 Your weekly legislative session update from Olympia! Legislative Session Update, Week 12 It’s April Fools’ Day, but no joke – the housing justice agenda is holding strong in Olympia despite a terrible budget climate, and it’s thanks to you asking lawmakers to support investments in affordable housing and homelessness. So far this session, you’ve sent more than 4,500 messages to legislators, and it’s paying off. Thank you! House and Senate Budgets Revealed The House and Senate both released budget proposals last week with significant impacts on affordable housing and homelessness. Here’s what we know. Housing Trust Fund (HTF) received $175 million in the Senate Capital Budget and $150 million in the House Capital Budget. While we’re disappointed to not receive the $200 million we know is needed, the $175 million is the largest appropriation ever proposed for the Housing Trust Fund in a biennial budget. - Next step: Thank the Senate for its appropriation level – especially budget writers Senators Frockt and Mullet – and fight hard to keep that full amount during budget negotiations.
Housing & Essential Needs (HEN) received an additional $15 million in the Senate Operating Budget, and $12.7 million in the House Operating Budget. Our champions, Representative Macri and Senator Darneille, fought hard for our $69 million request, but the significant budget deficit made this unlikely. Although it isn’t all we asked for, the $15 million increase will help HEN keep up with soaring rents statewide and address the large waitlists. HB 1406/Robinson was fully funded in the House Operating Budget, but was not funded in the Senate Budget. 1406 will allow local communities to keep a portion of the state sales tax they already collect, instead of passing it on to the state, and use it for affordable housing. Because this redirects a relatively small portion of the state’s tax revenue to local government, this bill needs to be funded in the Operating Budgets. What’s This About Revenue? You may have heard that lawmakers are getting serious about revenue this year. That’s good news for housing justice and other human services needs – and we hope you will tell your lawmakers you support their efforts. Why? Well, Washington’s tax code is upside down, with residents who earn the least paying 18% of their income in taxes, while the wealthiest pay just 3%. Cleaning up our tax code to require the rich to pay more will generate resources that can be invested in affordable homes, homelessness, and human services generally. Want to learn more? Check out this quick video on Washington's upside down tax code. Both the House and Senate budgets include a capital gains tax, which would affect only 12,000 Washington residents. This is a tax on residents who sell assets (such as stock), which are worth a lot more now than when they first received them. The federal government already charges this tax, but just cut it significantly – so Washington has a chance to collect this tax without increasing the amount a taxpayer pays. Additional revenue proposals will close loopholes in the state’s business and occupation tax and make the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) more progressive while ultimately collecting more dollars from high-valued properties. We had proposed that the new REET revenue be dedicated in part to the Housing Trust Fund. That provision was unfortunately stripped out in the budgets, but the changes to REET are still a win for our agenda. But What About the Other Bills We’ve Been Advocating For? Glad you asked! A lot of fantastic bills are still alive and strong, thanks to your passion and advocacy. As always, you can track the progress of many relevant bills through our online bill tracker, and learn about our legislative priorities here. Here are a few developments. - Prevailing wage bill: HB 1743/Ormsby
1743 passed off the Senate floor with incredible bipartisan support and an emergency clause that will have it go into effect immediately. Next, it goes back to the House for concurrence, a process to negotiate the amendments, then to the Governor’s desk for signing!
- Eviction reform: HB 1453/Macri and SB 5600/Kuderer
Both these bills are moving: 1453 is scheduled for executive session today, and 5600 passed its policy committee last week. Negotiations have yielded a bill with strong protections for tenants and more political support. We’ll hold a special call on these complex bills once they’re finalized – stay tuned!
- More notice of rent increases: HB 1440/Robinson
1440 just passed out of its Senate policy committee without amendments. Next up, it will need to be pulled out of Senate Rules to the floor for a vote. This bill will require 60 days’ notice (instead of the current 30) to tenants for all rent increases! What’s Next For Session The legislative session is about three quarters complete, and things will happen quickly from here. For the next two weeks, expect bills to be considered in policy and fiscal committees. In the final two weeks of session, we’ll be mostly dealing with budget bills, and bills designated NTIB: necessary to implement the budget. With your strong advocacy, the housing justice agenda is alive and well. We’re seeing the results of your hard work every day. More work is ahead of us, so look for more action alerts soon. We’re this close to historic wins, thanks to strong advocacy from around the state!
Take a Look New research shows that 85% of the American public believes that a safe, decent, affordable place to live should be a top national priority. And 83% believe lawmakers are not paying enough attention to the problem. Find facts you can use to advocate here. Monica Diaz was left homeless when her D.C. apartment building was condemned due to her landlord’s health code violations. Now she works full time and tries to rebuild her family’s life amid constant upheaval. Read her story here. Mark Your Calendars Our final two legislative updates for advocates will happen from Noon-1pm on Friday 4/12 and Friday 4/26. Call in at 1-866-339-4555, code 206-442-9455#. All are welcome! The Housing Alliance Is Hiring Are you our new Director of Organizing, Member Organizer, Community Organizer, or Communications Specialist? We are excited to have four open positions and to have new talent and vision on our team soon! Please consider applying and share these positions with anyone who might be interested: https://www.wliha.org/about/jobs. | 
