Jess Bateman
@jessdbateman.bsky.social
WA State senator 22nd district. Let’s build livable, walkable communities. 🏘️
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Housing research friends, are you excited to study how state pro-housing policies are working? The Infrastructure team @arnoldventures.bsky.social just launched an RFP for Measurement & Evaluation of State & Local Housing Supply Reforms. Details:
www.arnoldventures.org/infrastructu...
www.arnoldventures.org/infrastructu...
February 9, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Housing research friends, are you excited to study how state pro-housing policies are working? The Infrastructure team @arnoldventures.bsky.social just launched an RFP for Measurement & Evaluation of State & Local Housing Supply Reforms. Details:
www.arnoldventures.org/infrastructu...
www.arnoldventures.org/infrastructu...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Bothell ascendant
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/07/b...
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/07/b...
Bothell Housing Boom Brewing in Wake of Recent Zoning Reforms » The Urbanist
# Pre-applications for new housing units in Bothell last year topped 1,000 for the first time in recent history, a big indicator of interest following major changes to Bothell's zoning code in 2024. S...
www.theurbanist.org
February 7, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Bothell ascendant
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/07/b...
www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/07/b...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Missoula, Montana has just:
- Eliminated single family zoning
- Eliminated parking requirements citywide
- Allows 100-125' of height in many of its mixed-use zones with no limits on density or FAR
Why is Missoula so much more progressive than Los Angeles?
- Eliminated single family zoning
- Eliminated parking requirements citywide
- Allows 100-125' of height in many of its mixed-use zones with no limits on density or FAR
Why is Missoula so much more progressive than Los Angeles?
February 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Missoula, Montana has just:
- Eliminated single family zoning
- Eliminated parking requirements citywide
- Allows 100-125' of height in many of its mixed-use zones with no limits on density or FAR
Why is Missoula so much more progressive than Los Angeles?
- Eliminated single family zoning
- Eliminated parking requirements citywide
- Allows 100-125' of height in many of its mixed-use zones with no limits on density or FAR
Why is Missoula so much more progressive than Los Angeles?
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Update: Today is the Policy Committee cutoff date. So bills that do not advance out of their policy committee by the time those committees end today are dead for the year. Also any hearings on bills today are really just "courtesy" hearings, meaning those bills will be heard but not moved #waleg
February 4, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Update: Today is the Policy Committee cutoff date. So bills that do not advance out of their policy committee by the time those committees end today are dead for the year. Also any hearings on bills today are really just "courtesy" hearings, meaning those bills will be heard but not moved #waleg
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Bellevue is planning an “omnibus” series of zoning code amendments all in one package, including eight changes that move the city into compliance with state law.
Turns out, you don’t need to do a ton of process to enact state-required zoning changes!
Turns out, you don’t need to do a ton of process to enact state-required zoning changes!
February 3, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Bellevue is planning an “omnibus” series of zoning code amendments all in one package, including eight changes that move the city into compliance with state law.
Turns out, you don’t need to do a ton of process to enact state-required zoning changes!
Turns out, you don’t need to do a ton of process to enact state-required zoning changes!
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Reposted by Jess Bateman
After the Washington House's local government committee unanimously approved a bill legalizing scissor stairs last week, the Senate's housing committee just unanimously approved the companion bill.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...
SB 6001 Washington State Legislature
app.leg.wa.gov
January 28, 2026 at 7:41 PM
After the Washington House's local government committee unanimously approved a bill legalizing scissor stairs last week, the Senate's housing committee just unanimously approved the companion bill.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Short session comes at you fast!
#WAleg is once again cooking up a slew of housing bills and if you're struggling to keep up, @sightline.org's got you covered with our bill tracker:
www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker
#WAleg is once again cooking up a slew of housing bills and if you're struggling to keep up, @sightline.org's got you covered with our bill tracker:
www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker
Bill Tracker — #Homes4WA
www.homes4wa.org
January 28, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Short session comes at you fast!
#WAleg is once again cooking up a slew of housing bills and if you're struggling to keep up, @sightline.org's got you covered with our bill tracker:
www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker
#WAleg is once again cooking up a slew of housing bills and if you're struggling to keep up, @sightline.org's got you covered with our bill tracker:
www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker
Housing advocates! A bill that was heard in the Senate Environment Committee yesterday would require a project level cultural resources review for all infill housing built in WA.
January 28, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Housing advocates! A bill that was heard in the Senate Environment Committee yesterday would require a project level cultural resources review for all infill housing built in WA.
First iteration of the Housing Accountability Act. ✅
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/22/w...
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
Builder's remedy
www.theurbanist.org/2026/01/22/w...
Washington to Scrutinize Eight Local Housing Plans Under New Accountability Law » The Urbanist
# The reviews are the first to take place under the 2025 Housing Accountability Act, intended to spur housing construction by reducing barriers added at the local level. Growth plan reviews are one st...
www.theurbanist.org
January 23, 2026 at 2:28 AM
First iteration of the Housing Accountability Act. ✅
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Good news for neighborhood cafes!
That said, it has provisions allowing cities to regulate parking, signage, hours of operation, and square footage, which could be misused by oppositional-defiant jurisdictions.
I’d also like to see the bill include explicit reference to last year’s parking reform.
That said, it has provisions allowing cities to regulate parking, signage, hours of operation, and square footage, which could be misused by oppositional-defiant jurisdictions.
I’d also like to see the bill include explicit reference to last year’s parking reform.
The Washington House just approved HB 1175, which would legalize neighborhood corner stores & cafes statewide. The bill was sent directly to the House floor after being approved in committee last session.
A last minute amendment dropped suburbs with fewer than 5,000 people. The vote was 94-2.
A last minute amendment dropped suburbs with fewer than 5,000 people. The vote was 94-2.
January 15, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Good news for neighborhood cafes!
That said, it has provisions allowing cities to regulate parking, signage, hours of operation, and square footage, which could be misused by oppositional-defiant jurisdictions.
I’d also like to see the bill include explicit reference to last year’s parking reform.
That said, it has provisions allowing cities to regulate parking, signage, hours of operation, and square footage, which could be misused by oppositional-defiant jurisdictions.
I’d also like to see the bill include explicit reference to last year’s parking reform.
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Tomorrow at 8:00, there will be a public hearing in #waleg Senate Law & Justice on #SB5855, a bill that would ban the use of face coverings by law enforcement officers.
You can sign in "pro" or sign up to testify here:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?s...
You can sign in "pro" or sign up to testify here:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?s...
January 13, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Tomorrow at 8:00, there will be a public hearing in #waleg Senate Law & Justice on #SB5855, a bill that would ban the use of face coverings by law enforcement officers.
You can sign in "pro" or sign up to testify here:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?s...
You can sign in "pro" or sign up to testify here:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?s...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
#SB6015: Requiring the state to create permit-ready plan sets for factory-built middle housing and ADUs, and requiring cities to allow them to be built.
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
January 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM
#SB6015: Requiring the state to create permit-ready plan sets for factory-built middle housing and ADUs, and requiring cities to allow them to be built.
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
#SB6028: Allowing the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to create a loan fund for mixed-income home development.
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
January 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM
#SB6028: Allowing the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to create a loan fund for mixed-income home development.
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
People don't realize how important this is (the retail component). Everyone wants street level retail, but there's simply not enough people and businesses to fill in the spaces we already have and that leads to endless vacancies which are terrible for the built environment. It also adds costs 1/3
#SB6026: Allowing housing by right, and making it illegal to require first-floor retail in all commercial zones in cities with more than 30,000 people.
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...
Read it: app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...
January 9, 2026 at 12:33 AM
People don't realize how important this is (the retail component). Everyone wants street level retail, but there's simply not enough people and businesses to fill in the spaces we already have and that leads to endless vacancies which are terrible for the built environment. It also adds costs 1/3
Reposted by Jess Bateman
January 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Millcreek has an open seat on its Planning Commission, offering an opportunity to help shape zoning, land use, and housing affordability through direct policy work. Applications are open until filled, and interested individuals are encouraged to apply.
www.millcreekut.gov/157/Planning...
www.millcreekut.gov/157/Planning...
December 19, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Millcreek has an open seat on its Planning Commission, offering an opportunity to help shape zoning, land use, and housing affordability through direct policy work. Applications are open until filled, and interested individuals are encouraged to apply.
www.millcreekut.gov/157/Planning...
www.millcreekut.gov/157/Planning...
Reposted by Jess Bateman
We're baaaack! Back on Bsky, that is — we didn't stop working for more affordable, abundant homes in the legislative off-season.
This group is jazzed about the bills shaping up for 2026 (kicking off Jan. 12) with more to share very soon. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter: homes4wa.org/updates
This group is jazzed about the bills shaping up for 2026 (kicking off Jan. 12) with more to share very soon. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter: homes4wa.org/updates
January 6, 2026 at 8:44 PM
We're baaaack! Back on Bsky, that is — we didn't stop working for more affordable, abundant homes in the legislative off-season.
This group is jazzed about the bills shaping up for 2026 (kicking off Jan. 12) with more to share very soon. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter: homes4wa.org/updates
This group is jazzed about the bills shaping up for 2026 (kicking off Jan. 12) with more to share very soon. Until then, subscribe to our newsletter: homes4wa.org/updates
Reposted by Jess Bateman
It’s wild that we spend years, with significant community engagement, to draft comprehensive plans, and we don’t automatically update zoning codes to match those plans. Instead, American planners often need to restart years of new battles to change zoning. This system has so many veto points
Bruce Harrell signed Seattle's Comprehensive Plan and the changes to Neighborhood Residential zoning today, without any fanfare.
www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/17/s...
www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/17/s...
Seattle OKs New Growth Plan, but Biggest Zoning Battles Lie Ahead » The Urbanist
# The adoption of the Seattle Comprehensive Plan, nearly one year late under a state-imposed deadline, is setting up much bigger debate over where additional housing density will be allowed in the cit...
www.theurbanist.org
December 23, 2025 at 3:15 AM
It’s wild that we spend years, with significant community engagement, to draft comprehensive plans, and we don’t automatically update zoning codes to match those plans. Instead, American planners often need to restart years of new battles to change zoning. This system has so many veto points
This is why we can’t have nice things. I’m happy to see our largest city taking stock of its barriers to creating housing. Now, let’s see action to make it feasible to build the housing we so desperately need.
Seattle city planners hired a consultant to analyze feasibility of downtown housing typologies & given the sky high fees to build, hard costs & parking costs, every model was rated “infeasible”
Highrise Res: $605k/unit
Mixed use: $710k/unit
Mass timber: $605k/unit
Office to Res: $640k/unit
Highrise Res: $605k/unit
Mixed use: $710k/unit
Mass timber: $605k/unit
Office to Res: $640k/unit
December 23, 2025 at 3:09 AM
This is why we can’t have nice things. I’m happy to see our largest city taking stock of its barriers to creating housing. Now, let’s see action to make it feasible to build the housing we so desperately need.
Reposted by Jess Bateman
This meeting is tomorrow at 5pm and the East DRB only has 3 members, meaning there will likely be an outside sub. We need people to show up and bombard them with support so they don’t bike shed this into 2026
December 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
This meeting is tomorrow at 5pm and the East DRB only has 3 members, meaning there will likely be an outside sub. We need people to show up and bombard them with support so they don’t bike shed this into 2026
Reposted by Jess Bateman
Together, we've secured more than two dozen state and local policy wins this year, steadily reshaping daily life for the better.
Sightline's Fall Fund Drive kicks off today, and your support can fuel the research, strategy, and case-making that turn ideas into action: sightline.org/donate
Sightline's Fall Fund Drive kicks off today, and your support can fuel the research, strategy, and case-making that turn ideas into action: sightline.org/donate
November 3, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Together, we've secured more than two dozen state and local policy wins this year, steadily reshaping daily life for the better.
Sightline's Fall Fund Drive kicks off today, and your support can fuel the research, strategy, and case-making that turn ideas into action: sightline.org/donate
Sightline's Fall Fund Drive kicks off today, and your support can fuel the research, strategy, and case-making that turn ideas into action: sightline.org/donate
Happy to share WA’s experience advancing pro-housing policy with bi-partisan leaders from across the country. Thank you @arnoldventures.bsky.social for organizing this peer learning opportunity. Our housing shortage is a solvable problem. Inspired to see progress happening across the country.🏘️
October 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Happy to share WA’s experience advancing pro-housing policy with bi-partisan leaders from across the country. Thank you @arnoldventures.bsky.social for organizing this peer learning opportunity. Our housing shortage is a solvable problem. Inspired to see progress happening across the country.🏘️
Reposted by Jess Bateman
The American Library Association kicked off this year’s Banned Books Week on Oct. 5. The celebration — if that's the right word for it — goes until Oct. 11. But people from states where book bans are more common than they are in Washington are finding help in Seattle year-round.
'We just want to celebrate stories.' Observing Banned Books Week with a Seattle bookseller
Seattle booksellers and librarians are helping people get their hands on banned books.
www.kuow.org
October 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The American Library Association kicked off this year’s Banned Books Week on Oct. 5. The celebration — if that's the right word for it — goes until Oct. 11. But people from states where book bans are more common than they are in Washington are finding help in Seattle year-round.
Reposted by Jess Bateman
seattle - CM rivera's amendment 102 is a poison pill that does not protect tree canopy, and will curtail housing in wealth neighborhoods
this will push more development into areas that don't have trees - increasing exposure to heat islands
please sign & boost
actionnetwork.org/letters/amen...
this will push more development into areas that don't have trees - increasing exposure to heat islands
please sign & boost
actionnetwork.org/letters/amen...
Amendment 102 will not protect the urban canopy – and in fact may do the opposite
Seattle needs more affordable housing AND trees. Help us convince the Seattle City Council to do both by opposing Amendment 102, which makes new housing much more expensive and worsens existing inequi...
actionnetwork.org
September 15, 2025 at 11:31 PM
seattle - CM rivera's amendment 102 is a poison pill that does not protect tree canopy, and will curtail housing in wealth neighborhoods
this will push more development into areas that don't have trees - increasing exposure to heat islands
please sign & boost
actionnetwork.org/letters/amen...
this will push more development into areas that don't have trees - increasing exposure to heat islands
please sign & boost
actionnetwork.org/letters/amen...