Washington boasts 221 housing-related programs across 30 state agencies. 

But despite all of these initiatives, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck thinks the state is still going in the wrong direction developing affordable housing.

“We’re not doing a very good job at all, because the hole is getting deeper,” Heck said last week. 

Heck is part of a group of elected officials, state agency staff, tribal members, local government advocates and developers tasked with devising ideas for Washington to set up a new state Department of Housing. 

State Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, agreed with Heck’s assessment, arguing that the state’s programs aren’t “excellent.”

“Because if they were working excellently, we would be achieving the goal of making sure we have abundant housing everywhere,” said Bateman, chair of the Senate Housing Committee. “We’re not, which is why we’re here.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson got the ball rolling on this new agency in December with an executive order. The order lists key roles for the department, which he sees as a problem-solving hub for all things housing. It includes expanding the supply of all levels of housing, building paths for people to escape homelessness and unifying state and local work on land use and permitting reform. 

The idea for the department comes after a 2024 state report found Washington needs a projected 1.1 million more homes by 2044 as the population grows.

The task force is set to deliver a report by Nov. 15 with recommendations on establishing the new cabinet agency. The goal is for lawmakers to then consider those ideas in the 2027 legislative session. Heck, a Democrat, has been a key housing adviser to Ferguson. He cautioned his colleagues that this process is going to take time.

In 2024, the Legislature approved spending $250,000 for third-party recommendations for how the state should study building a Department of Housing, which were delivered later that year.

The new consortium has met twice in recent months, including last week.

The task force is currently running a survey for the public to give input to help shape the potential agency. It’s open until April 26.

Preliminary takeaways based on the first roughly 2,000 responses are unsurprising. 

The top priority of the agency for renters and homeowners, as well as government and affordable housing industry respondents, is ensuring everyone can find safe, stable and affordable homes. The primary goal for the private housing industry has been removing regulatory barriers to expand supply. 

Like Heck, Bateman thinks the state’s current programs fall short. For example, she notes dozens focus on homelessness and housing stability, while a potential solution to that problem in land use policy is getting less attention. 

“What you see is a really administratively heavy set of programs,” the senator said. “It’s not really responding, and it’s not equipped, capacity-wise, to address the underlying problem, which is, we’re not building enough housing.”

The values participants most want to see the department embody are transparency and accountability. And they’ll see it as a success if fewer people live on the streets, a wider variety of housing is built across income levels and development and permitting becomes more efficient.