Editorial: Legislature has its own production of ‘The Holdovers’

By The Herald Editorial Board

Among the nominees for this weekend’s Academy Awards was “The Holdovers,” which won a best supporting actress Oscar for Da’Vine Joy Randolph, among its five nominations. The film, set at a New England prep school in the early 1970s, follows a student, a teacher and the school’s head cook, left behind at the school over a holiday break.

Like the over-looked holdovers in the film’s title, several pieces of legislation in Olympia were left to languish — not for the first time for some — as other bills were adopted and sent along for the governor’s signature.

(Try as we might, we couldn’t find a convincing comparison between the Legislature and “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer.”)

As “The Holdovers,” showed, however, the designation isn’t always a reflection of value, but of circumstance. Having recapped last week some of what the Legislature accomplished at its close, here’s a look at the holdovers worth further consideration next year:

Housing: What had been dubbed the second part of 2023’s Year of Housing, ended with few pieces of legislation getting to one or both chambers’ floors for votes.

Legislation to place a cap on rent increases — in the final proposal, 7 percent — passed the House, but didn’t get any farther than the Senate’s rules committee. Considering rent increases have been among the more persistent sources of inflation, and that past legislation has helped assure more housing stock can be built, a modest cap on rent could help keep more families in their current homes.

A proposal to require most large cities to allow denser housing developments near bus and rail transit stops and stations, also passed the House but stalled in the Senate ways and means committee. The bill presented one of the quickest routes to building more affordable housing, while also encouraging greater use of public transit and reduced use of single-occupancy vehicles.

As well, two bills seeking to increase housing availability in rural areas, failed. While there may be greater opportunities for increased housing in urban areas — and understanding there are concerns for sprawl — lawmakers also must make some provision for the state’s rural areas.

One sought to encourage more accessory dwelling units by lowering a county population threshold for a tax exemption for the units. This time, the Senate approved it, unanimously, but failed to advance past the House rules panel.

The other would have allowed splitting of lots under certain conditions. The bill passed the House by overwhelming margins last year and this year, but both years was returned to the House by the Senate without further action.

Education: Among some wins for education this year, four holdover bills deserve future consideration.

A bill to require a half-credit of financial literacy education in schools failed, even after winning approval in both chambers, with only one vote against in the Senate. The House refused to concur on amendments made by the Senate and neither budged on its positions. As poverty persists though generations, it’s important to provide students the skills they need to make good financial decisions and plan for their futures.

Another bill — the Washington 13 Free Guarantee — would have offered the first year of community or technical college tuition-free to eligible students. The bill was voted out of the post-secondary education committee, but died in appropriations. It would have required a significant investment by the state, but adequate and sustainable funding was proposed. And increasing enrollment at community and technical colleges will be necessary in the state as its employers look to fill positions now occupied by an aging workforce.

Addressing a lingering effect of the covid years, another bill sought to improve efforts to bring students with nagging attendance problems back into classrooms. It passed the House 49-0, yet died in the Senate rules committee on the session’s final day. The bill, using grant programs at local school districts and community organizations, would have created partnerships that can identify and reach out to individual students with attendance issues, find out what’s keeping them from class and provide the support and encouragement to reengage.

Frequently proposed and as frequently ignored is a proposal for a state constitutional amendment that will put the question to state voters regarding the 60 percent requirement for passage of local school district bonds for construction, remodel and renovation, rather than the simple majority required for almost all other elections. Of the 21 districts in the state that sought bond approval in the most recent special election on Feb. 13, 18 — rather than seven — would have passed their measures if the threshold were a simple majority.

Recycling and plastics: Two pieces of legislation sought to improve the state’s recycling rate and better address the flood of plastic packaging in our daily lives. One would have required packaging producers to to include more recycled content in their packaging. The other, dubbed, the Re-WRAP Act, would have required packaging producers to fund collection and management of recycling. Yet a third option for lawmakers to consider next year would combine the producer-responsibility bill and an earlier deposit-return program that also did not advance.

With the state’s overall recycling rate of 25 percent of packaging material — trailing states such as Maine at 65 percent, Massachusetts at 48 percent and Oregon at 45 percent — another run at recycling will be necessary.

Commission on Boys and Men: Two companion bills sought to improve the chances for fair consideration by lawmakers of legislation to create a state commission on boys and men, similar to Washington State Women’s Commission that was launched by legislation in 2018. By several measures, many boys and men are struggling, lagging behind their female peers in public schools and higher education and experiencing more homelessness, overdoses, incarceration and suicides than women.

The proposed commission would concentrate on five areas of concern for boys and men: education, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, behavioral health, public safety and criminal justice. As it did a year ago, the legislation seems to concern some who believe it would detract from focus on the interests of women. But such a zero-sum viewpoint misses the intent of the legislation and its necessity to the broader problems that concern women and men across racial, societal and economic backgrounds.

The legislation was not provided the opportunity of a hearing in early committee action in either chamber, hearings that would have provided a chance for supporters to explain its goals and advantages.

Next year, given a longer session, the proposal is owed time before lawmakers and public.

Correction: An earlier version of this editorial misstated the path of the lot-splitting legislation, House Bill 1245. It passed the House in 2023 and 2024 sessions, but was returned each time by the Senate without further action.