(The Center Square) - A Washington Senate bill raising the property tax cap for the state and local governments isn’t expected to go anywhere this session, according to its prime sponsor.

Under existing law, the state, cities, and counties can increase their respective property taxes by no more than 1%. SB 5770 would change that by increasing the rate to 3%. The bill was dropped on April 12 and outside of a 10-day window requiring a two-thirds vote from the Senate to advance the bill.

However, in an email to The Center Square, Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, wrote that “SB 5770 will not be advancing this year."

The bill proponents say the increase in property taxes is necessary to address both inflation and the costs of population growth on local governments. Among the bill’s supporters are local government advocacy groups like the Association of Washington Cities.

According to the bill’s fiscal note, the bill is estimated to generate $1.8 billion in new revenue through the 2027-2029 biennium, $246.6 million of which would go to local governments.

"Modifying the limitation on the growth of property tax collections will restore the primary tool state and local officials use to fund public schools, law enforcement, fire departments, and other services Washingtonians rely on," the bill intent section states.

Aside from its late entry into the legislative session, Republican opponents argued at an April 18 media conference that a property tax increase would undermine efforts to make Washington’s housing more affordable.

“It makes a big difference because both the state and local, and it grows over time, right?” Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia said. “It’s the compounding effect. When you have a 3% increase, you have a small but significant increase in the first year, but by the time you get out 10 years the increases is enormous – this is over $12 billion over the next 10 years in additional state and local property taxes that would put a real – do real damage to our attempts to recover from a housing crisis in our state.”

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, said that “we ought to be looking at property tax reduction and reform with all these seniors that are being taxed out of their homes.”

The Center Square reporters Brett Davis and Spencer Pauley contributed to this story.