Thank you for joining us at the Washington Host Collaborative Alliance! We’re excited to work with you to protect the ability of responsible hosts in Washington to share their homes. We are off to a fast start in the 2025 Washington State Legislative session. A number of bills have been introduced but most significantly, SB5576 was introduced in the Washington Senate by Sen. Lovelett. More details below.
📢Your Voice Matters – We Need You to Take Action!
We’re coordinating with Airbnb on a lobby day and rally in support of short-term rentals (STRs) at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia on Tuesday, Feb. 18. It’s crucial for legislators to meet hosts and understand the real impact of this proposal. Your representatives need to know that hosts like you are local people sharing your home and that the majority of your guests are also Washingtonians who would be harmed by this new tax. Our board will be attending, and Airbnb is arranging for buses from Seattle and Tacoma. You can find more details and RSVP here. This will be a critical opportunity to be heard.
In the meantime, you can find your legislator’s contact information here. Your representatives need to know that hosts like you are local people sharing your home, and that the majority of your guests are also Washingtonians who would be harmed by this new tax. There’s no need to make travel more expensive in Washington.
SB5576
This bill proposes a 6% excise tax on the total booking value for all short-term rentals across the state. This tax does NOT apply to hotel or motel stays, which will give them a significant unfair competitive advantage and affect your bookings. The vast majority of hosts in Washington are residents like you who use the extra income to make ends meet. Additionally, the majority of people staying in listings in the state are ALSO Washingtonians looking for cost-effective travel with their families. This proposed tax will harm hosts making ends meet and make travel more expensive for Washington families. The bill has been sent to the Senate Ways & Means Committee, with hearings beginning soon. We will be sending notices as soon as we hear any scheduling updates.
Please share our site, washingtonhosts.org, with any hosts, cleaners, managers or other people who would be interested in legislation that would affect the people who rely on the STR economy.