 Your weekly legislative session update from Olympia! Legislative Session Update, Week 5 It’s week 5 of this fast-moving legislative session, and we’re rounding the corner to a big milestone. Tuesday is the first fiscal cut-off, when bills with a financial impact have to be passed out of their fiscal committees, and Wednesday marks the halfway point of the legislative session. After Tuesday, things will shift from committee work, to floor action, as legislators rush to get bills passed out of the chamber (House or Senate) where they originated by the next deadline on February 19.
Several of our priorities were voted out of the House Finance committee on Monday morning, including the REET and Property Tax exemption bills (more info below). These bills still have hurdles to clear, so your voice is still important. Tell your lawmakers to pass these and other measures that will help build and preserve affordable homes! Calls, letters, and visits from people like you from all across the state are keeping our issues front and center! #HHAD2020 Last Monday, close to 700 people, representing every one of our state’s 49 legislative districts, joined us in Olympia for one of our largest ever Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Days. This year we hosted the day with the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund. Chief Seattle Club members started us off with a prayer and powerful drumming.  Rep. Nicole Macri revved up our advocate energy and reminded us that we are the experts of our own experiences. Whether we have personally experienced homelessness or housing instability, or worked with people who have, she reminded us that lawmakers need our expertise! After, participants had the opportunity to join one of three workshops, including a deeper dive into our policy priorities, a presentation on local community organizing, and a panel led by Housing Alliance board member, ChrisTiana ObeySumner, exploring ways that race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and other identities impact experiences with homelessness and housing instability.  After the morning program, Chief Seattle Club’s Colleen Echohawk kicked off our Rally for Homes where we were joined by some incredible lawmakers including: Rep. Melanie Morgan (29th LD), Rep. Mia Gregerson (33rd LD), Sen. Joe Nguyen (34th LD), Rep. Noel Frame (36th LD), Reps. Debra Lekanoff and Alex Ramel (40th LD), Rep. My-Lihn Thai (41st LD), and Sen. Patty Kuderer (48th LD).  You can check out even more HHAD photos on our Facebook Page! Key updates: - HB 2453/ Macri (requiring a landlord to have a legitimate business reason to make someone move.) After a long meeting considering 16 amendments, the bill was passed out of House Civil Rights and Judiciary committee on a party line vote, with all democratic lawmakers voting yes and republicans voting no. If you have a legislator on the committee who voted yes, pleased take a moment to send a thank you!
- HB 2634/ Walen & SB 6366/ Mullet (Exempting property sold to a nonprofit, a housing authority, or a public corporation from the real estate excise tax when the property will be used for affordable housing.) The voted out of the House Finance committee this morning!
- HB 2384/ Doglio & SB 6232/ Kuderer (Fixing the property tax exemption for nonprofit organizations providing rental housing or mobile home park spaces to low-income households.) HB 2384 was voted out of the House Finance committee today!
- HB 2797/Robinson and HB 2907/Macri both passed out of the House Finance Committee on Friday. HB 2797 is the follow-up or “trailer bill” to HB 1406 which created a local sales tax credit that results in real dollars for local governments to spend on local affordable housing needs. HB 2797 provides some important technical fixes to make the program work as intended.
- HB 2907 is an incredible opportunity to create a progressive revenue source to address homelessness in King County. The bill authorizes King County to create a payroll expense tax on large employers that could raise $120 million a year. The money raised and could be used to build, operate, and maintain affordable housing, provide rental assistance, and provide shelter for youth and young adults, among other things. The bill would help King County, which has some of the highest housing costs in the country, address its affordable housing needs. And it creates a model for other counties to request similar progressive taxing authority to address their affordable housing needs.
Stay informed! This Friday is the next of our bi-weekly member updates live from Olympia. Register here to join us on Friday Feb. 14 from 12:30 to 1:30. After that there are just two more: February 28, and finally on March 13 for an overview of the session which ends on March 12! Your voice will matter more than ever over the next month. Stay tuned for opportunities to advocate for #HousingJustice! |
