Harger: WA just voted to put permanent supportive housing in every neighborhood in the state. Your city has no say
Mar 11, 2026, 6:50 AM | Updated: Apr 2, 2026, 9:33 am
EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this commentary included a quote attributed to DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone. Mr. Malone denies making the statement. It has been removed. The reporting and conclusions in this piece are otherwise unchanged. KIRO Newsradio regrets the error.
I covered this session closely. I missed this one. And now it is about to become law.
House Bill 2266 requires cities across Washington to allow permanent supportive housing in any residential zone. Your neighborhood. The street where your kids ride bikes. Cities cannot zone it out. They cannot add a single operating condition stricter than what applies to a regular apartment.
Before I explain why that troubles me, I want to be clear about something. People living outside or trapped in addiction deserve real help. Structured support. Treatment. A path toward sobriety. Not just a place to wait while fentanyl does its work. I believe people can get better. That belief is at the center of everything I am about to say.
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What permanent supportive housing actually is
Permanent supportive housing is subsidized housing with no time limits, no treatment requirements, and no recovery expectations. Services are voluntary. Residents can use drugs inside. Rehab is mentioned only if a resident asks about it first. Staff will not bring it up otherwise.
Plymouth Housing, one of the state’s largest operators, measures success not by sobriety but by quality of life. Their retention rate is 93%. Staying in the building is the win. Getting better is not the goal.
People I know who have been inside these facilities describe rampant drug use. Assaults. Feces in the hallways. Bed bugs.
What it does to the neighborhood next door
The neighbors already know what comes next. Trespassing. Car prowls. Screaming in the streets. People trying front doors at night.
A woman near a Seattle DESC facility was harassed on the street by a resident fresh out of jail. Her camera caught him at her door that same night. He walked back into the facility.
That is the reality for people living next to these buildings. On one side, residents in active addiction with no obligation to seek help. On the other, neighbors with no recourse, no voice, and now no city council willing to fight for them because the state has taken that option away.
In Bellevue, Plymouth Crossing recorded five police calls in the second half of 2023. In 2024, that number was 148. Plymouth calls those medical emergencies. I call it what happens when you house people in active addiction with no expectation of recovery.
How we got here
Two years ago, Kenmore rejected a Plymouth project over concerns about drug use and crime. Olympia responded with legislation designed to stop cities from saying no. HB 2266 finishes the job.
The bill passed the legislature with Democratic majorities behind it. It now sits on the governor’s desk.
What a recovery advocate told me
I talked with recovery advocate Ginny Burton yesterday. She got better because someone expected more of her. Because there were guardrails. Because she went to prison. She told me this bill transplants downtown Seattle into every neighborhood in Washington.
She is right.
We have spent billions on an approach that does not ask people to get better. Now we are embedding it into every neighborhood by law. At some point, this stops being a funding question. It becomes a question about whether we actually believe people can recover.
I do. This bill does not.
The state has decided
People in active addiction, with no expectation of getting better, will be placed in neighborhoods across Washington. Your city has no say. You have no say.
The governor is about to sign that into law.
I believe in second chances. I believe in treatment. I believe people trapped in addiction are suffering, not choosing, and that they deserve a system that actually tries to pull them out.
What I do not believe is that warehousing people with no expectations and no off-ramp is compassion.
It’s giving up on them and calling it a housing policy.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
