Advocating for historic preservation
As Washington State’s only statewide preservation advocacy organization, the Washington Trust plays a key role in advocating for good preservation policy on both the state and national levels.
Statewide
The Washington State Legislature wrapped up its 2025 Legislative session on April 27th, delivering a budget to the Governor that included both widespread cuts along with a large revenue package to account for the estimated $15 billion deficit facing the state over the next four years (Note: as of the time of writing, the Governor has not yet signed the budget bill into law – he has until May 20 to do so). These cuts do have the potential to impact the work of the Washington State Department of Archaeology and, by extension, the Washington State Main Street Program. In addition, the legislature considered a large volume of policy bills. Housing was again a focus, with one bill in particular poised to re-shape the way historic buildings are designated as landmarks at the local level. Here is a summary of programs and policy:
Washington State Main Street Program
The Washington State Main Street Program (WSMSP), which the Washington Trust manages through a partnership with DAHP, is a large and ever-growing network currently consisting of 77 communities. While some level of reduction may be imposed, the budget provides funding to allow the Main Street Program to continue operating.
Bills We Tracked
- HB 1576 – Local historic designation. Passed by the legislature, This bill requires owner consent to designate any historic building less than 125 years old as a local landmark. Unfortunately, this bill undoes decades of precedent in places like Seattle and Tacoma, where owner consent is not required. The impact of this bill will be removing community participation in the process to determine which local historic places should be preserved.
- SB 5571 – Exterior cladding materials. Also passed by the legislature, this bill prevents local communities from either requiring or preventing the use of exterior cladding materials that comply with the state building code. Fortunately, an exemption is included for designated historic structures. This exemption allows local historic commissions to continue to work with owners on appropriate treatments to designated buildings.
- HB 1160 – Elimination of design review for housing projects. This bill did not pass the legislature.
- HB 1458 – Reducing carbon emissions in buildings. This bill did not pass the legislature.
- HB 1658 – Ensuring dedicated funding for history and heritage museums and county historic preservation programs. This bill did not pass the legislature.
- HB 1810 – Unreinforced Masonry (URM) identification and retrofit funding. This bill did not pass the legislature.
Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation’s (DAHP) Capital Grant Programs
DAHP administers four capital grant programs that provide preservation funding to projects across the state. The 2025-27 capital budget as passed by the legislature includes funding to allow all four programs to continue in the next biennium. Proposed funding levels as follows:
- Heritage Barn Initiative – $900,000
- Historic County Courthouse Program – $7.433 million (would support rehabilitation projects at courthouses in 11 counties across the state)
- Historic Cemetery Grant Program – $515,000
- Historic Theater Grant Program – $515,000
National
The Trump Administration released its proposed FY26 budget on Friday, May 2. The proposed budget slashes funding to critical programs and agencies. If implemented, these cuts would be a disaster for historic preservation across the board, hampering the ability of federal agencies to steward and preserve historic places across the country. What’s worse, the proposed budget cuts appear to be part of a broader strategy to gut the statutory framework in place for historic preservation overall. Federal projects impacting historic places would no longer require any review, resulting in the loss of significant community assets. And with a proposed cut of $900 million to National Park Service operations, who will be left to take care of our beloved National Parks, let alone administer critical preservation programs like the National Register of Historic Places or the Historic Tax Credit program?
Read this post to learn more about how we choose to stand with National Park Service staff.
The actions of the Administration will also have deep impacts right here in Washington State. Long-standing programs of the Washington Trust are at risk, along with the ability of the Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation and dozens of Washington-based Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to review and plan for the protection and stewardship of historic and cultural places statewide.
Read this post by executive director Chris Moore to learn about the impacts of the proposed FY26 budget cuts to preservation in our state.
Preservation Advocacy Week
Each year, Washington Trust staff members and volunteers travel to Washington, D.C., to advocate for historic preservation programs and funding at the federal level as part of Preservation Advocacy Week (also known as “Lobby Day”). Joined by fellow advocates from across the country, we meet with our state’s representatives and senators to emphasize the value of preservation to Washington’s communities. This is our chance to speak directly to the senators, representatives, and other high-level lawmakers who can enact real change to federal historic preservation policy and budgets.
Preservation Advocacy Week 2025 took place March 3-6. Check out our recap here!
Preservation + Housing
The Washington Trust is committed to promoting sustainable and economically viable communities through historic preservation. As part of this mission, we recognize the importance of addressing the affordable housing crisis in Washington State and highlighting the potential role that historic preservation can play in providing housing affordability and increasing housing density. Read our Preservation + Housing Position Paper via the link below and offer your feedback!
Advocacy Alerts
Stay in the loop on the Washington Trust’s advocacy work and learn how you can help raise your voice in support of historic preservation. Click below to sign up for emails and make sure to select “Preservation Issues and Advocacy Alerts” from the list as an area of interest!