February 21, 2014

Ding Dong! Washington Impact Fee Deferrals Bill Dead

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Last year, 2013, the Washington legislature approved with overwhelming support (83 to 11 in the House and 34 to 14 in the Senate) a bill that would have allowed the deferral of impact fees with the signing of a covenant.  When it landed on the Governor’s desk he vetoed the bill citing his belief that it benefitted large builders in the state.  The Seattle Times ran an editorial over Memorial Weekend calling on the legislature to override the Governor’s veto.  It didn’t happen.

Instead legislators returned with a bill limiting the number of homes that would be eligible for the deferral each year in each jurisdiction.  House Bill 2677 and Senate Bill 6461 tackled the Governor’s concerns.  And yet, the Senate bill failed to make it out of committee and the House bill failed to get a floor vote.  The legislative process beclouds me sometimes, in that a bill with overwhelming support one year cannot survive the next even though it targets specific fixes.

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