Disclaimer: this summary was prepared by Coalition staff in April 2026, and is intended to help the public understand the impact and importance of HB 2266. It should not be used as legal advice.

Background

Since the Growth Management Act went into effect in 2021, cities and counties are not allowed to prohibit STEP housing (Shelter, Transitional Housing, Emergency Housing, and Permanent Supportive Housing) in certain zones within their jurisdictions.

Unfortunately, many jurisdictions found loopholes in that law and imposed unreasonable requirements, restrictions, and barriers – many rooted in stigma or neighborhood opposition – to work around this requirement and make developing STEP housing more costly, burdensome, and vulnerable to disruption. These local regulations include opaque, complex, and arbitrary approval processes, restrictive spacing requirements (i.e., banning shelter within 1,000 feet from another shelter), and unfunded mandates for providers.

These practices create barriers that make it extremely difficult to create or operate much-needed shelter and housing. In some cases, these barriers even required existing shelter to shut down.

Some examples are listed below. To the best of our knowledge, these will all be unlawful once HB 2266 goes into effect later in 2026.

• Des Moines prohibits homeless shelters within 1,000 feet of a school or other supportive housing facility. In 2023, the city fined and asked an existing shelter to shut down because of this rule.
• Bellevue and Renton have extensive and burdensome requirements to site a shelter including putting together a “good neighbor agreement advisory committee”. Requirements like these contributed to a 10-year delay to site a men’s shelter in Bellevue.
• Kenmore required public meetings and city council approval for a fully-funded, shovel-ready apartment building for 100 people with disabilities leaving chronic homelessness. In 2023, the City Council rejected that project at the last minute after public pushback from residents, forcing the project to delay and ultimately move to another city.

HB 2266 closes loopholes in the Growth Management Act and paves the way for more STEP housing to be created in jurisdictions across the state.

Summary

Expanding siting: HB 2266 changes how cities and counties must approach siting(approving a location) for STEP housing. It requires cities and counties to allow:

• Transitional housing and permanent supportive housing wherever housing or hotels are allowed, on the same terms as other housing (e.g. height, density)
• Indoor emergency shelter and indoor emergency housing wherever hotels are allowed.
• STEP housing in zones that do not allow housing or hotels if it is necessary to meet housing/shelter needs identified in the local comprehensive plan and the land is appropriate for housing. Note: HB 2266 does not require cities to site STEP housing in: industrial areas, critical areas where housing is not permitted, areas of natural hazards, agricultural, forest, mineral lands, or lands of long-term commercial significance.

Limiting requirements: HB 2266 also places important limitations on what cities and counties can require as a condition of siting or developing STEP housing. Under this bill, cities/counties are generally not allowed to:

• Require any standards, conditions, or requirements for STEP housing that are more restrictive than those required for other types of housing or temporary lodging in that zone (with some exceptions for shelter, and some exceptions in cases where the city/county contributes land or significant funding, discussed below).
• Apply different development permit or environmental review processes to STEP housing compared to other lodging or residential development in the same zone.

If a city/county uses a design review process, that process must be administrative (done by the lead city planner, not elected officials) and it must use objective standards.

If a city/county makes a significant contribution to a STEP housing project, they are allowed to establish additional, reasonable operational requirements related to health and safety protocols through a contract with the operator. To establish these additional requirements, the city or county must do one of the following:

• Donate real property
• Grant a long-term lease of land at least 50 years in length
• Make a significant general fund contribution for capital or operating expenses

HB 2266 & Shelter

HB 2266 limits and standardizes what cities/counties can require of shelter providers as a condition of siting and permitting a shelter. Importantly, written certification of these requirements from the shelter sponsor constitutes full compliance with this requirement, and the city/county may not require the sponsor to repeat or revise any component. 

• Name of the facility and main address of the operating entity
• Description of any other programs operating in the facility and applicable licenses and certifications
• Notified residents within 500 feet of the facility
• Conducted more than one public meeting. Note: two meetings would meet this requirement, and the content of these meetings may not be used as a basis to deny the shelter.
• Designated at least one point of contact authorized to make decisions and take action in emergencies
• A phone number to be used in case of emergency
• Documentation of operational policies/procedures for:
  • Health, fire, safety and occupancy
  • Admissions, including a description of the populations to be served and potential referral sources
  • Program exit or transfer
  • Handling complaints from occupants
• Staffing comparable to standard practice for the type of STEP housing being provided

Proximity to schools. If an indoor emergency shelter or indoor emergency housing is within 500 feet (walking distance) of a school, the city/county may enter into “good-faith negotiations” to establish additional and reasonable requirements pertaining to health and safety protocols. If the city/county and the operator don’t come to an agreement within 180 days after the permit was submitted, the city/county may deny the permit. However, the city/county must help identify other suitable properties.

These provisions do not apply if the shelter is designed to serve people under 18, families, or survivors of domestic violence. These provisions also don’t allow a city/county to limit STEP housing if it is needed to meet the projected needs in the comprehensive plan.

Things the bill does NOT do

It does not change the typical funding agreements a city/county may make with a shelter or housing operator, including contract requirements for city/county funding. For example, cities may provide funding to a shelter and the funding contract may include certain requirements for the use of those funds.

It also does not apply to shelter types other than “indoor emergency shelter” and “indoor emergency housing”. Notably, it does not apply to tent cities or safe parking. Those types of shelter generally have different requirements related to land use compared to brick-and-mortar shelter and housing.

It also does not invalidate existing agreements or requirements for STEP housing already in operation today.

FAQ

When does this bill go into effect? HB 2266 goes into effect in mid-June 2026 (90 days after the end of the legislative session session, which was March 12). Cities and counties need to incorporate the requirements of HB 2266 into their local laws and regulations within 2 years of the effective date (mid-June 2028) or at their next comprehensive plan update, whichever comes first.

Does this prevent cities from requiring good neighbor agreements?
No, but anything the city requires as a condition of siting needs to be within the limitations of this bill. Cities may impose other restrictions as a condition of funding, lease of city property, etc.

Does this mean more housing and shelter will be created?
This bill will help pave the way for more housing and shelter by removing barriers to siting. However, it does not require that cities/counties build more STEP housing, nor does it fund more STEP housing.

Common terms

STEP housing – Indoor emergency shelter, transitional housing, indoor emergency housing, or permanent supportive housing. Does not include tent cities or safe parking.

Operator – An organization (usually a nonprofit organization) that is in charge of running the shelter/housing.