Currently, State lawmakers in Olympia are still considering a myriad of bills relevant to our business community here in King County. In his proposed budget released late last year, Gov. Jay Inslee identified key areas of focus that Seattle Metro Chamber members care about too—from upgrading our state’s tourism account, to streamlining small businesses licensing services, expanding affordable childcare services to more families, and housing and environmental issues—Inslee’s proposed budget laid a strong foundation for the work this session.
It’s an election year, so lawmakers also have personal priorities they want to pass to help them on the campaign trail.
We have seen real estate transfer tax bills and bills targeting unspent gift card balances.
Large priorities like Transit-Oriented Development that our business community strongly supported last year, changed drastically so we can no longer sign in PRO.
Here’s a quick snapshot of our top remaining priorities in each house:
| House Bills | Senate Bills |
| HB 2124 — Supporting and expanding access to childcare programs. | SB 6080 — Simplifies the funding provisions of the statewide tourism marketing account. |
| 2SHB 2112 — Requires Institution’s of higher education to provide opioid/fentanyl prevention and awareness to students. | SB 6038 — Would reduce the costs associated with providing childcare. |
| HB 2252 — Would allow small business establishments in residential zones. | SB 6136 — Would reestablish a business and occupation tax on the ‘privilege’ of providing property for rent. |
| SHB 1717 — Establishes the ADO Innovation fund to catalyze innovation in economic development. | SB 6175 — Housing affordability tax incentives for existing structures. |
There are also several budget priorities we are asking lawmakers to include in the 2024 budget, that they can provide without legislation. These asks include:
- $50 million investment in the FIFA World Cup 2026 organizing group.
- $136.5 million investment in state matching grant funds for clean energy and green jobs
- $50 million investment to revitalize our state’s ferry system
- $5 million investment for Associate Development Organization Innovation Grant Program
- $850 million investment for an AI innovation center
At this point in the legislative session, bills must have passed off the floor of their house of origin, and hearings in the opposite house policy committee have commenced this week. The first quarter state revenue forecast was released on Wednesday, Feb 14 and projects a strong economy and an unanticipated bump of $1.3 billion in collections. House, Senate and Transportation budget writers will use the information from the report to finalize their budget proposals expected by Feb. 22. After that, lawmakers will pass bills out of their opposite houses, finalize the budget, and adjourn by March 7.
Stay tuned for the final 2024 Legislative Update. Want more information? Contact Director of Policy Sarah Clark at sarahc@www.seattlechamber.com.