Professor Henslow is not afraid to wade into
waters with confidence. Yeah, you want to talk
water policy? Things that he does not know about.
How much water policy do you want to talk about?
You speak with a lot of authority without any
depth. That's a little shallow. Can we have another
water pun? I don't know. Yeah, we could. You
know, you're drowning in policy. Get it? Yeah,
it's all under the bridge. Oh, I feel a wave.
You know what water policy does? It just flows
right out. We could go on. No, no, we can't.
Welcome to County Connection. the official podcast
of the Washington State Association of Counties,
where we dive into the legislative issues shaping
the future of our communities. From budgets to
public safety, infrastructure to elections, we'll
break down what's happening in Olympia and how
it impacts counties from across the Evergreen
State. Stay informed, stay engaged, and join
us as we amplify the voice of Washington's 39
counties. Welcome back, everybody, to the County
Connection podcast. the official podcast of the
Washington State Association of Counties. I'm
Paul Jewell, and I'm back in the studio with
Brian Enslow. Brian is a policy consultant for
WASAC. He's been working on housing for the last
couple of sessions, and we are in the thick of
it right now in the legislative session. Brian,
how are things going so far? I'm actually very
positive about how things are going so far. Really?
Yeah, I think, and I know we'll talk more about...
this in just a bit but it's early it is but it's
already late i was gonna say it's not really
early because this is a short session right this
is the second session of the biennium so it's
only 60 days we are i think day 18 or 19 so we're
almost a third through i wouldn't consider that
I wouldn't consider that early anymore. And we
are looking at the cutoff for policy bills coming
out of the House of Origin, I think next Wednesday,
less than a week from now. Yeah, it's February
4th. For those of you that are maybe not quite...
as familiar with kind of the process of the legislature
i think we've talked about this in various forms
but i love quoting that it's you know if you've
read your federalist papers you know it's a system
designed to fail and it's a process by the way
of i mean the purest definition of process that's
for sure so um and you can always you kind of
get a sense of how many bills are introduced
by like what's the most recent bill number so
we're in the like there's been a total of like
1500 or more in the house and the Senate's around
1200 or so. So just the second half, just for
that's total. Yeah. But just for the second half,
it's right around 1200 already. Okay. So, so,
and what that means is like all of these are
active, all of them. Um, the ones that have,
um, moved or had hearings or something, you know,
are clearly more active than maybe someone once
from last year. Sure. But to the, to the, to
the, To Paul's point, those 1 ,200 bills that
were introduced, either pre -filed or introduced
this year, have to be heard and taken action
upon. We call it exact. Right. Out of their policy
committee. By February 4th. And the wild thing
in a special session. I feel like you're the
host all of a sudden. I've taken over. You have
taken over. Suddenly I've lost control of my
own podcast. The wild thing, and I don't know
how much he's going to leave in our interview
when we're talking about waves and water, is
in a short session, it just. Then each cutoff
just comes like a wave. So it does. So the policy
committee, which is the, or I'm sorry, the policy
committee is the fourth. The fiscal cutoff is
the ninth. That's right. Yeah. Five days, five
days later. And one of those is a Sunday. And
so, so, you know, they're not going to work that
day. So really just for working days. Yeah. And
the other thing is, I don't know how many policy
committees are, but let's just say there's 15.
Yeah. There's a lot. I don't know how many there
are more than a dozen. Yeah. There's only. In
the Senate side, there's only one fiscal committee.
Right. In the House side, there's three. That's
right. But that is a recipe for a clogged funnel,
right? Because you have all these policy committees
just dumping out these bills that are... And
most of them got to go through that fiscal committee
at the bottom of that funnel before they can
actually get spit out onto the floor. Yeah, and
they're not cooked. No, not by any means. No,
the vast majority of them. Yeah, especially in
a short session like this. So, and then the other
thing you think of... is not a lot of money to
go around this year. Maybe you've heard. Maybe
you've talked about one. You know, we've talked
about that a little bit. In fact, if you go back
to some of the previous podcast recordings from
just last week, I'm having a hard time remembering,
but I think there might have been a mention or
two of a budget crisis. Yeah. So that's going
to impact the likelihood of. of those well -intentioned
policy bills to continue in a destiny that would
move them forward in other words they're going
to die yeah and if they're not going to die they're
not going to die in that fiscal committee because
it costs too much money they'll get neutered
or something like that and then and so we're
in this real we're in this um uh almost like
this fulcrum of this hourglass if you think of
like these 1200 new bills being introduced in
two weeks where we our hair is on fire Well,
yours might be. Our hair's on fire. For those
of you who are listening, he gave me a funny
look when he said that as if it was my turn to
say something in response, which I did. Because
I don't have that much hair. Thanks, Brian. Appreciate
that. Oh, there's nothing like a male friend
to really make you feel loved, appreciated, and
seen. Yeah, just really tells you how great you
are, how good you look. It really bolsters your
self -esteem on a regular basis. Thanks, Brian.
I appreciate that. Fulcrum. Back to my fulcrum,
where it's thousands of bills that we're trying
to read in two weeks, and then... In another
two weeks from now, there's only going to be
a handful that are really meaningful and really
important. Yeah, the legit bills, we'll know
actually, geez, in probably two weeks, we'll
know kind of our work will be cut out for us,
so they say, because we'll have a very clear
picture of what still is viable and what's not.
Yeah, and it's not that it gets easier. No, not
by any means. But it becomes more known. Well,
and more intense in some ways, right? Because
you are correct. The vast majority of these bills,
unless they have been worked session over session
over session or a ton of work was done during
the interim. None of them are really cooked.
So they're going to come out of their house of
origin. They're going to come off of the floor
of origin. And that's when the work really begins.
And it has to begin in earnest because if they're
going to get fully cooked, fully baked, fully
developed, right, they've got a very short period
of time because I think it's only a couple of
more weeks. You've got, what, another week? There
is only one week between the floor cutoff and
then the next policy cutoff. The next policy
cutoff. And then I think it's only three days
to the fiscal after that rather than five. Is
that right? I can't remember, but it is tight.
And it all is leading to the end of session on
March 12th, which, you know, isn't that far away.
Interestingly enough, Paul, we have a bill. We
do. That's been fully cooked through the ringer,
worked. And that's a housing bill. Yes, it is.
Which just happens to be your specialty. That's
a generous connotation, but I'll take it. It
is my area of focus on behalf of the Association
of Washington County. It's because I don't retaliate.
You insult me on the air. I compliment you on
the air. I'm trying to show you, by example,
how to treat a fellow colleague in a podcast.
I hope it works. Paul is doing a nice job of
being an exemplar of how we should really demonstrate.
An appropriate bid for connection. Instead of
making fun of someone's tie or shoes. Or their
hairline. Oh, that was pretty low. It was. That
was the lowest of the low. All right, moving
on. So you said we had a bill. It's a housing
bill. You just happen to be working on it because
that's why you're here. You're working on housing
bills for the county's association. And you were
saying it's fully cooked. Everyone's going to
have their own opinion. on how they like their
steak. But this one's been worked on by you in
prior years and by me last year as well. And
there's been a lot of stakeholder input and kind
of fine -tuning and titrating of both kind of
things. I don't think we've told them what the
bill is. 1345. Perfect. Which is the bill number,
but what is the bill? That is the bill that explicitly
authorizes detached ADUs. Which is? A detached
ADU? What is that? I didn't say D -A -D -U. Oh,
yes, I did say ADU, didn't I? Accessory Dwelling
Unit. Nicely done. All acronyms must be defined.
No, I appreciate that. I was like, wait, I said
detached. You did, yes. I did, yeah. Because
I don't like that D -A -D -U, or some people
call them DADUs. I think that's terrible. I prefer
detached ADU. Yeah, I would never. Yeah, it just
sounds better. One of our champions in the Senate
says daddy. It always takes me about five seconds
to remember. What is that? What is that? Yeah.
It just sounds funny. The kids slang these days.
I got a daddy. What do you got? That's weird.
Yeah. I was assuming it was an insult. Again,
maybe I'm a little defensive. But we digress,
Paul. Let's get back on track. That's the actual
definition of digression. Let's get back on track.
Yeah. So the purpose of the bill is to provide
explicit authority for counties in the rural
area to authorize detached accessory dwelling
units. Current law only allows attached, which
provides some utility, but perhaps not the same
utility that... detached ADU. Can I say ADU now
that we've defined it? Yes, you can. Okay, great.
You can say it over and over. Right, and I think
we all know, right, we either have, depending
on where we are in our lives, we either have
aging parents that we don't necessarily want,
you know, that they could have more independence
and a higher quality of life, living in their
own space, but still receive the support they
need from us, or kids that are, you know, starting
to launch, but perhaps not fully in. Or failure
to launch, you can say it. No, no, no. There
are other kids, though. It's cold. We don't want
the O -rings to freeze. There are other family
members who just need extra help, right? They
need extra support. Sometimes they're older.
Sometimes they're not. Or, you know, ADUs do
serve as good rental housing options, too. You
know, I live in a college town, for instance.
a lot of ADUs in our college town, and a lot
of them are occupied by college students, both
for some that are there for the entire time,
some that are there temporarily, happens in the
summer, as well as in the spring, as well as
throughout the year. And by ADUs, we mean when
we say a detached accessory dwelling unit, we're
talking about things like... an apartment above
a garage or a shop that's not attached to the
house, or maybe even a freestanding small -scale
cottage that's on the same property that's not
attached to the house. These come in all kinds
of different shapes and forms. It could even
be a manufactured house or a tiny house, something
that could move around. And in earlier times,
they don't make these anymore, from what I understand,
but it could have been a mobile home. Those have
been replaced with manufactured housing, but
it could have been a mobile home, say, in the
1970s or the 1980s. So these are a type of housing
that's been around for a very long time. The
GMA, for whatever reason, has decided through
case law decisions that went before the Growth
Management Hearings Board and then to the Supreme
Court that detached ADUs were not compliant with
the GMA, but attached ADUs were. Completely nonsensical.
Yeah. Doesn't make, you know, there's really
no good arguments for that, even though the court
found that. And so we've been trying to get this
through the legislature. It feels like forever.
It does. It feels like literally forever. I mean,
it's been. I think it's year six for you. Oh,
it's been brutal. Yeah. Imagine having to talk
about ADUs for six years. Yeah. And it's not
just the subject. It's who you have to talk to
about it. I got so desperate that I tried to
appeal to the pop culture memory of legislators
a couple of times by reminding them that Arthur
Fonzarelli from Happy Days lived in an ADU. Oh,
dear. Which, of course, was above the garage
of the Cunningham's house, if you're familiar
with the show. I'm showing my age a little bit.
You're probably like, what was Happy Days? No,
no, no. Most people don't realize that the popular
now colloquial expression, jumping the shark.
Oh, yes. Which basically when you've run out
of ideas because you've done so many things is
from the Happy Days. That's a Happy Days reference,
absolutely. Because Fonzie went to the beach
and jumped a shark. He did it in his leather
jacket, no less. Yes. Paul and I are about the
same age, in case anyone's wondering. So anyways,
I mean, I got so desperate that I actually brought
that up in testimony on more than one occasion.
Again, digression, but just a couple of years
ago happened to be the 50th anniversary of the
television show. So it gave me all kinds of time
to bring that up. So I do think there are some
really good things here that are helpful for
us. We'll avoid some of the things that have
happened in the past. strange breezeways to connect
things and stuff like that. And there's a pathway
for compliance to the extent that there have
been some things. Well, the nice thing about
a detached ADU is you get a little more privacy
versus building, say, a mother -in -law apartment
that's attached to the house or having an ADU
in the basement or something like that. Everybody
wins oftentimes with a little bit more privacy.
We alluded to that earlier, and my personal experience
isn't super germane here, but I love my mom.
Yeah. I think we talked about this when we talked
about it last time. And later in life, I love
being close to my mom, but not that close. Not
too close, yeah. Just the right amount of close.
Sure, sure. It worked for both of us. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't think that's a unique experience. I don't
think that's unique. She's a wonderful woman.
Yeah. So this bill, when you say it's fully cooked,
we've spent a lot of time working on it. It's
got some requirements in it. I know some of those
are controversial, but this was the only way
we were able to get it through the legislature,
right, to put some kind of qualifications on,
you know, how big it could be. You mentioned
that. How many there could be. That's one of
them. This has been one of the most narrowest.
policy needles to thread. Yeah, it's been tough.
It has not been easy. And it's not just been
us working on it. Realtors were working on it.
Builders Association was working on it for a
while. Housing advocates have been working on
it as well. And we really ran up against some
of the planning groups that are out there as
far as the future -wise of the world and others
that really resisted this for a long time, mostly
around density concerns. So that's what a lot
of our negotiation was. there's some requirements
in here brian um correct me if i'm wrong where
as counties we have to we basically can allow
them anywhere now if this bill passes outside
of urban growth areas but we have to actually
keep track of how many we allow right for the
first 10 years or so and then we use that data
to then project what we'll need for the next
planning period, which under the GMA is 20 years.
And then that gets kind of configured into our
zoning scheme outside of our growth areas to
make sure we can accommodate that need. Is that
right? That's 100 % correct. And it's kind of
an unprecedented thing to broker a deal that
gets put into state law where you can do something
for a 10 -year period without necessarily having
to make sure that you're... planning scheme accommodates
it and that's been the crux of this entire issue
has really been around density and how do you
make sure that you plan for these and if we allow
them what will the i don't know what the right
word is but let's say what will the uh saturation
level actually be well that's there's a vast
vast difference of opinion of utilization and
uptake and i think i would say that ours is based
on some experience Yeah, but it's been all anecdotal.
No one's actually kept track for the most part
over a long period of time. Or delineated the
difference between attached versus detached.
Right, exactly. And so when we first started
talking about this and wanted to allow them on
every residential lot, and we were trying to
negotiate with FutureWise, their position was,
well, if you want to put it on every lot, then
that's double the density, so you need to cut
your density allowances in half. that's assuming
every lot would build one. And we know that's
just not going to happen, right? And so we were
able to work with them. Detached ADUs are allowed
in most city residential codes. They're required.
And they're not. They're required, like two on
every lot. And there's pre -planned. And to my
point is, drive around. Start counting them.
Right. There's not that many there. There's a
lot fewer than you would think. Right. Because
people can choose. People can choose. Whether
they want them or they don't. People want a basketball
hoop or a garden. Right. Or an office. And sometimes
they build them for a need, like support of a
family member. And that situation changes for
whatever reason. Sometimes the family member
moves on. There's different ways a family member
can move on, and they don't need it for that
purpose anymore, and they don't actually continue
to use it, right? They convert it to another
purpose. So, yeah, you drive around a neighborhood,
and in most areas now where housing is zoned
for within urban growth areas and within cities,
they're allowed a minimum of two, minimum of
two ADUs required. It's just not happening. Right.
And so we you know, it's reasonable to think
that that's also not going to happen in the unincorporated
areas. But we had to convince them that, you
know, we had a strategy for, you know, by which
we would actually. eventually regulate them by
kind of keeping track of how many we did and
then using that to project what we would need
in the future. So rather than just saying, okay,
because we want to allow them everywhere, we're
going to have to cut our density, allow density
in half, we got to a much more reasonable place.
And it's really unusual to get that in a bill
like this and to actually put that in statute.
I just kind of wanted to mention that. It's a
unique, it's a really unique feature of the bill.
That's a really good point. And it's a unique
partnership with folks who were on the opposite
side of the table with us for a really, really
very long time over this issue in particular.
Yeah. Mine is... So I've converted mine into
a workshop. I'm currently focusing on hammer
dulcimers. I have no idea what that is. It's
an instrument. I use coca -bola wood. It's like
what you'd see from like a ukulele from Hawaii.
And you said it actually correctly, ukulele.
Most people say ukulele. Well, I try. Look at
you. You're kind of a snob where ukuleles are
concerned, I think. What do our listeners need
to know from me right now? They need to know
that 1345 was passed off the house floor. Right.
Already. Already. So all those talks about this
cutoff. Way ahead of the cutoff. So, yeah, that's
the February 17th cutoff. Yeah, so we're way
ahead of the game on this one, which is great
because last year we got it all the way to the
floor and we were told it was going to pass and
it got broiled up in a controversial. battle
on another bill that was really political. We
were collateral damage. Yeah, we ended up being
collateral damage. So it was great to see it
move this year and move early. What's the next
step with the bill? Well, I'm hearing we have
a hearing. Oh, Lord. Did you just say that? I
did. Don't cut that one, Mitch. No, no, no, no,
no. Oh, my. Is that what you heard? Yeah, next
week. It's actually published in the hearing
schedule. All right. Okay. Well, I'm listening.
So, and what's kind of unusual. These are all
bad dad jokes. I know. It's being heard on February
4th, and that's a date that keeps coming back
up. Yeah. And what's kind of unusual, and again,
it's an indicator of good things. Yeah. Is it's
a House bill being heard in a Senate policy committee.
The day of the Senate policy cutoff. Right. It's
killing a Senate bill. It is, yeah. Instead of
hearing a Senate bill on the last day to hear
Senate bills or exacting a Senate bill on the
last day to exact Senate bills out of the policy
committee, they're hearing this House bill. Yeah.
That's unusual. It is unusual. I still kind of
expect it to be rescheduled a little bit, but
if it's not, then it's... I don't know how to
interpret it other than a - It's not the only
one. It's not the only house bill on the schedule.
Yeah, okay. There's a couple of others too. So
either they don't have enough bills or any that
they think are viable enough that they just want
to get a head start. But we'll take it. And so
that's going to put us at, again, just thinking
about how you stay ahead of the clock. Right.
Because the clock, I mean - The clock runs everything
over there. This whole system is run by the clock.
And speaking of being. Kind of a broken clock.
Oh, boy. On a short session. Get that smile off
your face. It's like I just want to scratch her.
I know. Or I got like a double yoker or like
two cookies in my. Just say it. Just say what
you were going to say. No, but in a short session,
it's just the moments matter. And to continue
to stay ahead of that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you've
got to. And so far, we're well ahead of it. Now,
let's talk about a few. I feel like we should
knock on wood before we end that part of the
conversation. It makes a wood like sound. It
is a wood like substance. For those of you who
are familiar with our desks here at WOSAC, they
have a wood grain pattern on them. However, I'm
pretty sure they're for mica. Although underneath
here, there is probably some particle board or
medium density fiber board. For sure. Which all
does contain wood product at some level. I would
say none of the laminate is peeling. That's not
true. Good condition. I am knocking on this as
if it were. I have faith that there's wood somewhere
in this product. Well, Hogfield is wood. Yes,
exactly. It's a wood product. Exactly. All right.
Moving on. Wasak Desk, not made out of Hogfield.
So I think we've done 1345 to death, but that's
not the only build that you're working on or
not the only strategy you're working on for us
this year. So we have a new title. a new bill
number this year for an issue that was introduced
last year. And that is House Bill 2559. Okay.
Which pertains to the taxation of short -term
rental housing. Okay. And now short -term rental
housing, we're talking about things like listings
on VRBO. Right? Which I can't remember what BRBO
stands for. Well, I'm looking at them because
no free advertisement here. Or Airbnb. Brought
to you by Airbnb. No free advertisements here.
Yeah. We say brands here all the time just for
fun. Brought to you by Vacasa. Something like
that. But we're talking about like vacation rentals.
Yeah. Okay. So we're talking about vacation rentals.
Yep. Lay it on me. What's the building? Well,
the bill authorizes a city or county to implement
a new up to 4 % tax on short -term rental housing.
Like a sales tax? Is it a straight rate or is
it based on... Okay, so it's 4%. It has to be
like a sales tax then. So it's 4 % on the rental,
per night rental price. Correct. Okay. And it's
up to... So if I'm a county, I could do... One.
Two. What about one and a half? Nope, only integers.
It's in the bill. Really? Yeah, it has to be
of... Oh, I thought you were joking. No, I'm
not joking. So it has to be an actual whole number.
Whole number. Okay. I think that's what integer
means. I think it is too. Okay. But we could
look it up. Oh, dear. Just keep going. Okay.
Maybe we could have Mitch chime in. No, let's
not do that. I've already done asking too many
things. Yeah, he will if we ask him to and we
don't want that. It has to be whole numbers.
Hey, this is Mitch here with a quick editor's
note. I did just look this up. And the difference
between an integer and a whole number, while
they both cannot have fractions or decimals,
an integer can be negative. A whole number must
be positive, again, with no fractions or decimals.
Whole numbers. Has to be whole numbers. Okay.
So one, two, three, or four, or zero if you want.
And for the... Well, zero wouldn't actually be
a tax. Well, that's why I said it's optional.
Yeah. So you don't have to do it. Yeah. Please
don't go to all the trouble of a public hearing
to implement a zero percent tax. So I think,
you know, there is some momentum to do this bill.
We haven't moved out of the... It's in a... finance
committee so we have a little bit more time or
a fiscal committee and the fiscal committee happens
to be finance um so we do have you know a little
bit more time yeah we have until the ninth right
uh -huh and um it is um uh fairly flexible but
not doesn't give us everything we want so and
what do you mean by that brian well thank you
for asking paul what i mean by that is that um
it's focused on um acquisition or construction
or rehabilitation of housing. So operating and
capital costs. So this is what we can use the
money for? Yeah. So we can use the money for
acquiring, building, rehabilitating, things like
that. Any type of housing or does it have to
be qualified like affordable housing? So great
question. It says it has to be affordable housing.
Okay. There is no definition of affordable housing
in this. bill or in the statutes that are modified
by this bill you know i think most affordable
housing is 80 yeah 80 affordable to 80 people
in the 80 ami um income yes yeah i believe so
as well because when you get my of course meaning
area median income because um That's how it's
defined in other places in RCW. And so, for instance,
50 % is referred to as very low or very affordable,
depending. There's a very in front of there.
And so there's no very in this bill. Yeah, because
there's low, extremely low, or low, very low,
extremely low. 30, 50, 80. Yeah. Yeah. And it
can also be used for rental assistance. Okay.
Yeah, rental assistance programs. Okay, great.
And then operating, so operating costs associated
with it. So perhaps you have a supportive housing
program or something like that. That's a big
need. Operating costs is a big need. The missing
piece, which was in... prior versions of the
bill and i have been in conversations with the
house sponsor and the senate sponsor is is looking
at the opportunity to putting infrastructure
back into place okay and so and what i mean by
that is right i i think it would be safe to say
you can you you can't put in You can't build
a trunk line with this. You can't put in water
and sewer up to a development. Right, but we
actually wanted the ability in the original bill
to build or to use it for infrastructure that
supports housing, right? Yeah, because that,
I mean, we've talked a lot broadly about the
county's housing package. And a lot of the philosophy
behind it is that we have been in, underutilized
partner in the housing crisis. Oh, for sure.
And in part because the tools we need look and
feel a little bit different than the tools you
need in the city. And of course in the city,
well, not of course, but in the vast majority
of areas where you're going to look at developing
affordable housing, you've already got the pumps
and pipes. And the sidewalks and the streets,
right? All the infrastructure is already there.
Yeah. Because these are residential areas that
either were already developed or have been developed
around, and you're looking at infill possibilities.
But we know in areas, even in lesser developed
UGAs. Right. that the key to the real key to
unlocking housing in many cases is infrastructure
infrastructure yeah we've had lots of conversations
with our planning folks about that and that's
one of the biggest impediments that we have and
to be honest with you it's that way in cities
too many areas that they want to increase density
you've got aging systems sure that either need
repair or need upgrading to modern standards
if you're going to build new and they were never
built for the capacity that we're thinking about
utilizing them for today right if you're going
to convert some you know previously existing
single -family homes you know maybe you buy two
or three lots and you're going to convert them
into multi -family housing well you've got you've
got a lot more people live in there right yeah
now you need more sewer capacity more water capacity
more electricity capacity etc and the older systems
need to be converted into newer systems so it's
not just areas that haven't developed it's also
areas that previously developed say 50 60 70
maybe even a little longer ago, they need upgrades.
So I agree with everything you said, Paul. That's
unusual, but thank you. You know, it's hard to
say that when we've had so many conversations
about the housing crisis, it feels glib or somewhat
unserious to say that a small... international
soccer tournament happening up and down the i
-5 corridor beginning in june and july of 2026
are you talking about my my my kids soccer matches
again on the weekend is that what we're discussing
perhaps talking about fifa world cup oh that
one but it's kind of like my kids weekend soccer
matches but bigger but bigger yeah and so There
are going to be a lot of people traveling to
the state of Washington. I think where you're
going is they might need some short -term rentals.
So, again, I don't want to say that the primary
motivation for creating affordable housing and
additional funding for affordable housing in
the middle of a housing crisis is the World Cup.
But I would say there is some extra oomph this
year to get this in place, signed, and effective
prior. By oomph, you mean urgency. Yeah. So I'm
feeling optimistic and I'm feeling like some
of that urgency is hopefully going to carry us
forward on this issue. So you're feeling optimistic
about the prospects of the bill, but it still
has or it still does not have the portion that
we originally wanted in it around infrastructure.
Correct. And if I'm not mistaken. The actual
tax amount, the maximum tax amount has been reduced
significantly. I think it was originally around
7%. Our members authorized supporting up to a
10 % tax, and it's been reduced all the way down
to 4 % in the most recent versions. Isn't that
right? Yeah. My recollection was six, but we're
in the same ballpark. And so it is a smaller
amount of resources available. There's been a
lot of opposition. Yeah, there has. There has
been a lot of opposition. Some unusual supporters,
either behind the scenes or publicly from the
hotel industry, that they actually think this...
Well, it creates a better competitive balance,
frankly, because hotels pay a lot in... PFD.
Yeah, retail. They pay a lot in retail sales
tax. They pay a lot in lodging taxes, but they
also pay a lot in... other fees associated with
where they're located, whether it's in a port
or a stadium district or around an airport. So
they've often felt that a competitive disadvantage.
Yeah. You can add oftentimes 15 % or 16 % easily
to a hotel bill just with those extra fees that
you're not paying when you go with a short -term
rental. Yeah. So more to come on that. The other
thing I want to talk about before we get out
of here. Really briefly, we're running out of
time. Is budget proviso that we're working on
that would help generate some pre -planned middle
housing plans. It's an idea that we shopped around
last year. We had asked for $250 ,000 in the
budget to work on four pilot sites, theoretically
two counties on the west side, two on the east
side, where you would develop a suite of plans.
So like four plans for ADUs. We're talking like
building plans, like construction plans, like
blueprints? Yes. Okay. Yes. um like duplexes
triplex or duplexes and then like smaller homes
and things like that so we'd have a set of pre
-designed plans so you as a resident of your
county could go in for no cost to you no cost
no cost oh wow have Have an ADU design or a small
home design that would meet the site -specific
concerns. I know snow loads is one that you've
brought up in the past. Yeah, snow loads, wind
shear. Sometimes you've got, if you're in an
earthquake -prone zone, you've got some seismic
retrofits that are required. If you're in a wildfire
area, you've got different types of materials
that have to be used that are more noncombustible,
and sometimes that affects engineering and design.
So there's different things to think about in
different parts of the state. And I think the
missing piece has been the smaller homes. Because
in other areas, you've seen ADUs and things like
that. And the experience has been great, right?
You get your permit, you get your plans. Lickety
split. Within a couple days, someone just checks
your site to make sure it's not... Near the fence.
Yeah. And then you're good to go. So the idea
would be I want to build an ADU. I want to build
a duplex on a lot that I have. Instead of designing
it myself, going and getting an architect or
buying a plan somewhere, I can go to the county
and they've got maybe, I don't know, five or
six, maybe two or three. I don't know, whatever
it is. And honestly, if you've seen some of these
plans. And if I choose one of those, they're
free. And I was going to say, honestly, if you've
seen some of these plans, they're. They're beautiful.
Yeah, they really are. Even though it's only
a handful, but you have a modern design, a more
classic design, a cottage design, things like
that. And they're pre -approved for whatever
is going to be required locally. So when you
say they're just looking at setbacks and things
like that, they're looking at the site that you
want to put it on, just making sure that it'll
work. Yes. Wow. So you get it a lot faster, you
get it a lot cheaper. That should bring down
the cost of construction. Yeah. Both from a real
direct cost and an indirect cost from just time
delays. Genius idea. So I'll be honest with you.
I didn't feel like there was a lot of fish biting
on this last year. Yeah, we had a hard time getting
any momentum on it last year. We have some interest.
specifically on the Senate side, from both chambers.
Oh, wow. That's what I would say. I have not
crossed the threshold to cautiously optimistic.
I'm still in the kind of pessimistic stage. So
still pessimistic, but trending towards cautious
optimism. Sometimes you've got to throw an idea
out there more than once before people take it
seriously or take... a minute to think about
it and decide that they like it. And of course,
you know, that's what it's all about here in
the legislature. We can throw the ideas out there,
but it takes a legislator themselves to pick
it up and run with it. Well, in this case, we
had a legislator who independently came up with
a similar idea. Was it truly independent or were
they just claiming our idea? Well, okay. Bats
have wings. Birds have wings. One's a mammal.
They evolve separately. I don't know. Birds aren't
real, in case you haven't heard. But there's
nothing better than a member believing their
idea. Is their idea. Yeah. Yeah, it's perfect.
Yes. Great idea. Yeah. Consider this. That's
an amazing idea. Well, cool. Who cares whose
idea it was, if it works well. You know, it helps
with the housing crisis, right? Yeah. Nobody
cares. Yeah. Well, good. Brian, good work. Appreciate
you coming by today. I hope we can get some updates
from you as this, I wanted to say the season
progresses, but it's really the session. It's
kind of a season for us. It's, yeah. But it's
more of a session. So as it progresses, I hope
you'll come back. But I especially want you to
come back once the budgets get released. Oh,
can't wait. And we'll have another chat about
that. Yeah, sure enough. Thanks, Paul. All right,
take care. Thanks for tuning in to County Connection.
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