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Dear Maureen,
Earlier this week, the Housing Alliance’s Advocacy Team met about what happens after September 30, and needless to say, we’re very worried. Washington is in
a perfect storm of a surging delta variant, slow rental assistance disbursal, and vanishing federal protections and pandemic unemployment. Removing the critical layer of protections keeping many Washington renters from losing their homes would be unconscionable
at this point. Yet, the statewide Bridge Proclamation expires in less than two weeks, and based on his White
House panel presentation on September 10, Gov. Inslee appears ready to declare victory.
We need to remind him that over 100,000 renters are still behind on rent in his state, and less than a quarter of the latest round of rental assistance funds have been disbursed. Some
counties, including the largest in our state, don’t even have fully operational rental assistance programs. Landlords and tenants alike want to get caught up but still need more time to learn about and access the resources available to them. Meanwhile, we
are hearing from renters all over Washington via our renter
survey that they are on the verge of being evicted and are still waiting for help with rental assistance.
The takeaway from all of this? Governor Inslee MUST extend protections through the end of the year. Both Seattle and Burien just extended their moratoriums in
recognition of this, but the rest of Washington is no less at risk! Even the federal Treasury Department is calling
on states and local governments to enact moratoriums.
As the deadline approaches for Gov. Inslee to take action, below are three important actions you can take:
1. Call Governor Inslee and leave him a message
(sample message below)
2. Tweet @GovInslee (sample tweets below)
3. Send an email via
our action page
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To Call Gov. Inslee and leave a voicemail
Call 360-902-4111 and Press 2 to leave a voice mail
Sample voicemail script:
Governor Inslee, I am calling to urge you to extend and strengthen renter protections through the end of the year. With less than 2 weeks before your bridge proclamation expires, more
than 117,000 people are still behind on rent, waiting for help. Meanwhile, less than a quarter of Washington’s federal rental assistance has been spent, despite massive demand. It is clear that we need more time, or else the system will be flooded with evictions. Your
leadership has kept thousands of people in their homes since March 2020. Now is not the time to abandon renters. Please extend eviction protections through the end of 2021.
Sample Tweets:
More than 100k WA renters are still behind - @GovInslee please extend renter protections until the end of the year! We must avoid massive evictions. @WLIHA
Only two weeks left until renters in WA are at more risk of eviction. @GovInslee please protect renters until the end of the year - we must act now to keep people
in their homes! @WLIHA
Less than a quarter of Washington’s federal rental assistance has been spent, despite massive demand. It is clear that we need more time, or else the system
will be flooded with evictions. @GovInslee, please extend eviction protections to the end of 2021. @WLIHA
Thank you for your steadfast dedication to keeping our community members stably housed. We can do this!
Sincerely,
The Housing Alliance Advocacy Team
Rachael, Michele, Caroline, Duaa-Rahemaah, John, Erik, and Kendra
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