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As the housing crisis tightens its grip on communities throughout the continent, state-level solutions have begun to take center stage.

In 2019, the Washington legislature stepped up on housing and scored some good wins for housing abundance and affordability. This year, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are back with a raft of housing proposals for the 2020 two-month “short” session.

More states are tackling housing

Oregon and California have led the way. Last summer, Oregon passed landmark legislation that legalized duplexes everywhere in nearly every city in the state, and up to fourplexes in parts of all large cities.

Over the past few years, California adopted numerous measures to unclog the state’s gargantuan housing shortage, most recently reforming rules on in-law suites to allow three homes on every residential lot in the state.

Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas have passed state laws limiting permitting delays or banning local restrictions on design. And the list of states considering legislation for abundant housing keeps growing longer: Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Florida, and Connecticut.

Why cities need state leadership to address affordability

Housing affordability is a top issue facing Washington. Affording a home near where you work, go to school, and make your life is at the heart of everyone’s economic security and opportunity, dignity, and well-being.

The housing crisis crosses municipal boundaries, it spans communities on the east and west sides of the mountains, and it’s hurting people in big and small cities. The problem is too big and widespread for cities to tackle separately.

What’s more, Washingtonians who need affordability solutions the most often don’t have a say. Opposition from a small but vocal minority often drowns out the voices of less affluent neighbors, homeless or insecure households, and lower-income households. Without state standards, city policymakers face a political battlefield to do the right thing for their communities.

The answer is state standards to hold cities accountable to do their part and work together across city boundaries—state solutions that can also speak for those without a voice in local housing decisions. Just as the state sets guidelines for road safety, labor standards, and growth management, we can set reasonable, effective standards for housing while giving each community plenty of flexibility to make it work in their local context.

State standards are essential to protect mixed-income communities, keep Washington families from costly, crushing commutes, and safeguard our health and environment from pollution, traffic, sprawl, and climate change.

Three policy pillars for solving our housing crisis

Equitably tackling Washington’s housing affordability crisis calls for a holistic approach comprising three main objectives:

more homes of all shapes and sizes to cool average rents and prices

more funding for subsidies to help those who can’t afford what the market offers

more tenant protections to safeguard those with the least housing security

Last year, Washington lawmakers did an exemplary job of pursuing a balanced suite of bills to address these three key pieces of the equitable housing puzzle, and this year they’re on track to do the same.

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At Sightline, we’ve focused most of our research on policies to create housing abundance by loosening overly restrictive zoning laws and regulations. We see the more homes bills as critical foundations for complementary policies for housing subsidies and tenant protections. Each reinforces the effectiveness of the others.

More homes—enough homes of all shapes and sizes—keeps prices and rents lower, which reduces the need for public subsidy by helping more people afford what the private market provides. And when housing is abundant, measures such as rent stabilization are less likely to backfire by squeezing the supply of rentals, but will still prevent gouging.

Both subsidies and protections can help people in the near term, while creating housing abundance and reaping the benefits plays out over the longer term. Together, all three legs of the stool can create a balanced statewide housing affordability strategy.

Read on below for a rundown of what Washington legislators are cooking up for each of the three critical categories. The robust set of bills presents lawmakers with an opportunity to set a national example for statewide housing policy reform.