State Legislative Session Wrap Up! TY Senate Majority Leader Pederson and House Speaker Jinkins!
- aaronl67
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
On March 12th, our state lawmakers wrapped up their 2026 legislative session. This session was full of exciting bills for housing and human services! The final budgets and legislation reflect a record level of investment in housing in our state.
LIHI would like to highlight Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pederson (D43) and House Speaker Representative Laurie Jinkins (D27) for their leadership on Senate Bill 6346, or the Millionaire Tax. Governor Ferguson signed the Millionaire Tax into law on March 30, 2026. This bill establishes a tax on our state’s highest-income earners to provide progressive revenue to fund K-12 education, healthcare, higher education, other government services, and the working families' tax credit, as well as reduce other tax burdens for items like diapers, hygiene products, and over-the-counter medications.
Sen Pederson Rep Jinkins on why the Millionaires' Tax is needed
More housing legislation
In other legislative news, Governor Ferguson also signed a large housing package into law on March 27th. House Bill 2266, or the Housing is Housing bill, will prevent local governments and jurisdictions from using unnecessary zoning and permitting delays to discriminate against shelter and supportive housing. Too often, housing for our low-income neighbors faces additional time-consuming and costly review that market-rate housing does not. By requiring local governments to comply within two years or at their next comprehensive plan update, this legislation will help providers to develop more shelter and housing for people who are low-income or experiencing homelessness in the very near future. It has taken multiple years of advocacy to pass this legislation. HB 2266 marks a big step toward recognizing all housing is housing! |
Our state legislators did much more than pass the Housing is Housing bill. Senate Bill 6027 will enable emergency shelters to be property tax-exempt; previously, they were only tax-exempt if the program had a 60-day length of stay requirement, which is often not enough time for clients and case managers to secure all necessary documents for permanent housing. Furthermore, $200 million was added to the budget for affordable housing, $123 million of which will be designated for the Housing Trust Fund. The Housing Trust Fund is a key source of capital for many affordable housing developments in our state. This additional investment will go to good use expediting the development of more housing units that are affordable to lower income households. |
We are also grateful to legislators for protecting their investment in the Encampment Resolution Program. This program is a large source of funding for many partnerships that move people from encampments to shelters. Funding from the Encampment Resolution Program has enabled LIHI to move people who were living in dangerous situations on state right-of-ways into shelter and housing at Lotus Court, Maple Court, Maureen Howard Place, Kingfisher Village, Jean Darsie Place, Aspen Inn, and Oasis Inn. These State funds quite literally are saving lives.
In this time of federal funding uncertainty, LIHI is grateful for our lawmakers’ commitment to building and preserving affordable housing, providing supportive services, and protecting vital programs. We appreciate what legislators were able to accomplish in this short legislative session.
LIHI staff and clients spoke to legislators to advocate for these bills on Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD) at the beginning of session this January– read more here!
