental budgets
Operating
Capital
Transportation
Overview
Legislative Review
Governor Bob Ferguson (D)
Second year of first term
House of Representatives (98 total members)
59 Democrats
39 Republicans
Senate (49 total members)
30 Democrats
19 Republicans
Overview
Renton Representation
11th District
Representative Steve Bergquist
Representative David Hackney
Senator Bob Hasegawa
5th District
Representative Lisa Callan
Representative Zach Hall
Senator Victoria Hunt
11th LD
5th LD
2026 Session Review
2026 City of Renton Legislative Agenda
Renton’s Legislative Priorities
Indigent Defense Shared Revenues
Public SafetyTransportation and
Regional Connectivity
Other Policy Focuses
Budget and Fiscal Sustainability
Homelessness and Behavioral Health
Housing and Economic Development
Human Services
Public Safety & Criminal Justice
Transportation and Infrastructure
Parks, Recreation, and Trail Connectivity
Local Government
Environmental Sustainability
2025-2027 Biennial Budgets
2026 Supplementals
Three supplemental budgets
Operating
Capital
Transportation
Economic Environment:
Budget shortfalls, negative revenue forecasts, high interest rates, inflationary pressure, and federal funding uncertainty
Washington’s Three Biennial Budgets
Operating
(SB 5998)
$79.4 billion (+$1.5b from last year)
Includes:
$1.6b in new spending
$548m in cuts
$880m withdrawal from rainy day fund
$375m withdrawal from the PWAA
Does not include:
Revenue from new tax on millionaires
Funding for indigent defense
Transportation
(SB 6005)
$16.6 billion (+$1.2b from last year)
Includes:
$1.3b in new bonds to support ’22 MAW
package
$340m in new funding for maintenance and
preservation
$180m temporarily diverted from WSDOT
Local Programs
Does not include:
Funding for COR Practical Solutions
Funding for the NE 44th Gateway project
Capital
(SB 6003)
$7.5 billion (+$200m from last year)
Includes:
$2278.9m in new bonds to
partially backfill the PWAA
$182m in new funding for the
Housing Trust Fund
$46.3m for flood response and
prevention
$1m in direct appropriations
for COR projects
2025-2027 Biennial Budgets
Renton Specific
Renton Resource Center
$500,000
Including $206,000 reappropriation from previously inaccessible funding
SE 168th Street Bike Lanes/Safe Crossings
$500,000
Included scope revisions to enable COR team to deliver project in alignment with community feedback
Not Included:
N. 8th Street Practical Solutions Funding
NE 44th Gateway Improvements Project
Public Safety
New regulations on the usage
of Automatic License Plate
Readers (ALPRs)
New exemptions from PRA
disclosure for ALPR data
New standards for police
chiefs and usage of police
volunteers
New regulations on the usage
of face coverings by LEOs
No fixes for jail liability
Indigent Defense
No new funding for city-
managed indigent defense
services
No policy clarification on
Supreme Court’s authority to
define caseload standards
No statewide indigent defense
task force to provide
sustainability
recommendations
Transportation and Regional
Connectivity
New investments for preserving and maintaining the state’s transportation system
New temporary diversions of funding for WSDOT local projects
No sustainable transportation funding for local governments
New authorization for jurisdictions to
identify “crash prevention zones”
No funding for the N. 8th Street DAR
Practical Solutions process
No 75-year bonding authority for Sound Transit
Shared Revenues
Preserved most state-shared
revenues for cities and towns,
including:
Municipal Criminal Justice Assistance
Account
Liquor revenues
Expanded local revenue flexibilities:
REET 2 enhancements
New local sales tax authority for
children and families
Additional eligible usages for 1590 revenues
Other Items of Interest
New income tax on millionaires (SB 6346)
New state preemptions for mixed-use developments in commercial zones (SB 6026)
New state preemptions to allow for STEP housing in all zones that allow residential and hotel usages (HB 2266)
No state preemptions for regulations of urban encampments (HB 2489)
No state preemptions to allow mobile dwellings on all residential lots (HB 1443)
New statewide work group to address electric motorcycles (SB 6110)
New Small Works Roster cap adjustments to address rising labor and material costs (HB 2420)
Looking Ahead
The 2027 Landscape
Continued federal uncertainty
Funding and policy decisions
Economic uncertainty
Global conflicts
State and regional tax burdens
Resource constraints
Elections
Initiatives and referendums
Thank you!
Questions?