Public housing task force

AN ACT Relating to establishing a public housing task force; 1
creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that every 4
Washington resident deserves access to adequate housing, a 5
fundamental human right recognized by the United Nations universal 6
declaration of human rights. Despite the state's economic growth, 7
thousands of individuals remain homeless, including working families 8
who cannot afford housing near their jobs, people who have lost their 9
homes due to foreclosure or medical debt, and individuals with 10
disabilities who are unable to work.11
(2) The legislature further finds that Washington is experiencing 12
a severe housing shortage, with projections indicating that 1,100,000 13
new housing units will be needed by 2040 to meet demand. However, 14
current development trends suggest the state will fall at least 15
500,000 units short, exacerbating affordability challenges and 16
deepening the housing crisis. While nonprofit developers and public 17
housing authorities play a role in addressing housing insecurity, 18
their efforts alone are insufficient to meet the scale of need.19
(3) The legislature finds that previous approaches, tax breaks, 20
incentives, and financial subsidies, have failed to generate the 21
S-1444.1
SENATE BILL 5753
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Hasegawa, Trudeau, Alvarado, Conway, and Saldaña
Read first time 02/14/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
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necessary housing supply. The private market has neither the 1
incentive nor the ability to produce affordable housing at the scale 2
required. Developers benefit from constrained supply, as rising 3
property values increase profits, reducing their motivation to build 4
affordable housing. Furthermore, reliance on tax incentives depletes 5
state resources without correcting the underlying imbalance between 6
housing supply and demand. 7
(4) The legislature further finds that housing has increasingly 8
become a commodity for financial speculation rather than a basic 9
human need. The financialization of housing, driven by global capital 10
markets and speculative investment, has accelerated displacement and 11
eroded affordability, particularly for low-income communities, people 12
with disabilities, and communities of color. The rising cost of 13
housing, combined with spatial segregation and economic exclusion, 14
has left many Washington residents without stable, secure housing.15
(5) The legislature recognizes that Washington has both the means 16
and responsibility to address this crisis, yet the gap between supply 17
and demand continues to grow, leading to escalating housing costs 18
across all income levels. The legislature intends to restore public 19
housing as a core function of government. Public housing in the 20
United States was historically undermined by deliberate government 21
disinvestment and racially exclusionary policies, yet successful 22
models from other jurisdictions demonstrate that well planned, 23
publicly owned housing can provide long-term affordability and 24
stability. The state and local governments collectively own vast 25
amounts of public land, which must be strategically leveraged to 26
reduce development costs and ensure housing remains permanently 27
affordable. 28
(6) The legislature further finds that local governments lack the 29
financial and administrative capacity to address the housing crisis 30
at the necessary scale. 31
(7) Therefore, the legislature intends to look at establishing a 32
statewide housing authority to oversee the development, maintenance, 33
and operation of public housing. The authority should be tasked with 34
ensuring that all public housing developments align with 35
internationally recognized housing adequacy standards, including 36
security of tenure, affordability, accessibility, and proximity to 37
essential services. To support with financing for this effort, the 38
legislature intends to look at creating a dedicated public housing 39
account, which may be capitalized through legislative appropriations, 40
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dedicated revenue streams or other means and, if authorized, 1
financing from a publicly owned depository bank. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The task force on public housing is 3
established. The task force shall look at using a public housing 4
paradigm as a means of meeting housing demand for the future and 5
shall look at leveraging publicly constructed, owned, and operated 6
mixed-income housing. The task force shall provide recommendations to 7
the legislature regarding mixed-income housing in the state of 8
Washington.9
(2) The task force must review and consider, at minimum, the 10
following: 11
(a) Future funding mechanisms that could be used towards 12
development of mixed-income housing and the extent to which this 13
funding is already used for this purpose; 14
(b) Alternative funding strategies that could be used to fund 15
publicly owned mixed-use housing, which should include but is not 16
limited to reviewing other state programs which publicly fund 17
development and whether use of a state housing authority, or similar 18
entity created to address the housing issue as a coordinated 19
statewide issue, to borrow funds from a Washington state publicly 20
owned depository bank could be beneficial; 21
(c) Review of the land inventory conducted by state agencies and 22
other available public lands to determine if those lands could be 23
used for the purpose of publicly owned housing development and 24
whether use of a state land bank or similar structure could 25
facilitate development of affordable housing; 26
(d) Review the United Nations human rights office of the high 27
commissioner's definition of housing adequacy and develop a strategic 28
plan to create livable communities for all Washingtonians to thrive, 29
including sufficient publicly owned housing supply to offset demand; 30
and 31
(e) Structural governance changes and financing changes that may 32
be necessary to the state's housing strategy to address the housing 33
crisis on a statewide basis, such as a statewide housing authority.34
(3) The task force shall provide a preliminary report on its 35
findings under subsection (2) of this section to the legislature by 36
July 1, 2026, and provide a final report by November 1, 2026, that 37
includes recommendations to the legislature regarding:38
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(a) How to restructure public housing development to address 1
affordability at all income levels but especially for homeless 2
persons and residents that are at or below 200 percent of the area 3
median income; 4
(b) Strategies to implement public housing to increase 5
affordability of housing units including separating values of land 6
from the improvements on the land in public housing projects for 7
possible sale of individual units to help with overall construction 8
and maintenance costs; and 9
(c) Strategies to create whole livable communities using public 10
housing as the anchor strategy with all necessary amenities required 11
for healthy communities including but not limited to classroom and 12
child care spaces, shopping stores for grocery and household needs, 13
small business spaces, open spaces, walkability, primary health care 14
facilities, and accessibility to high-speed transit and jobs.15
(4) The task force shall consist of the following members:16
(a) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 17
senate, appointed by the president of the senate; 18
(b) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house 19
of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house;20
(c) The lieutenant governor or the lieutenant governor's 21
designee; 22
(d) The director of the department of commerce or the director's 23
designee; 24
(e) One representative from the Washington state housing finance 25
commission; 26
(f) One representative from each ethnic commission, as defined in 27
RCW 44.28.005, appointed by the director of each respective 28
commission; 29
(g) The director of the governor's office of Indian affairs, or 30
the director's designee; and 31
(h) The following members appointed jointly by the president of 32
the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives:33
(i) A representative of a builders association;34
(ii) A representative of architects; 35
(iii) An organization representing the nonprofit housing 36
development industry; 37
(iv) Two representatives from public housing authorities created 38
under chapter 35.82 RCW, with one representative from east of the 39
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crest of the Cascade mountains and one representative from west of 1
the crest of the Cascade mountains; 2
(v) Two representatives of the association of Washington cities, 3
with one representative from a city that is located east of the crest 4
of the Cascade mountains and one representative from a city that is 5
located west of the crest of the Cascade mountains; and6
(vi) At least three individuals from underrepresented populations 7
who have direct lived experience with housing instability.8
(5) The department of commerce must administer and provide staff 9
support for the task force. The department of commerce may work with 10
the task force to determine appropriate subcommittees as needed.11
(6) The task force must hold its first meeting within 45 days of 12
final appointments to the task force and must meet at least twice 13
each year thereafter. The task force must submit reports to the 14
governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature detailing 15
its findings and recommendations. Meeting summaries must be posted to 16
the website of the department of commerce within 30 days of any 17
meeting by the task force. 18
(7) Legislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for 19
travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative 20
members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they 21
are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, 22
governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for 23
other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.24
(8) To ensure that the task force has diverse and inclusive 25
representation of those affected by its work, task force members, 26
including subcommittee members, whose participation in the task force 27
may be hampered by financial hardship may be compensated as provided 28
in RCW 43.03.220. 29
(9) This section expires June 30, 2027. 30
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