Housing on college lands

AN ACT Relating to expanding affordable housing opportunities on 1
community and technical college lands; amending RCW 28B.50.090 and 2
43.17.400; adding a new section to chapter 28B.50 RCW; adding a new 3
section to chapter 82.29A RCW; and creating new sections.4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the lack of 6
housing and housing affordability affects every community in 7
Washington. The legislature also finds that increased housing 8
instability is overwhelmingly caused by rising rents, which are 9
exacerbated by very low vacancy rates, making it difficult for people 10
to find housing even when they have sufficient income to pay market 11
rates. Low housing vacancies, population growth, and limited housing 12
supply have created a housing shortage in which existing inventory is 13
priced at a premium.14
The legislature also finds that although household incomes have 15
grown along with the economy, wage increases, especially for those in 16
public service, frontline work, and education, have not kept pace 17
with rising rents and home prices. This problem is especially 18
impacting moderate, lower, and fixed-income households, including 19
frontline workers, public employees, educators, students, seniors, 20
veterans, farmworkers, and people with disabilities. These households 21
S-1299.1
SENATE BILL 5725
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Slatter, Hasegawa, Trudeau, and Valdez
Read first time 02/11/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
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face increasing barriers to securing stable housing near their 1
workplaces and schools, forcing many to commute long distances or 2
relocate entirely. 3
The legislature recognizes that housing instability among public 4
sector employees and frontline workers directly affects the quality 5
and continuity of essential services, including education, health 6
care, and emergency response. Additionally, high housing costs have 7
made it difficult for state institutions of higher education to 8
attract and retain faculty and staff, contributing to turnover that 9
disrupts student learning and creates inefficiencies in recruitment, 10
hiring, and training. 11
The legislature finds that ensuring access to stable, affordable 12
housing for employees, faculty, and students is critical to the 13
success of schools, public institutions, and local economies.14
Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to increase the 15
supply of housing and expand affordable housing opportunities for 16
Washington's workforce, including public employees, frontline 17
workers, and educational faculty, staff, and students, by removing 18
barriers and encouraging the development of affordable housing on 19
underutilized land at community and technical colleges across 20
Washington, ensuring that those who contribute to the vitality of 21
their communities have the opportunity to live within them.22
Sec. 2. RCW 28B.50.090 and 2013 c 57 s 1 are each amended to 23
read as follows: 24
The college board shall have general supervision and control over 25
the state system of community and technical colleges. In addition to 26
the other powers and duties imposed upon the college board by this 27
chapter, the college board shall be charged with the following 28
powers, duties and responsibilities: 29
(1) Review the budgets prepared by the boards of trustees, 30
prepare a single budget for the support of the state system of 31
community and technical colleges and adult education, and submit this 32
budget to the governor as provided in RCW 43.88.090;33
(2) Establish guidelines for the disbursement of funds; and 34
receive and disburse such funds for adult education and maintenance 35
and operation and capital support of the college districts in 36
conformance with the state and district budgets, and in conformance 37
with chapter 43.88 RCW; 38
(3) Ensure, through the full use of its authority:39
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(a) That each college district, in coordination with colleges, 1
within a regional area, shall offer thoroughly comprehensive 2
educational, training, and service programs to meet the needs of both 3
the communities and students served by combining high standards of 4
excellence in academic transfer courses; realistic and practical 5
courses in occupational education, both graded and ungraded; and 6
community services of an educational, cultural, and recreational 7
nature; and adult education, including basic skills and general, 8
family, and workforce literacy programs and services;9
(b) That each college district shall maintain an open-door 10
policy, to the end that no student will be denied admission because 11
of the location of the student's residence or because of the 12
student's educational background or ability; that, insofar as is 13
practical in the judgment of the college board, curriculum offerings 14
will be provided to meet the educational and training needs of the 15
community generally and the students thereof; and that all students, 16
regardless of their differing courses of study, will be considered, 17
known and recognized equally as members of the student body: 18
PROVIDED, That the administrative officers of a community or 19
technical college may deny admission to a prospective student or 20
attendance to an enrolled student if, in their judgment, the student 21
would not be competent to profit from the curriculum offerings of the 22
college, or would, by his or her presence or conduct, create a 23
disruptive atmosphere within the college not consistent with the 24
purposes of the institution. This subsection (3)(b) shall not apply 25
to competency, conduct, or presence associated with a disability in a 26
person twenty-one years of age or younger attending a technical 27
college; 28
(4) Prepare a comprehensive master plan for the development of 29
community and technical college education and training in the state; 30
and assist the office of financial management in the preparation of 31
enrollment projections to support plans for providing adequate 32
college facilities in all areas of the state. ((The master plan shall 33
include implementation of the vision, goals, priorities, and 34
strategies in the statewide strategic master plan for higher 35
education under RCW 28B.76.200 based on the community and technical 36
college system's role and mission. )) The master plan shall also 37
contain measurable performance indicators and benchmarks for gauging 38
progress toward achieving the goals and priorities;39
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(5) Define and administer criteria and guidelines for the 1
establishment of new community and technical colleges or campuses 2
within the existing districts; 3
(6) Establish criteria and procedures for modifying district 4
boundary lines and consolidating district structures to form multiple 5
campus districts consistent with the purposes set forth in RCW 6
28B.50.020 as now or hereafter amended and in accordance therewith 7
make such changes as it deems advisable; 8
(7) Establish minimum standards to govern the operation of the 9
community and technical colleges with respect to: 10
(a) Qualifications and credentials of instructional and key 11
administrative personnel, except as otherwise provided in the state 12
plan for vocational education; 13
(b) Internal budgeting, accounting, auditing, and financial 14
procedures as necessary to supplement the general requirements 15
prescribed pursuant to chapter 43.88 RCW; 16
(c) The content of the curriculums and other educational and 17
training programs, and the requirement for degrees and certificates 18
awarded by the colleges; 19
(d) Standard admission policies; 20
(e) Eligibility of courses to receive state fund support; and21
(f) Common student identifiers such that once a student has 22
enrolled at any community or technical college he or she retains the 23
same student identification upon transfer to any college district;24
(8) Encourage colleges to use multiple measures to determine 25
whether a student must enroll in a precollege course including, but 26
not limited to, placement tests, the SAT, high school transcripts, 27
college transcripts, or initial class performance, and require 28
colleges to post all the available options for course placement on 29
their website and in their admissions materials; 30
(9) Establish and administer criteria and procedures for all 31
capital construction including the establishment, installation, and 32
expansion of facilities within the various college districts;33
(10) Encourage innovation in the development of new educational 34
and training programs and instructional methods; coordinate research 35
efforts to this end; and disseminate the findings thereof;36
(11) Exercise any other powers, duties and responsibilities 37
necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter;38
(12) Authorize the various community and technical colleges to 39
offer programs and courses in other districts when it determines that 40
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such action is consistent with the purposes set forth in RCW 1
28B.50.020 as now or hereafter amended; 2
(13) Notwithstanding any other law or statute regarding the sale 3
of state property, sell ((or)), exchange, lease, transfer, assign, 4
pledge, or dispose of and convey any or all interest in any community 5
and technical college real and personal property for a public 6
purpose, such as affordable housing , except such property as is 7
received by a college district in accordance with RCW 28B.50.140(8), 8
when it determines that such property is surplus or that such a sale 9
((or)), exchange, lease, transfer, assignment, pledge, or disposal is 10
in the best interests of the community and technical college system;11
(14) In order that the treasurer for the state board for 12
community and technical colleges appointed in accordance with RCW 13
28B.50.085 may make vendor payments, the state treasurer will honor 14
warrants drawn by the state board providing for an initial advance on 15
July 1, 1982, of the current biennium and on July 1st of each 16
succeeding biennium from the state general fund in an amount equal to 17
twenty-four percent of the average monthly allotment for such 18
budgeted biennium expenditures for the state board for community and 19
technical colleges as certified by the office of financial 20
management; and at the conclusion of such initial month and for each 21
succeeding month of any biennium, the state treasurer will reimburse 22
expenditures incurred and reported monthly by the state board 23
treasurer in accordance with chapter 43.88 RCW: PROVIDED, That the 24
reimbursement to the state board for actual expenditures incurred in 25
the final month of each biennium shall be less the initial advance 26
made in such biennium; 27
(15) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (13) of this 28
section, may receive such gifts, grants, conveyances, devises, and 29
bequests of real or personal property from private sources as may be 30
made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, whenever the terms and 31
conditions thereof will aid in carrying out the community and 32
technical college programs and may sell, lease or exchange, invest or 33
expend the same or the proceeds, rents, profits and income thereof 34
according to the terms and conditions thereof; and adopt regulations 35
to govern the receipt and expenditure of the proceeds, rents, profits 36
and income thereof; and 37
(16) The college board shall have the power of eminent domain.38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.50 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
(1) The college board is authorized to enter into long-term 3
leases up to 99 years for the development of affordable housing on 4
underutilized community and technical college land, consistent with 5
RCW 39.33.015. The college board may lease college land to nonprofit 6
developers, public housing authorities, or other entities to ensure 7
affordable housing is developed and maintained. Community and 8
technical colleges may pledge or grant land as security for financing 9
contracts to support affordable housing projects. 10
(2) Any land leased for affordable housing under this section 11
must include restrictive covenants to prevent future conversion to 12
market-rate housing or commercial use and must also address criteria 13
and policies to maintain public benefit if the property is converted 14
to a use other than which continues to provide for affordable 15
housing. 16
(3) If a project fails to secure financing or does not commence 17
construction within four years of lease approval, the community and 18
technical college may reclaim the land under a repurchase agreement.19
(4) Community and technical colleges may allow affordable housing 20
projects to share parking, roads, and utilities without violating 21
restrictions on the use of public resources. Easements may be granted 22
to provide necessary access and services to affordable housing 23
developments. 24
(5) The college board may enter into leaseback agreements with 25
nonprofit developers to ensure access to newly developed housing 26
facilities. 27
(6) If the college board decides to sell or lease underutilized 28
community and technical college land property pursuant to this 29
section, a community or technical college has a right of first 30
refusal to purchase or lease at fair market value a property or 31
unused portions of the property by negotiated agreement with mutual 32
consideration. 33
Sec. 4. RCW 43.17.400 and 2018 c 217 s 2 are each amended to 34
read as follows: 35
(1) Before any state agency may dispose of surplus state-owned 36
real property to a private or any nongovernmental party, the agency 37
must provide written notice to the following governmental entities at 38
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least sixty days before entering into any proposed disposition 1
agreement: 2
(a) All other state agencies; 3
(b) Each federal agency operating within the state; and4
(c) The governing authority of each county, city, town, special 5
purpose district, and federally recognized Indian tribe in which the 6
land is located. 7
(2) The state agency must dispose of the property, for continued 8
public benefit as defined in RCW 39.33.015, to any governmental 9
entity responding within the notification period, upon mutual 10
agreement reached within a reasonable time period after the response 11
is received. Priority must be given to state agencies. The 12
disposition may be for any terms and conditions agreed upon by the 13
proper authorities of each party, in accordance with RCW 39.33.010, 14
except where the disposition at fair market value is required by law.15
(3) The requirements of this section are in addition and 16
supplemental to other requirements of the laws of this state.17
(4) For purposes of this section, "disposition" means the sale, 18
exchange, or other action resulting in a transfer of ownership.19
(5) The requirements of this section do not apply to ((the)):20
(a) The department of transportation; or21
(b) A community or technical college providing affordable housing 22
under section 3 of this act. 23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 82.29A 24
RCW to read as follows: 25
(1) All leasehold interests in underutilized community and 26
technical college land are exempt from tax under this chapter, for 27
the duration of the lease in accordance with section 3 of this act, 28
when used for the placement of affordable housing under the following 29
conditions: 30
(a) A lessee must commit to renting or selling 100 percent of the 31
units as permanently affordable for low-income and moderate-income 32
households; and 33
(b) The term of the lease is at least 99 years.34
(2) Affordable housing for low-income households must be 35
prioritized by the community and technical colleges and the lessee 36
when receiving the exemption under this section. 37
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(3) For purposes of this section, "affordable housing," "low-1
income household," and "moderate-income household" have the same 2
meaning as defined in RCW 84.14.010. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) This section is the tax preference 4
performance statement for the tax preference contained in section 5, 5
chapter . . ., Laws of 2025 (section 5 of this act). This performance 6
statement is only intended to be used for subsequent evaluation of 7
the tax preference. It is not intended to create a private right of 8
action by any party or be used to determine eligibility for 9
preferential tax treatment.10
(2) The legislature categorizes these tax preferences as ones 11
intended to induce certain designated behavior by taxpayers, as 12
indicated in RCW 82.32.808(2)(a). 13
(3) It is the legislature's specific public policy objective to 14
incentivize the placement of affordable housing on underutilized 15
community and technical college land. 16
(4) If a review by the joint legislative audit and review 17
committee finds that the number of affordable housing units placed on 18
underutilized community and technical college land increased 19
following the enactment of this tax preference, the legislature 20
intends to extend the expiration date of the tax preference.21
(5) In order to obtain the data necessary to perform the review 22
in subsection (4) of this section, the joint legislative audit and 23
review committee may refer to the number of new leasehold agreements 24
on underutilized community and technical college land for the 25
purposes of affordable housing. 26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. RCW 82.32.805 does not apply to this act.27
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