Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/901018
T his program lets legislators take a step back from the breakneck pace that occurs when they are in session and work directly with members of the community to focus on identifying ways to actually solve problems. For example, the MBA supports successful implementation of the Housing Affordability Response Team (HART) recommendations. HART was a work group convened at the request of Governor Jay Inslee to develop recommendations on how to address the causes of the lack of affordable housing at all income levels. By assembling a broad coalition of stakeholders (which included MBA members) to tackle the problem, HART coalesced traditionally disparate interests around a set of policy recommendations while minimizing prospective opposition. This past October, we hosted our annual Housing Summit featuring the theme, "Housing Attainability Solutions: An action plan to increase housing attainability in our region." Here, we introduced the MBA's 10-point plan (learn more on page 52) which represents a yearlong effort to better align our industry's housing policy objectives with a broad coalition of partners. Our 10-point plan contains a mix of solutions designed to increase housing supply. It includes practical process improvements that will eliminate unnecessary and costly hurdles to new home construction without compromising environmental protection. While some of these recommendations can be implemented locally, others first require state legislative action. This need for state legislative action illustrates why our Association's Primary Contacts Program—which serves as a coordinated grassroots effort to connect our members with state legislators to ensure that our industry's voice was ever-present in Olympia—is so critical. Washington state is home to a "citizen Legislature," consisting of a part-time bicameral body with 49 members in the Senate and 98 members in the House of Representatives. The citizen Legislature meets annually on the second Monday in January at the state Capitol in Olympia. In odd-numbered years—which are also budget years—the Legislature meets for 105 days; in even-numbered years, it meets for 60 days. If necessary, the Governor can call legislators in for a special session for a 30-day period—a practice which has become increasingly common largely due to disagreements over the state's operating budget. During the legislative session, it is not unusual for legislators to introduce, in aggregate, more than 2,000 separate pieces of legislation. Why is all this information important? When our industry identifies a public policy change that will require state legislative action, an early step to beginning that advocacy process is to identify a state legislator who is willing to be our champion. A legislator who is willing to sponsor and introduce our bill. A legislator who is willing to dive more deeply into understanding why the issue is important, what its impacts will be to residential home construction and housing attainability, and who will assist in educating their colleagues on the merits of the issue. During the legislative session, members of the House and Representative Larry Springer of the 45th District speaks with MBAKS members at an event in April of this year. 29 WINTER 2017 master builder