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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We’ve hit an important cutoff date as we close week six of the 2025 legislative session. Friday, Feb. 21, is policy cutoff, meaning it’s the last day for most bills to be passed out of their respective committees. Cutoff for fiscal committees is Friday, Feb. 28, then we’ll spend a week and a half debating and voting on bills on the House floor.
I recently had a one-on-one meeting with House Speaker Laurie Jinkins. We had a good discussion, especially about your concerns over the I-5 Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR), tolling, and the inclusion of light rail. The possible $2,400/year tolls would devastate many families and small businesses in our community. I told her about my HB 1869, which would prohibit Washington from paying for any capital costs of a transit organization NOT owned and operated in our state. It has the potential to save between $400 million and $500 million of your tax dollars for much-needed transportation projects around the state.
My bill does not prohibit light rail on the IBR but merely says Oregon must pay for it. I later delivered a copy of my 20-page letter to former DOT Secretary Buttigieg, laying out a huge number of problems and concerns with the overall project. You can read it here.
Separately, bills were introduced in the House and Senate that would saddle Washington state with the entire burden of the $1.6 billion the IBR wants to borrow, funded by tolls. If tolling dollars weren’t enough, the bills would allow WSDOT to use money from other tolling facilities around the state. And if that weren’t enough, they could tap gas or any other taxes to pay the bill. Unbelievably, the language does NOT obligate Oregon to shoulder any of this burden. I was on the Lars Larson radio show discussing this. Listen here.
A Cause for Concern
Unfortunately, some bad bills are making their way through the Legislature, which you should know about. Many of you have already contacted me this session about some of these bills, and we are listening. I assure you Republicans are doing everything we can to stop these bad bills from going forward. While the ruling party ultimately has the final say, we will exhaust every effort to prevent these bills from becoming law and hurting Washingtonians. Here’s a brief recap of some of these bills.
Rent Control – Our affordable housing crisis is not getting better, and the Democrats’ latest effort is not the answer. House Bill 1217 would cap annual rent increases at 7%, with exemptions for public housing, nonprofit housing, new construction, low-income housing, owner-occupied duplexes, and homeowners renting out rooms. HB 1217 is rent control, which sounds good on the surface, but multiple examples from other states that have tried rent control show it doesn’t work. In fact, rent control will make things worse.
- Rent control and rent stabilization harm tenants by causing immediate rent increases and over time, higher rents than if the policies were never enacted. Some of the most expensive cities in the country have rent control, and it has failed to lower the cost or improve the quality of renting a house or apartment. These include New York City, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.
- Rent control reduces the supply of available rental housing, which disproportionately hurts low-income renters and people of color.
- Rent control further slows housing development in Washington, worsening the state’s already severe housing crisis.
- Rent control’s total impact on our housing market will worsen our homelessness crisis.
- Rent control encourages landlords to implement the maximum allowable rent increase annually, even when smaller increases might otherwise suffice.
Parental Rights Under Attack – House Bill 1296 is a direct assault on parental rights and the will of the people. Nearly 450,000 Washingtonians supported the Parental Rights Initiative (I-2081), which the Legislature passed last year with bipartisan support to ensure parents had access to their child’s school records, medical and mental health records, curriculum, and more. Now, Democrats are trying to undo those protections with HB 1296.
This bill strips away parental rights, limits transparency, and blocks voters from challenging it with an emergency clause. This bill will make it harder for parents to access educational materials, review their children’s school, medical, and health records, and opt out of certain instruction and assignments. HB 1296 has passed out of committee and is awaiting a vote on the house floor. Rep. Monica Stonier of Vancouver is the prime sponsor of this bill. If you oppose it, please contact her.
More Taxes – Democrats are also pushing more new taxes this session, including House Bill 1334, which would increase the property tax growth limit from 1% to 3%. This opens the door for increased taxes for homeowners and renters alike. This is a bad bill that would hurt Washingtonians, especially homeowners already battling inflation and rising costs for food, gas, and utilities. More taxes could spike the cost of living, and renters might feel it, too, when the costs trickle down. Even our local paper agrees: The Columbian: This is a bad time for legislators to raise taxes.
In addition to HB 1334, here are some other tax bills to be aware of.
House Bill 1480 is a real estate excise tax that would allow counties to impose an additional local excise tax on property sales, making housing even more costly.
House Bill 1320 would increase the B&O tax hike for small businesses, leading to higher prices and potentially fewer jobs.
House Bill 1921 would create a 2.6 cent road usage charge meant for preservation and maintenance of highways and a road usage charge assessment that is 10 percent of the road usage charge amount less the credit for fuel charges paid. The assessment supports rail, bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation. This is a two-tax program called the road usage charge, or RUC, program. This tax would be on top of the gas tax which currently acts as a “usage fee” – the more you drive, the more you pay.
This is another bad bill that will hurt struggling Washington families. A 2.6 cents per mile tax—on top of already high gas taxes – would harm drivers, especially in rural areas. When the bill had a public hearing last week, nearly 20,000 people signed in to testify against the bill. Only 239 were in favor. That’s a clear “NO” from the people of Washington.
Individuals and families are already struggling with the third-highest cost of living in the nation. We don’t need more taxes to make things even worse.
Update on My Legislation
I’m happy to report that on Tuesday, the House Environment and Energy Committee unanimously passed House Bill 1857, which would help businesses and labor groups reduce the cost of construction. The bill would exempt commercial aggregates or asphalt and concrete materials from restrictions about labeling and the use of naturally occurring asbestos-containing building materials. It would also exempt certain facility owners from asbestos inspection, management, and reporting requirements for commercial aggregates or asphalt and concrete material.
These materials are vital to the construction industry, specifically for roads, driveways, and parking lots. However, the standards enacted from the previous policy have created an unnecessary burden. The original policy never intended to include these materials used on our roads. This legislation would exempt these materials from the current standard and boost the construction industry. Click here to read more. I also recently joined Lars Larson on KXL Radio to discuss this bill further. Click here to listen.
Which Crises Worries You the Most?
Lastly, I want to share a simple one-question poll asking which Washington crisis concerns you the most. Just click here to vote.
Keep in Touch
I am honored to serve as your state representative, and I will continue to fight for your rights. Please stay connected and continue reaching out.
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
John Ley
