Legislative Agenda

Before the start of the legislative session, the mayor, city councilmembers, city staff, residents, and state legislators work together to determine the city's priorities for the session. During the November 25 Renton City Council meeting, Eric Perry, City of Renton Government Affairs Manager, and David Foster, the City of Renton's lobbyist, presented the 2025 Legislative Review to Mayor Armondo Pavone and councilmembers. City councilmembers approved the 2025 Legislative Agenda later in the meeting.

Renton's legislative agenda is a list of priorities and positions that the city will advocate for at the Washington State Legislature. The 2025 Legislative Agenda is the city's advocacy guide for funding requests, policy changes, and resource that are important for local projects and services. The agenda ensures that the city's needs and concerns are represented to state lawmakers, strengthens the relationship between the city and state government, and increases the chances of getting support for local priorities.

The 2025 Legislative Session begins Monday, January 13. At the end of the Legislative Session on April 27, 2025, the city's Government Affairs Manager and lobbyist will update the Mayor, councilmembers, and community on the 2025 Legislative Session during a regularly scheduled city council meeting.

2025 Key Priorities:

• Behavioral Health: Support more grants, expanded training opportunities, and resources to establish and support local behavioral health co-responder programs for alternative responses for people in crisis, like FD Cares or Project Be Free.

• Human Services: Support increased funding for the Washington State Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. This will help support centralized and statewide efforts to provide for the needs of refugees and asylum seekers across the state, including in the Puget Sound region.

• Transportation and Regional Connectivity: Request that funded WSDOT projects impacting the Renton community aren’t delayed because of budget shortfalls on other I-405 projects. We support advancing the Renton to Bellevue I-405 “Move Ahead Washington” Phase 3 projects, approved in 2022, by exploring all funding options and conducting a collaborative "Practical Solutions" process with city involvement.

• Public Safety: Support “upstream” investments, early intervention, and community-based programs to help youth and positively impact accountability within the juvenile justice system.