Kicking Off the New Year with Legislative Session
At the time you are reading this, the 2026 Legislative Session will be well underway, but it is never too late to thank our wonderful members for showing up and participating in our first events of the year. As the Engagement Coordinator at RHAWA, I am always excited to get members involved in both our in-person and virtual engagement opportunities. Our most involved advocates showed up in great numbers for our 2026 Legislative Kickoff Event, featuring our leadership team, government affairs team, as well as our incredible lobbyist, Chester Baldwin. Those who attended gained valuable insight into the ongoing legislative session and learned about what RHAWA’s legislative priorities look like for this coming year.
The presentation began with background on the team as well as a refresher on the power dynamics and ratios in the State Legislature. This is important information for our advocates, as it sets the stage for who the key players are both in our advocacy efforts and in the legislature as a whole. Building on this context, we presented a short video recapping the 2025 Legislative Session and our biggest accomplishments, as well as areas where we hope to improve this year. As you all know, rent control did pass in the 2025 Legislative Session, but if not for the hard work of our team and our membership, the rent control bill could have passed in a version far more devastating than the one that ultimately succeeded.
From there, we jumped straight into discussing legislation that was unsuccessful last year and will be returning in the 2026 Legislative Session. The top three of these bills are a ban on algorithmic rent pricing tools, placing limits on ownership of single-family homes and requiring credit reporting for on-time rental payments. These bills would have negative impacts on rental housing providers for a variety of reasons, such as preventing access to information needed to price rental units, directly restricting property rights, or providing inaccurate and incomplete information to credit bureaus. While we were successful in defeating these bills in the 2025 Legislative Session, we will be prepared to fight them again in 2026 or help craft their language so they do not negatively impact our membership.
Following this, we provided a preview of anticipated high-priority bills that we will oppose, the most concerning of which is a Business and Occupation Tax on rental income. We anticipate this bill due to the passage of a B&O tax on self-storage units in 2025, which has already resulted in increased prices industry-wide in the self-storage market. RHAWA is determined to make housing more affordable for everyone in the state, and imposing additional direct costs and taxes on our businesses will only exacerbate the affordability issues we are facing in Washington State.
Following our bill information, we provided a refresher to all of our attendees of what services we provide in order to get involved in our advocacy efforts. Including weekly briefing rooms, the Advocacy Center and Legislative Day on the Hill. Make sure you are taking advantage of these services which are included in your membership completely free of charge. Our advocacy efforts rely on your involvement
in order to be successful, so if you are hesitating to get involved, talk to a member of our Government Affairs team and we will ease your mind and make sure you have all the information you need to get involved!
Once again, thank you to everyone who showed up and participated in this year’s kickoff event and the 2026 Legislative Session as a whole. With just over a month left in this year’s legislative efforts, we must make the most of our voices and communicate our needs to our elected officials.