How your Whatcom lawmakers voted in 2023

It is not always easy to find time to track and then engage on legislative issues that impact you, your family, your business, etc.

That is where, working with the Whatcom Business Alliance and their Business Pulse magazine, Future 42 and our new Whatcom County Project can be a helpful resource.

Hopefully you were able to track some of the bills and maybe even weigh in on them during the legislative session to let your local legislators know your position and how they could impact Whatcom County.

One of the major goals from the governor and legislators from both parties was to address affordable housing and to build more homes across the state. There were several bills that attempted to reduce the cost of new homes: HB 1293 will streamline some development regulations, SB 5058 exempts some buildings from the definition of “multiunit residential,” and SB 5290 consolidated the local permit review process. While HB 1181 adds “climate change” as a specific element to the Growth Management Act and adds a goal to reduce vehicle miles driven, which would increase housing costs with yet another regulatory element.

Check out the article to see how the six Whatcom legislators voted on these key housing bills.

We encourage you to stay engaged and to continue to let your state legislators know where you stand on these and other important issues. Even when they are not in session in Olympia, it’s a good time to ask them where they stand on all of these issues.

This piece originally ran as a column by Dann Mead Smith, who is also part of Future 42, in Business Pulse.