H-3093.2
HOUSE BILL 2701
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Barkis, Engell, and Ley
Read first time 01/28/26. Referred to Committee on Local Government.
AN ACT Relating to land use development; amending RCW 36.70A.020 , 36.70A.070 , 36.70A.340 , 36.70B.020 , 36.70B.030 , 36.70B.070 , 36.70B.080 , and 36.70B.140 ; repealing RCW 36.70A.250 , 36.70A.252 , 36.70A.260 , 36.70A.270 , 36.70A.280 , 36.70A.290 , 36.70A.295 , 36.70A.300 , 36.70A.302 , 36.70A.305 , 36.70A.310 , 36.70A.320 , 36.70A.3201 , 36.70A.330 , 36.70A.332 , and 36.70A.335 ; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington is experiencing a structural housing affordability and attainability crisis that has placed homeownership beyond the reach of many hard-working families. The Washington center for housing studies shows that nearly four out of five Washington households cannot afford a median-priced home. The impacts of this shortage fall most heavily on rural and historically marginalized communities, where limited housing options constrain economic opportunity, undermine housing stability, and restrict long-term wealth-building.
The legislature further finds that this crisis is not the result of insufficient demand or a failure of the private market to produce housing, but rather the predictable outcome of Washington's land use and growth management framework as implemented over the past 35 years. The growth management act was intended to direct growth through comprehensive planning, yet in practice its implementation has shifted decision making away from adopted plans, toward localized discretion and repeated project-level review.