Economic Development

Reasons to Celebrate the Close of the 2019 Legislature Session in Olympia

The legislative session wrapped up in Olympia just moments before the midnight deadline April 28.  As they passed a bevy of final-weekend bills on everything from school levies to health care options to affirmative action to revenue to budgets, a group of groggy Washington State lawmakers completed a 2019 Session – and they did it on time. Join us in celebrating some legislative wins for the city.

  • Downtown Civic Core project. The final Capital Budget includes $500,000 to help fund an extension of the planned “Renton Connector” downtown to connect to regional trail systems and create a new link with the Cedar River as it runs through the city center.
  • Gene Coulon Park—upgrade playground equipment: The budget includes a $618,000 allocation for replacing playground equipment and making drainage improvements at Gene Coulon Park.  Renton plans to pair the state investment with over $14 million in locally-bonded upgrades to the city’s park system.
  • Sunset Multi-Service & Career Development Center:  The budget enacted by the Legislature includes $1 million for the Sunset Mu
  • lti-Service & Career Development Center to fund a renovation of the old Renton Highlands Library into a multi-service center providing a variety of health, education, employment and social services to low-income families in the Sunset Area.  Click here for more information on the project
  • Affordable Housing:The enacted House Bill 1406 authorizes cities and counties to use a local sales tax, credited against their state sales tax, to be used for affordable and/or supportive housing. That amounts to more than $500 million in new state sales tax credits that local communities across the state can use and bond against for construction of affordable housing. This funding provides the City of Renton with a significant tool to help support additional new affordable housing in our community.
  • Invest in Transportation – I-405/44th “Green-scaping”: The budget includes $210,000 to enhance landscaping, greenery, signage, and gateway features at the I-405/44th Avenue roundabouts being constructed by WSDOT as part of the Connecting Washington Package and ST 3 Bus Rapid Transit.

Read more about the two-year operating budget approved by the State Senate.