Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/1189280
BY MARCO LOWE DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS MBAKS A s winter begins, the MBAKS Government Affairs team looks toward the coming legislative session in Olympia and continues to work with members to develop an agenda We had a great session in 2019 with condominium reform in addition to the passage of E2SHB 1923, and have made other strides for housing We hope to continue this momentum in 2020 Below are some of the initial building blocks for our legislative agenda: WASHINGTON UNIFORM COMMON INTEREST OWNERSHIP ACT (WUCIOA) TECHNICAL CHANGES Clarify Common Interest Community Act to limit applicability and save costs While technical in nature, the changes MBAKS is seeking are intended to better focus the applicability of the new law to its original intent, which was never meant to regulate smaller projects The goal is to streamline processes and ultimately save costs associated with compliance, thereby reducing cost pressures on new housing Specific proposed changes include: • Raising unit threshold from 12 to 30 units exempted from most WUCIOA provisions • Increasing the level of annual assessments per unit from $300 to $1,201 for exemption from most WUCIOA provisions • Eliminating the reserve study requirement for projects of 30 or fewer units MBAKS has been busy setting the 2020 legislative agenda, one that will bring more housing to communities across the Puget Sound and Washington state. 2020 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES Setting the Housing Agenda 40 master builder WINTER 2019 housing advocacy