Councilmember Stewart told the Redmond City Council on Sept. 2 that the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) staff had synthesized survey and committee work into three top priorities for the upcoming state legislative session: public defense funding, housing construction tools, and sustainable transportation.

The agenda matters because the AWC’s priorities guide lobbyists and can shape what issues Redmond’s state representatives and regional partners advance in Olympia.

Stewart said the first priority is increasing state support and funding for public defense to meet new standards and to bolster the workforce. The second is “improving housing construction,” which Stewart described as a package of funding tools intended to increase housing production and produce more deeply affordable units. The third priority is “sustainable local transportation, preservation, maintenance, and operations,” which includes exploring road usage charges, highway usage fees, a retail delivery fee, expanded transportation benefit district authority and even a sidewalk utility. Stewart invited other council members to provide input ahead of the AWC legislative priorities committee meeting scheduled later that week.

No formal council action was recorded on the city’s own legislative priorities at the Sept. 2 meeting; Stewart asked colleagues to contact him with questions prior to the AWC committee's finalization.