The Bellevue Chamber is urging Governor Ferguson to opt Washington into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, new money for K-12 tutoring, special needs services, and career-connected learning, now that new Treasury rules have resolved most of the state's open questions. Continue Reading
Bellevue's September 22 budget session: a $2.2 billion revenue forecast, a proposed 1% property tax increase, a record $1.3 billion capital plan, and transportation as the one new-tax question, set for October 6. Continue Reading
Bellevue's deputy mayor at our September Policy Council: Bel-Red modeled on Wilburton, a record $37M affordable housing investment, AI-assisted permitting, and 1 million daily trips by 2044. Plus three years of the Bellevue Mobility Coalition. Continue Reading
City planners previewed Downtown Livability 2.0 at our September PLUSH meeting: outdoor dining setbacks, a 5,000-sq-ft cap on Old Bellevue storefronts, a 75% active use rule, rooftop amenities and taller canopies, with a public draft due in early October. Continue Reading
Bellevue's Council held its second 2027-2028 budget hearing Sept. 15 and received a preliminary budget whose only revenue change is a 1% property tax increase, plus three transportation scenarios, two with a TBD. Continue Reading
Bellevue's Planning Commission sent the Bel-Red Look Forward code to a public hearing on September 9 after a fourth study session. Staff defended the mapped street grid, commissioners asked for a performance path and narrower sidewalks, and we testified for a code that pencils on day one. Continue Reading
Bellevue's Council returned from recess on September 8 and took no vote on parking reform, sending staff back for October 20 with options. Staff conceded both of the Chamber's remaining concerns, and the MFTE amendment for HOMA areas cleared on the consent calendar without discussion. Continue Reading
Our PLUSH Committee wrote to Bellevue City Council before its September 8 study session, closing out an eight-month position on the Parking Reform LUCA in support and naming the two open items: vertical clearance for below-grade parking and visitor parking flexibility. Continue Reading
WSDOT's I-405 and SR 167 team briefed the Chamber's Transportation Committee on September 3: of three Bellevue interchange projects studied for the next Renton to Bellevue contract, only the Coal Creek Parkway roundabouts advance, against a roughly $450 million toll revenue gap from 2031. Continue Reading
Rep. Clyde Shavers briefs the East King Chambers Coalition on the 2027 session: career-connected learning, CTE and Core Plus expanding while the funding behind them sits outside McCleary's constitutional protection, plus the Running Start reduction and the Future Ready fine-arts question. Continue Reading
The Bellevue Mobility Coalition mapped out its strategy for the City's transportation budget release and the September 15 public hearing. Continue Reading
An August 17, 2026 sign-on letter from the Chamber, its PLUSH Committee and the BelRed Property Owners Group asks Bellevue's Planning Commission to scale back street grid obligations, offset mandatory infrastructure costs, and fix the amenity threshold. Continue Reading
