Dear Maureen,

House Bill 1220 is facing a legislative cut-off this Friday when it must be passed by the Senate Housing and Local Government committee. This is the last chance to make important updates to the Growth Management Act to address the housing crisis before some of the largest counties update their comprehensive plans.  

HB 1220 prevents cities and counties from being able to ban the building of shelters and permanent supportive housing in certain areas.

The bill would also ensure that cities and counties are: 

• Planning for a diversity of housing types to meet the needs of families at all income levels, especially our extremely low to moderate-income families; 

• Providing emergency shelters, emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing; 

• Implementing policies and strategies to prevent community displacement from market forces, and; 

• Implementing policies to address the impacts of racially-biased, exclusionary, and discriminatory housing and land-use policies Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.  

The bill faces strong opposition by conservative interests including the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). The BIAW recently trained its members to lobby against the bill with a video claiming that the legislature is forcing home builders to “make up for all the wrongs ever done to anyone at any time in history.” When called out for the racist tropes contained in the video, BIAW took the video down, but The Stranger captured it here. 

We know the BIAW is on the wrong side of this, but their power and influence is strong. Join us in telling the Senate not to give in to this pressure, and to pass House Bill 1220 before the deadline.

With our current affordable housing crisis, and at a time when staying home is literally saving lives, we can’t let a powerful conservative lobby group prevent us from passing this urgently needed policy change. 

Click here to watch Dr. Russel Berg talk about the impact that having a safe, private place to live has on DESC's formerly homeless clients. Or click the picture below to watch an accessible version with closed captions. Trust me, it's a far better watch than the BIAW's video.

Thanks for taking action today! 

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