By: Sue Lani Madsen | Special to unDivided
There’s essential information, nice-to-have information, and why-are-you-telling-me-this information. HB 1015 is about requiring more of the latter. It would allow counties and cities to place a new requirement on residential sellers – requiring a home energy score before publicly listing a house for sale.
But it’s information buyers routinely ignore, according to folks in Oregon.
Washington state doesn’t have to be the crash test dummy for HB 1015. Portland first adopted residential energy labeling in 2017, joined later by the Oregon cities of Hillsboro, Milwaukie and Bend, effective July 1, 2023.
It wasn’t hard to check out how it’s working in Oregon, and researching those outcomes should be an essential part of any bill before it comes to committee. Randomly calling a central Oregon brokerage led to a productive conversation with Susanna Abrahamson, licensed Realtor and former chair of the Realtor’s government affairs committee at the time the requirement was adopted. A Home Energy Score (HES) as defined by the federal Department of Energy is mandated within the city limits of Bend for anyone selling their home with a realtor.
When Abrahamson tells sellers about the requirement, the reaction is . . . Why? Another expense? Do we have to? And what if we don’t?
On the buyer side, “people generally don’t even look at it. It’s mostly irrelevant,” said Abrahamson. “The vast majority of people do not care . . . I haven’t had a single client do something differently” in their decision making based on the Home Energy Score.
There are sincere, good intentions behind HB 1015 but it suffers from the Olympia “if it sounds good, it must be good” rule. Everywhere else, outcomes matter.
Home energy labeling was described at the January 17 Environment and Energy Committee hearing as a simple rating system, like a miles-per-gallon sticker on a new car. Home buyers would be able to compare mileage between houses, like one SUV to another. Except houses, especially houses up for resale, don’t have the consistency of a single make and model right off an assembly line.
Testimony and questions at the hearing highlighted the lack of inspectors as a barrier to a successful outcome for HB 1015. According to the Oregon experience, it appears the consistency of the inspections is also an issue.
Abrahamson described different certified inspectors rating a series of newly constructed homes with very different home energy score numbers. Or two inspectors reviewing the same house and coming up with different numbers.
Inconsistency has led to urban legends, like the one about sellers stacking solar panels in the garage so the energy score would go up. There were indeed solar panels on the property even if they weren’t producing power, following the letter if not the spirit of the program, so an inspector checked it off. Parsing words is what people do when forced to jump through hoops perceived to add no value to their lives.
Another concern raised at the committee hearing was the extra time to schedule an energy audit, and the subsequent delay in selling. Would waiting for an HES rating be a bottleneck to getting a home on the market quickly? Would it be a particular barrier for rural properties?
Michigan has a requirement similar to HB 1015, and a little poking around found a two month wait to get on the calendar of Ecotelligent Homes of Farmington Hills (near Detroit) for an inspection. Their travel policy indicates they like to stay within a 45-minute drive of their office, so rural Michigan is out of luck.
Apparently yes, getting an HES could be a bottleneck.
It's a conclusion based on the appointment calendar of a single company, but a conclusion no more speculative than assuming the demand for certified energy assessors will draw enough people to the currently empty field to eliminate backlogs. Ecotelligent Homes is plenty busy in Michigan. It’s reasonable to assume the future certified inspectors of Washington would be equally busy and just as prone to stay close to home base.
The language behind HB 1015 appears to be drawn from the Better Buildings program of the Department of Energy, available for use by any jurisdiction. It is unclear what purpose HB 1015 serves if counties and cities can already do it on their own. Thurston County is about to adopt a model ordinance for home energy labeling that has been in the works for three years. Why not wait and see what the outcomes are in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater?
Touted as a market driven way to improve energy efficiency in existing homes, is HB 1015 really going to be useful for buyers in making a decision? For reducing energy consumption?
I asked my cousins David and Alena T. who sold a house in Portland within the last two years how the requirement affected their sale. David looked it up. “Our agent just marked the HES as a 1 on the listing, said people didn’t pay any attention to it and not worth putting any money towards it. Doesn’t matter for a good house in a good location.”
There you have it on HB 1015. Nobody cares. Houses sell. The market has spoken.
Of course, that won’t stop lawmakers in Olympia from proceeding.
HB 1015 was scheduled for Executive Session in the Environment and Energy Committee on January 24. Prime sponsor Rep. Davina Duerr (D-Bothell) submitted a proposed substitute expanding the program, if adopted by a county or city, to “include duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage housing, townhouses, and attached accessory dwelling units in addition to single family residences” and to allow the adopting county to add additional categories of ratings.
PSHB was moved out of Committee on a party line vote, all Democrats in favor, all Republicans opposed. If you’re thinking of selling property in a county likely to jump on this bandwagon, keep an eye on this bill.
About the author:
Sue Lani Madsen calls herself an accidental journalist after 30 years as an architect. She spent nine years as a weekly columnist for the Spokesman-Review, writing about public policy and other topics reflecting her experience in agriculture as a rancher, rural healthcare and urban disaster response as an EMT, and wildland fire and forest policy as a firefighter. She publishes on Substack and The Center Square. She will also be contributing her expertise to unDivided's coverage of the 2025 Legislative Session. Sue Lani lives on a ranch west of Spokane with husband Craig, 200 plus goats and three dogs.
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These remarks were delivered to the Snohomish County Lincoln Day Dinner on May 17, 2024.
The following remarks were delivered to the Whatcom County Lincoln Day Dinner on March 23, 2024, in Ferndale, Washington.
I struggled with what to talk to you about tonight.
Well, that’s not true. I didn't struggle with what to talk to you about – I struggled with whether I was brave enough to say what I wanted to say.
When I'm invited to speak to groups, I don't want to offend anyone or be too controversial. So, I reached out to a few of your fellow party members to ask whether any topics were off limits or wouldn't go over well with the crowd.
I got some good advice.
Then I decided to ignore that good advice entirely.
Too much is at stake to be polite.
As we sit here tonight, we are in the final battle of a war.
A war that has pit sanity against insanity.
Pragmatism against idealism.
A war that has sacrificed the public good, in favor of a twisted idea of progress.
It's a war that began long before I moved here 15 years ago. It started silently and it was mostly waged in the shadows.
Most of us didn't even realize that a war was being fought. We were too caught up in our own lives and our own problems. ...
Prosecutors have declined to file charges against a trans wrestler for sexual assault, citing issues around consent. Male teacher claims to be non-binary, gets to watch girls undress. Governor Ferguson tries to gaslight voters about the economy. Iran is coming to Seattle for the World Cup.
Reminder: Regular live shows of unDivided will resume Wednesday, June 3.
Team unDivided has now been in Idaho for four days. As we depart, we've yet to see a homeless person, a tent, a needle, graffiti, a pride flag, anyone with blue hair, or gas over $5 a gallon.
Reminder: Regular live shows of unDivided will resume Wednesday, June 3.
Team unDivided is in Idaho to debunk the claim being made by Washington state Democrats that capital flight is a myth.
This week, progressive political strategists launched an effort to undermine my support of citizen initiatives – arguing that my opinions are no longer protected by the First Amendment and should therefore be regulated by the state.
You read that correctly.
In a 24-page complaint to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, an obscure organization that styles itself as Washingtonians for Ethical Government called for an immediate investigation into my public support of two voter initiatives that will appear on the ballot in November – one to protect girls' sports, the other to restore parental rights.
Kruse is possibly the most prolific of political content creators in Washington, and her promotions of Let’s Go Washington’s initiatives do not qualify as editorial content. Kruse is not an impartial journalist or just an opinionated member of the public; she is a commercial advertiser with multiple advertisers. Although Kruse was once employed as a reporter by bonafide news outlets, she is no longer commonly considered as a journalist in Washington State and was recently denied press credentials by the Washington State Capitol Correspondents Association, a decision that was upheld by both state and federal courts.
Their argument goes something like this:
I host a podcast.
My podcast sells spots to advertisers.
I endorse products for said advertisers.
Therefore, my endorsements have value.
Therefore, my political endorsements have value.
Therefore, any political endorsements I make must be reported to the Public Disclosure Commission as “in-kind” donations.
There are several factual inaccuracies with the complaint, like the assertion that state and federal courts have determined I’m not a journalist. That is false. While a federal judge declined an emergency motion to have my press pass reinstated in the final days of the 2026 legislative session, our case is ongoing and only in the early stages. I am confident we will prevail.
There are also several legal issues with the complaint, not the least of which is a pesky little thing called the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
But don’t be fooled – the goal of the complaint isn’t for it to stick. The goal is to harm my reputation in the court of public opinion.
Still, for the sake of posterity, it’s worth noting a few things:
The government cannot assign a numerical value to my political speech. Such an act would be extraordinary and without precedent in the history of the United States.
I have never received anything of monetary value to support or oppose any political candidate, initiative, or issue. Quite the contrary. I have given untold hours, made personal donations, and driven tens of thousands of miles around the state to lend my voice to issues and people I believe in.
I have the right to charge advertisers for endorsements, or to provide endorsements free of charge if I wish. And I have. In the years following the pandemic, I featured local small businesses on my show free of charge – and gave them attention on social media, urging followers to support businesses that were struggling to recover from government-imposed lockdowns. I also did this in 2020 while still employed as a news reporter at FOX 13 in Seattle, running a weekly segment on my political show called “Small Business Sunday.”
Providing paid endorsements of products is a common practice in broadcasting and has been for decades. Many of our current advertisers were once endorsed on the radio by the late Dori Monson. Several local radio hosts who endorse products on air have also made public statements about their support of current voter initiatives. Ari Hoffman of KVI and John Curley of KIRO Radio not only endorse products but have stood alongside me in support of girls and parents.
If the Public Disclosure Commission were to rule that my speech must be regulated, it would also have to start regulating the speech of dozens of mainstream radio hosts – and perhaps even the Editorial Board of the Seattle Times.
Beyond that, this issue is settled law in Washington.
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that endorsements from talk show hosts do not constitute in-kind contributions.
At the time, radio hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur were organizing and promoting Initiative 912, aimed at stopping an incremental increase in the gas tax.
'The mere fact that a broadcast has value to a campaign, or includes solicitation of funds, votes, or other support, does not convert commentary into advertising when it occurs during the content portion of a broadcast for which payment is not normally required,' Justice Barbara Madsen wrote for the court.
But again, the point of the complaint is not to upend existing law or get the government to throw the First Amendment to the wind.
The progressive political strategists behind the stunt, Powerhouse Strategic, is the firm used by opponents of the Let’s Go Washington initiatives.
Few news outlets that covered Tuesday’s press release saw fit to mention this connection. Why? It’s not as if it’s a secret. Kristin Hyde, a communications specialist with Powerhouse Strategic, sent the release out with her name and contact information on it.
Powerhouse not only brought previous PDC complaints against Let’s Go Washington, but it also represents the Washington State Democratic Party, as well as two of the largest unions bankrolling the anti-initiative campaigns: SEIU and the Washington Education Association.
Still, The Seattle Times characterized Washingtonians for Ethical Government (WFEG) only as a “campaign finance watchdog.”
Even if it were a legitimate watchdog group and not a cover for deeply partisan operatives, in the past 10 years it’s only ever questioned the “ethics” of conservatives.
In case there was any doubt, I fully intend to continue my work fighting for what I truly believe is the women’s rights issue of our generation: the erasure of girls at the hands of ideologues.
After all, I was fighting this issue long before Let’s Go Washington decided to run initiatives to change state law. In fact, it was through episodes of unDivided that LGW met two of the teen athletes – Ahnaleigh Wilson and Frances Staudt – who would go on to become important voices in the campaign to protect female athletes. I like to think our coverage of the issue is a big reason why voters will get a say in November. I am very proud of that.
I will also keep fighting for parental rights, as I was before LGW started collecting signatures for a parental bill of rights. My advocacy on this issue goes back to 2023, when I helped a rag-tag group of citizens collect signatures to try to run a referendum on Senate Bill 5599. The law allows children to be hidden from parents if they don’t think their family approves of their gender identity. I was protested, threatened, and called a transphobe. All the usual stuff. The referendum fell short, but my motivation to help parents keep their families together only grew.
As I said on my show this week: They can try to bankrupt my business. They can try to destroy my reputation. They can even try to kill me. None of it puts them on the right side of history.
So, we fight on. What other choice is there?
