Last week the Seattle City Council adopted its work program for 2018. The Council’s committees will be working on several issues that may be of interest, including the items below.

The Finance & Neighborhoods Committee will “develop and oversee the contract with a consultant to study the feasibility of establishing a City-owned public bank.” (This study was funded in Seattle’s 2018 budget; last year a state task force did not come to a consensus on the idea of a publicly-owned state bank.)

The committee will support the Progressive Revenue Task Force, which is currently working to “explore potential new progressive revenue sources, including an Employee Hours Tax.” The revenue sources would be used to provide housing for the homeless.

Additionally, the Council adopted a statement of legislative intent Nov. 15, 2017 that requires the City Budget Office to report by March 1, 2018 on “options for the use of future tax receipts from the City’s Income Tax on High-Income Earners.” The committee will review the report; the work program states, “The options should include the elimination or reduction of dedicated property tax levies and replacement with funds raised by the income tax.” (Of course, the City may never see any receipts from this tax. As we wrote earlier this year, the tax has been voided by a Superior Court judge, but the City has appealed.)

The Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans & Education Committee will undertake “wage equity policy work affecting private employees.” (This is under the heading “pay data transparency.”)

The Governance, Equity & Technology Committee will “review and consider new legislation barring employers from asking job candidates about their salary history or benefits during the initial interview.”

The Housing, Health, Energy & Workers’ Rights Committee will “consider ways to provide and strengthen worker protections and benefits.” It will also “monitor strategies and consider legislation to provide pay transparency, protection from retaliation and prohibitions on requirements to disclose prior wage information for private sector employees.”

In addition, the committee will “examine potential strategies for encouraging owners selling their rental properties to allow tenants of these buildings or non- profit housing developers to purchase such properties in an effort to prevent displacement of tenants from existing affordable housing.”

The Human Services, Equitable Development & Renter Rights Committee will “explore new legislation to create assistance for renters displaced due to rent increases” and “consider new legislation increasing rights and protections for renters.”

The Planning, Land Use & Zoning Committee will “monitor development of proposals to create an impact fee program for Seattle.”

The Select Committee on Education Levy will “consider proposing a single, voter-approved levy renewal measure for the City’s two education levies: the Families and Education Levy and the Seattle Preschool Program Levy.” Such a measure would be on the 2018 ballot. Additionally, the committee will review a report required by a statement of legislative intent the Council adopted on Nov. 15, 2017. The report is to look at whether certain K–12 programs that are currently to be funded by the sweetened beverage tax would better be funded by the education levy.

Finally, the Sustainability & Transportation Committee will “explore the feasibility of impact fees to address the transportation impacts of growth in Seattle.”