SB 5725 Washington Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Expanding affordable housing opportunities on community and technical college lands.

SB 5725 requires Washington state community and technical colleges to review their land use policies and develop affordable housing on underutilized campus land. It directly affects public employees, frontline workers, educators, students, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who face housing instability due to unaffordable rents. The bill removes barriers to housing development by amending state codes to mandate colleges consider affordable housing as part of their land use planning. This creates a concrete policy change allowing colleges to expand housing options near workplaces and schools, addressing a critical shortage identified by the legislature. The law aims to help essential workers and students secure stable housing without long commutes.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill Substitute Bill · 1 edit
MINOR
The bill text was reformatted from a standard legislative draft to a 'Substitute Bill' version, which includes minor administrative updates like a new committee assignment and a revised reading date. The substantive policy content regarding affordable housing on college lands remains identical to the original version.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; no new entities, funds, or rules were added or removed.
TECHNICAL

The bill was reclassified as a 'Substitute Bill' and assigned to the Senate Housing committee, with the first reading date updated from February 11 to February 21, 2025.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
3
Committee
5
Jan 12, 2026
Introduced
By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
upper
Feb 21, 2025
Committee
Referred to Ways & Means.
upper
Feb 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
Minority; do not pass.
upper
Feb 21, 2025
Committee
And refer to Ways & Means.
upper
Feb 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Housing at 10:30 AM.
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing at 10:30 AM.
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors