Dear Maureen, The state Legislature convenes in less than a month. This session will be unlike any other as lawmakers work, remotely, to respond to the health and economic challenges caused by the pandemic. They should keep in mind people like Arianna and Anngie who shared their stories of struggling to pay rent at a work session recently, and make housing stability a priority for the 2021 session. Long before COVID-19 arrived in Washington, we were facing a housing crisis in every corner of our state. The pandemic has made that worse and has made clearer than ever the weaknesses and inequities of our affordable housing and homelessness response systems. People with the smallest incomes – disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and other people of color – were already the most likely to be struggling to afford a place to live. And now those same people are most likely to have lost income or become sick with COVID-19.  Pictured above: Arianna Laureano, an incredible tenant advocate, spoke in a Senate Housing Stability and Affordability Committee work session earlier this month. Arianna underscored the crucial need for the eviction moratorium, for just cause protections, and was featured in this Q13 story. To prevent evictions and homelessness like we’ve never before seen in Washington, the legislature must respond with bold solutions to the immediate crisis we’re facing and with investments in the affordable homes we need for the long term. Will you join us in calling on the legislature to fund rental assistance to ensure that whenever the eviction moratorium ends, the 170,000+ people currently behind on rent don’t lose their homes, and for a robust investment in building homes that are affordable for the lowest income people in Washington? | 
