Seattle City Council Briefing

Executive Summary

The Seattle City Council held its weekly briefing session on March 9, 2026, with Council President Pro Tem Rob Saka presiding in the absence of Council President Hollingsworth and Councilmember Rivera. The 55-minute meeting focused primarily on updates from the state legislative session's final week, with the Office of Intergovernmental Relations providing a comprehensive briefing on key legislation affecting Seattle's priorities. The state legislature faces a significant budget shortfall requiring $1.5 billion in additional funding, largely due to increased caseloads, lawsuits, and federal impacts. Both House and Senate proposed budgets would use over $750 million from the state's rainy day fund and implement administrative cuts across agencies. The millionaire's tax (SB 6346) emerged as a key progressive revenue proposal, with changes to remove direct funding for cities and counties while allocating 5% of revenues to early learning and childcare. Several Seattle-backed bills advanced through the process, including social housing legislation (HB 1687) signed by the governor, permanent supportive housing measures (HB 2266), and transit-related bills. Councilmembers also shared updates on their committee work and community engagement activities, highlighting upcoming meetings and events across their districts.

Key Decisions & Actions

No formal votes were taken during this briefing session. The meeting was informational, consisting of: - Approval of March 2, 2026 Council Briefing minutes - State legislative session update from OIR - Committee and community updates from councilmembers - Executive session on pending litigation (closed to public, 3:20-4:20 PM)

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Notable Quotes

**Mina Hashemi (OIR Director), on legislative timeline:** "We're in the final week of the state legislative session, and there are just three full days left... Now it's a rush to the finish line, this Thursday, March 12." **Councilmember Rinck, on ferry expansion:** "It would be great to expand this as an option, especially further connecting Seattle to other cities across our region." **Councilmember Foster, on millionaire's tax impacts:** "Is it correct I heard you say cities and counties are no longer going to receive the investments for defense?" **Councilmember Saka, on universal school meals:** "If true, that would obviously bring to life our cities, one of the key city priorities and initiatives that we've been working on for at least a couple of years." **Councilmember Juarez, on tribal engagement:** "Unless you're going to give the land back, which they're not going to do, so I don't know why we do those [land acknowledgments]." **Councilmember Strauss, on shared streets legislation:** "We need to stop being the roadblock and provide us the necessary implementation to pass this bill."