2014 Legislative Session – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

Take Action Today: Protect our most important source of funding for homeless services (ESHB 2368)

March 12, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Despite a nasty move to kill the proposal in committee, we’ve revived the Homeless Housing and Assistance Surcharge bill (HB 2368) thanks to repeated phone calls, e-mails, and a whole lot of media attention. Great work … but we aren’t out of the woods yet. We have TWO DAYS to continue to apply pressure to those lawmakers who are seeking to reduce or eliminate the resources we desperately need to help house people in Washington. The original Homeless Housing and Assistance Surcharge Bill (aka Document Recording Fee bill), which had strong bi-partisan support, is being overshadowed by an alternative bill (SB 5875). Senators in the Majority Coalition Caucus say the alternative is a “compromise,” but this is simply not true. Help us to overcome this disruptive noise with your strong messages (especially if you live or work in Auburn or Puyallup!) — the legislature must pass ESHB 2368! Here’s how YOU can take action today: Send an e-mail to your Senator. Call your Senator directly, or use the FREE Legislative Hotline (1-800-562-6000) to leave a message. Share these ways of speaking up to your co-workers and others! Here’s a sample message (and feel free to personalize it): I am a voter in your district, and I consider cuts to homeless housing and services unacceptable. I urge you to work with your colleagues, especially Senators Fain and Dammeier, to make sure the Senate passes E-S-H-B 2368 this year. This bill will save over 50% of the state funds that are working to prevent and end homelessness in our community. Thank you! Do you live or work in AUBURN or PUYALLUP? We especially need you to contact your Senators, because they are in key negotiating positions on this critical funding bill. If you are in District 47 (Sen. Fain, Auburn), or District 25 ( …

Take Action Today: Two crucial bills need your support TODAY!

February 24, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

As this short session races ahead in Olympia, we need all voices raised! Our collective voice is powerful and legislators need to hear it in Olympia. These two bills must be passed out of their respective committees by Friday, Feb. 28 in order to move forward. Use the information in this alert to call and e-mail your legislators with these simple messages: Pass House Bill 2368, which will stop the “sunset” that will significantly cut our funding source for shelters and other homelessness programs; and Pass House Bill 1651, which will allow youth who made childhood mistakes to seal their record so that they are no longer prevented from education, employment, and housing. Here’s more information about these messages… Supporters in Olympia for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day 2014 (#HHAD2014) Our state’s most important source of funding for shelters and other homelessness programs is at risk! Lawmakers must extend the Homeless Housing and Assistance Surcharge (aka “Document Recording Fees”). Use this link to contact your state reps (or to look them up!). Ask them and their colleagues to SUPPORT House Bill 2368. A public hearing will be held Tuesday, February 25 at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Housing & Insurance (FIHI). Without this legislation, Washington will lose more than 62% of state funding for homelessness programs beginning in 2015. We cannot wait to address this next year. Please call TODAY! Remember, you can use the FREE Legislative Hotline (staffed Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.) to leave a message for all three of your legislators: 1-800-562-6000. (Give the operator your address and they’ll look up your district and who your legislators are!) Here’s a sample message of support: Dear Representative/Senator, I urge you to support HB 2368 – the Homeless Housing and Assistance Surcharge. Shelters and programs who …

Policy Update: The 2014 Legislative Session — Part 2

February 18, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Today marks the 37th day of the Legislative Session, and also the House of Origin Cutoff (by 5 p.m.). All bills that originated in the House of Representatives must be approved and sent over to the Senate for further consideration (and vice-versa for the Senate). A bill will only become law once it has successfully passed through both the House and Senate. I mentioned in Part 1 of our update that “there is still enough time and many opportunities to make a difference.” I can tell you heard that message and acted upon it, because there’s good news on many of our priority bills! Thank you for being such strong advocates. Even over halfway through Session, there’s still so much you can do to support these bills through the process. Together we will pass these Acts into Law! Remember that the “secret” to getting heard in Olympia is simple: tell Legislators that you care, include a short message about why you care, and do it in a way that’s easiest for you. Whether you want to e-mail your Legislators, leave a message through the Legislative Hotline (1-800-562-6000), or travel to Olympia to meet in-person, your voice is valuable and needed. Here’s an update with Action Alerts on important bills: Document Recording Fees: Passed House Bill – ACT NOW! An amended version of Document Recording Fees passed through the House (HB 2368) and has been sent to the Senate. We need you to urge your Senator to pass HB 2368 through the Senate. Fair Tenant Screening Act, Part 3: Passed House Bill – ACT NOW! The Fair Tenant Screening Act, Part 3 passed through the House (HB 2537) and has been sent to the Senate. We need you to urge your Senator to pass HB 2537 through the Senate. Youth Opportunities Act: Passed House Bill – ACT NOW The Youth Opportunities Act unanimously passed the …

Recap: Coalition’s General Meeting – January 16, 2014

January 21, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Happy near-end of January, everyone! We’re in the midst of one of our busiest month’s at the Coalition on Homelessness. But that doesn’t mean we’re giving up on our new Recap Tradition. Without further ado, here’s what happened at the Coalition’s General Member Meeting, held on January 16, 2014. As a reminder, the General Member Meeting takes place every third Thursday of the month from 9.00 – 11.00 a.m. at the East Cherry YWCA (2820 E. Cherry Street in Seattle). For more information, check our website’s Members’ tab for a link to the ‘Committees & Meetings’ page, or simply follow this link to take you there directly. Our next General Member Meeting is Thursday, February 20, 2014. __________________ Introducing the new Director at Committee to End Homelessness King County Mark Putnam, who last worked for Building Changes, is now the new Director at the CEHKC. Mark spoke about why this work is important and what his goals and hopes are as Director. Here’s a quick paraphrase of Mark’s words: Our community is vast and large, and we are committed to listening. Will be holding many community meetings to get input and hear from folks. Speaking with Legislators about legislative priorities. Understands that people are looking for solutions and leadership beyond incarceration/police involvement, moving folks who are homeless from one neighborhood to the next. We’re thinking hard about what’s next — the long-term, clear goal is focus. Please do get connected with CEHKC — attend the Governing Board meetings, which are open to all. Committee to End Homelessness: Governance changes and process Kate Speltz, King County – Homeless Housing Programsm, and Eileen Denham, City of Seattle Human Services Department, joined us to give background and information on next steps. Here’s a quick paraphrase of what they shared: Reminder: King County receives $24 Million in McKinney funding. Useful terminology: HEARTH …

Recap: Coalition’s General Meeting – December 19, 2013

January 10, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

As we were bidding farewell to 2013, Alison and I discussed what we’d like 2014 to look like for the Coalition’s Everyone Counts blog. One idea that we’re running with is to post a recap after every General Member Meeting. 2013 was a great year for our Coalition, and one we want to build off of in 2014. So, here to ring in this New Year with our new tradition is a Recap of December’s General Member meeting. As a reminder, the General Member Meeting takes place every third Thursday of the month from 9.00 – 11.00 a.m. at the East Cherry YWCA (2820 E. Cherry Street in Seattle). For more information, check our website’s Members’ tab for a link to the ‘Committees & Meetings’ page, or simply follow this link to take you there directly. Our next General Member Meeting is Thursday, January 16, 2014. __________________ Seattle Final Budget News & Thank You to Mayor Mike McGinn Our friends at the Seattle Human Services Coalition’s handout highlights our HUGE win with the City of Seattle Budget process: an additional investment of $6,891,219! Out-going Mayor Mike McGinn and Jerry DeGrieck, Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor McGinn, came to receive the Coalition’s sincerest Thank You for their leadership and commitment to Seattle residents over the past four years, and also for his strong support of the Coalition’s budget recommendations this past year. Mayor McGinn shared his heartfelt thanks to the Coalition and its members for all of our advocacy, and encouraged us to keep it up. 2014 Legislative Session Preview Robin Zukoski of Columbia Legal Services (CLS) provided background and an overview about the upcoming Legislative Session. Ben Miksch of Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA) shared with us WLIHA’s 2014 State Legislative Agenda. Carrie Dolwick of Transportation Choices Coalition shared the status of Transportation policy at the …

What will Effective Advocacy Look Like this Session down in Olympia?

October 16, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

You may look at the title of this post and think to yourself, “Wait a minute, we aren’t even through city budget season yet, so why are we already thinking about the legislative session down in Olympia?” Even though fall is very much still in the air, January is actually just around the corner. With a 60 day session this year, we will have to be prepared, and ready to advocate quickly and effectively as soon as the legislative session begins. This morning, I attended the Children’s Alliance’s Annual Meeting, along with Amy Donnelly (Child Care Resources) and Cindy Irwin (Compass Housing Alliance), who co-chair the Coalition’s Families with Children Committee. One of the purposes of the event was to ask the legislators tough questions about their views on issues relating to the needs of Washington’s kids. One woman asked the legislators about whether they were willing to reform our tax system so that the state could have more revenue to support more vital programs. The legislators all responded with very classic, evasive answers, but one legislator, Representative Cindy Ryu, from the 32nd District, gave a helpful piece of advice. She said, “Every time you walk into your legislator’s office or communicate with your legislator, talk to them about your issue, but also talk to them about the broader systemic issue of tax reform.” This issue must be pushed by the people, and come from the bottom up. So remember: with every e-mail you send this session, and with every meeting you go into, say at least one sentence about how you support a fairer tax system in our state, and ask your legislator to stand with you. Without a more progressive tax system, we will never have the kind of state that we all want to live in – …