2024 Chamber Day Recap

After a long day during a short session down in Olympia, the East King Chambers Coalition’s 2024 Chamber Day was a resounding success. We met with 21 legislators representing the Eastside, and had the platform to share our Coalition’s legislative priorities surrounding Housing & Affordability, Public Safety, Transportation, and Economic Vitality.

We started off our day with a breakfast kickoff, hearing a series of legislative updates from AWB’s Dave Mastin and Sen. Mark Mullet, who spoke on the viability of bills in committee that could be harmful to the business community, and the six “Let’s Go Washington” initiatives. Both seasoned politicians, with Mastin elected in 1992 and Mullet in 2012, shared insight into the state of the session with their committee expertise. It served as a fitting start to the day as the groups strategized their delivery for their meetings ahead. 

After the first half of legislator meetings, lunch was equally insightful as we heard from industry experts Jan Himebaugh at the Building Industry Association of Washington and Samantha Louderback representing the Washington Hospitality Association. They spoke on the feasibility of gift card legislation and rent control within the legislature and the possibility of their return next session. 

Since the 2024 session is two-thirds done and many bills have just passed out of their house of origin, we took this as an opportunity to educate our legislators on the bills soon to be brought up in their upcoming executive sessions and public hearings within their respective committees. Below, are a few of our key talking points from our day on the hill:

Housing & Affordability

• After passing out of the House and approaching the Senate floor, we asked our Senators to strongly oppose ESHB 2114, the rent control bill. Rents have remained stagnant for several years and, in some jurisdictions, even went down during the pandemic. With the rise of inflation and other market factors, placing a rent cap would place additional financial strain on property owners and would further exacerbate problems within the rental market.
• We also asked our Senators to oppose E2SHB 2160, the TOD bill. While we support transit-oriented development that would boost density around transit stations, the affordability requirement would make many projects infeasible for development.

Public Safety

• We asked our Representatives to support SB 6242, which would increase funding for the training of local law enforcement. This bill removes the requirement that law enforcement agencies must reimburse the Criminal Justice Training Commission for 25 percent of the costs of training, which will take the cost burden off local communities while ensuring that our officers are well trained.
• We also asked our Representatives to support E2SSB 6251, a bill that would establish regional coordination in behavioral crisis response and suicide prevention services.

Transportation

• We asked our Representatives on the Transportation Committee to support SSB 6277, which would create a new statutory framework for the use of public-private partnerships for transportation projects. This bill features creative financing, and would help with the timely delivery of projects under the Transportation Innovation Partnership program (TIP).
• We also asked our Representatives on the Transportation Committee to support SSB 6115, which concerns speed safety and camera systems. This bill would create safer working environments within work zones by using speed safety cameras in designated zones while workers are present.

Economic Vitality

• We asked our Representatives to support SSB 6302, a bill that would create a Washington state supply chain competitiveness infrastructure program. Within this bill, the Department of Transportation is directed to collaborate with the Department of Commerce, public ports, individual ports, and other critical supply chain stakeholders to set priorities, criteria, and performance metrics for a supply chain competitiveness grant and loan program for public ports.
• We asked our Representatives to support SB 6080, a bill that simplifies the funding provisions for the statewide tourism marketing account. This eliminates the requirement for the Legislature to authorize deposits into the Statewide Tourism Marketing Account in the operating budget, ultimately reducing administrative strain.

Over the course of the day, we sought to create a sense of urgency for these legislators, asking them to reevaluate harmful policies moving to their committees and to support beneficial policies that would bolster economic growth within their districts. By coalescing around a joint priority legislative agenda and showing our legislators the impact bills have on our respective communities, the East King Chambers Coalition was able to have a very successful day on the hill this year. As an annual event, we look forward to welcoming more chambers and their members as we prepare for next year’s Chamber Day during the long session. 

Make sure to keep your eyes out for session updates from our boots-on-the-ground lobbyist in Olympia, Lyset Cadena, as posted in our ‘Advocacy News’ tab every Sunday.