Welcome to the BIAW Bulletin – Your Source for Government Affairs News

January 12, 2021

Welcome to the BIAW Bulletin video update, featuring BIAW Government Affairs Director Jan Himebaugh.

Video transcript

The 2021 Legislative session starts today… and it’s like never before.

The new COVID-19 “safe session” protocols mean legislators will be conducting the 2021 session virtually. Very few of them will be here in Olympia. There will be no access to legislative buildings.

With this in mind, your government affairs staff and our team of lobbyists shifted gears. Your advocacy team has been preparing to provide the best possible work for you while face-to-face communications are limited.

2021 BIAW Legislative Priorities

Our legislative agenda is focused on COVID-19 recovery: measures to help builders recover from COVID-19.

Strong residential construction builds strong economies.

Washington can’t afford continued construction slow-downs.

Our three-part agenda to extend, modernize, and simplify the home building process will spur on economic healing and increase housing stock.

• Extend permit and plat approvals.  A one-year extensions on these expiring permits will ensure those projects keep moving.
• Modernize state and local processes We need permanently digital inspections and permanent digital public hearings for required land use hearings.
• We need to simplify the impact fee deferral process. There needs to be a consistent deferral process across the state–simple for builders and easy for local government jurisdictions.
• We also need to simplify our permit applications process to permits move through the process quickly and homes get built correctly and swiftly.

Stay informed

Each week, we’ll provide updates through the Lawmaker Review, including short videos. We’ll also issue calls to action—more important this year than ever before—so you can ask your legislators to help support homebuilders on specific issues.

When we’re not using those tools, we will also use our blog and other social media channels.

Answer the call

Your industry will need you. You may be called upon to testify, to appear in one of our videos or to contact your legislators. Please answer that call.

There’s work to do and we’re doing it.