Sen. Jeff Wilson bills — one on kit homes, another on rural counties — head to governor’s desk

Two bills sponsored by Washington state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, passed out of the Washington state Legislature earlier this week and now head to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk for signatures.

The Washington state House of Representatives passed both Senate Bill 5552 concerning building codes for kit homes and Senate Bill 6149 concerning rural counties and public facilities funding on Tuesday, advancing them to the governor’s desk.

SB 5552

This Senate bill calls for the state's Building Code Council to establish state building codes where necessary for kit homes. The definition of kit homes for the purposes of the bill are homes constructed on site out of pre-manufactured walls, floors and roofs and that are 800 square feet or smaller.

According to a news release from Wilson, the passage of the bill marks the end of four years worth of effort to push the bill through the Legislature.

Both in previous reporting by The Chronicle and in the recent announcement, Wilson pitched the bill as a way to make kit homes a more viable option for first-time homeowners in the state of Washington.

“I’m not going to declare victory until the governor gives us his autograph,” Wilson said in the news release. “But this certainly has been a long time coming. This legislation addresses the housing shortage we face today by harkening back to a construction method popular in our grandparents’ time.”

If passed, the bill calls for the new rules to be implemented sometime next year. In a committee hearing, Wilson said the state's Building Code Council signaled they could have the new codes finalized by March of next year “or sooner.”

For previous reporting by The Chronicle on Wilson’s kit home bills, visit https://tinyurl.com/v489s552. 

SB 6149

This Senate bill tweaks the state's definition of rural counties and, according to a statement by Wilson, is intended to help Cowlitz County maintain its status as a rural county for the sake of maintaining current public facilities financing and economic development.

In specific terms, the bill adds to the state's definition of rural county requiring that a county must have at least one city with a population greater than 45,000 to no longer be a rural county.

The current definition states only that rural counties are any county with a population density lower than 100 persons per square mile or a county smaller than 225 square miles.

The status of each county is determined by the Washington state Office of Financial Management. As of 2025, 29 of the state's 39 counties were considered rural.

The rural designation is considered for tax and assistance programs in Washington state, including things like facilities loans and grants, excise taxes and more.