Government Affairs Brief
2021 SAR Endorsed Candidates Win in primary races
Key issues – Home Ownership, Private Property Rights
All three candidates endorsed by the Spokane Association of REALTORS® for City of Spokane council races have made it through the fall primary and are headed to the General Election November 2nd.
In District One, Jonathan Bingle is a strong front-runner with over 46% of the vote.
In District Two, Betsy Wilkerson had only one opponent and will automatically advance to the fall ballot.
In District Three, Mike Lish came through a strong field of five other candidates to finish in the top two as well.
All three took part in the Spokane Association of REALTORS® Campaign School earlier this year.
READ OUR ENDORSEMENT STRATEGY HERE
Call to Action leads to City of Spokane making change
The Spokane Association of REALTORS® has partnered with the Spokane Home Builders Association and others to formally reject the City of Spokane’s proposed Housing Action Plan. Our greatest concerns were the lack of data on housing needs, lack of changes to allow for more building and a general lack of any urgency to solve the problem. Thanks to over 300 signatures from Spokane REALTORS® and home builders the council responded with a decent set of housing amendments that answers many of our concerns.
CLICK HERE to read the original City of Spokane’s Housing Action Plan
We look forward to working with the City of make the findings of the council into rules and regulations that can foster real change.
Coronovirus and the Impacts to Business
There are new restrictions on how REALTORS® can do business. Both Washington State and the Federal Government have initiated emergency programs that can help businesses and individuals affected by the Coronovirus Quarantines.
Click here for the latest information
Washington 2021 Legislative Session
CLICK HERE for the latest REALTOR® related impacts
Spokane Region Housing Needs Summit 2021
Housing supply in the Spokane region continues to fall to record low levels at all pricing points. Our summit will help examine the needs of Spokane, what residents want, the influence of buyer migration from larger metro markets, a history of under-supply and the social impacts to our community from a lack of housing
Spokane Regional Health Dist. Director Talks with SAR on Covid latest
Spokane could be vaccinating ten times what they are now, and how new Covid virus variants could be coming to Spokane as early as March.
2020 Year in Review Governmental Affairs Committee report
A review of the National, State and Local Governmental Affairs efforts in support of the Spokane Association REALTORS® and our customers
CLICK HERE to read the report
Coronovirus and the Impacts to Business
There are new restrictions on how REALTORS® can do business. Both Washington State and the Federal Government have initiated emergency programs that can help businesses and individuals affected by the Coronovirus Quarantines.
Click here for the latest information
Election Results for SAR Endorsed Candidates
CLICK HERE to see how your local candidates did that are strong supporters of REALTOR® issues.
Washington REALTORS® 2020 Legislative Session Update
This year’s legislative session has officially wrapped up.
Click here for a close up look at the bills that we tracked in this year’s legislature
The Spokane Association of REALTORS® hits Olympia for Legislative Day 2020
Click here to learn what are this session’s top legislative priorities facing REALTORS®.
2019 YEAR IN REVIEW GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT
A review of the National, State and Local Governmental Affairs efforts in support of the Spokane Association REALTORS® and our customers
Click here to read the report
New FHA Loan Limits for 2020
As expected, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has raised the 2020 loan limits. The FHA floor (the lowest FHA limit) for Spokane Count is now $331,760.
For other Counties, click here.
| New Spokane County basic standard mortgage limits for FHA insured loans for 2020: | ||||||||||
| One-family | Two-family | Three-family | Four-family | |||||||
| FHA Forward | $331,760.00 | $424,800.00 | $513,450.00 | $638,100.00 | ||||||
| HECM | $765,600.00 | |||||||||
| Fannie/Freddie | $510,400.00 | $653,550.00 | $789,950.00 | $981,700.00 | ||||||
Spokane Realtors Call to Action a success
New vote scheduled for March 2nd, 2020
Thanks to our REALTOR® members, our recent Call for Action proved to be highly successful.
After receiving dozens of calls, letters and emails, the Spokane City Council has agreed to postpone the vote on two Landlord/Tenant measures until March 2nd. Your Spokane Association of REALTORS will now work to help the council craft better legislation.
4 of 6 SAR City of Spokane/Spokane Valley Candidates elected
Four of the endorsed candidates by the Spokane Association of REALTORS® elected to office.
- Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward
- Spokane City Council member Lori Kinnear
- Spokane City Council member Michael Cathcart
- Spokane Valley Council member Arne Woodard
Click here to read more about our 2019 endorsements