Advocacy Update

By Doug Mah, Doug Mah & Associates and Thurston Chamber's Public Policy Director

The greater Thurston region is in the midst of a housing crisis primarily due to a lack of affordable housing across the region. Elected leaders agree.

Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder is credited in the Olympian mitigation goals. as writing, “In Lacey, the need for affordable housing is more significant than ever. Unfortunately, several factors are working against those efforts.” (the Olympian, February 15, 2021). What is significant about these separate actions is that it appears that the City Councils used the fiscal impact of the proposed building policies to inform their decisions. Knowing and understanding how The Thurston Chamber agrees with Mayor Ryder. public policy impacts housing affordability creates Significant factors working against affordable an opportunity to discuss and debate community housing are well-intentioned but costly regulatory priorities and trade-offs. and construction requirements. Our elected leaders are recognizing that competing community ambitions are creating difficult public policy tradeoffs. State agencies must estimate the cost of any proposed law as part of the State government’s legislative and budgeting process. The analysis must identify what part of the proposed regulations will add or "Knowing and understanding how public policy impacts housing affordability creates In Olympia, the City Council an opportunity to discuss and save money and clearly outline discovered that building some new Accessory Dwelling Units or ADUs (mother-indebate community priorities and trade-offs." the assumptions used to estimate the fiscal impact. These fiscal impact statements, or “Fiscal law apartments) included a requirement for a fire -DOUG MAH Notes,” are profoundly important for lawmakers and help ensure suppression sprinkler system lawmakers understand the added that could add more than cost or savings of any proposed $8,000 in additional costs to a project. As a result of policy change. this finding, the City Council voted to exempt ADUs from the fire sprinkler requirement if the primary house is not required to have them. The Council, in this instance, placed housing affordability and housing goals over fire protection goals. The Public Policy Division of the Thurston Chamber believes that local decision-makers need to have the equivalent of a “Fiscal Note” for every proposed change to public policy that influences the cost and equity of housing across the region. In Lacey, the City Council found that new State energy codes could add $10,000 to $30,000 to the cost of new homes. As a Statewide building code, the law required Lacey City Council to adopt the new costly regulations. However, the cost impact prompted the City Council to vote to send the Now is the time for every jurisdiction to start using valid, reliable, transparent, and shared calculations to ask: “Does this policy proposal have a negative or positive financial impact on how affordable our future housing will be?” Governor a request to delay implementing the new energy code. In effect, the City Council is asking that the State place immediate housing affordability and housing goals over long-range climate change Let’s enable our elected officials to have better discussions and debates around community priorities and trade-offs by asking for a local housing Fiscal Note.