Revenue – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

2015 Legislative Session Updates: On to Special Session

February 23, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

And it’s a wrap (but not really). The 2015 Regular Legislative Session ended on Friday 4/24, but the House and Senate have yet to agree upon a budget, so a special session will start on Wednesday, 4/29. We are happy that Extended Foster Care, the YEAR Act, the Homeless Youth Act, and the King County Bonding for Affordable Housing all passed! Unfortunately a number of our bills did not pass, as happens each session since only a limited number of bills can even be brought to vote. These bills will be re-worked in the break until the 2016 legislative session and be reborn and hopefully pass in 2016. Your phone calls, postcard signing, and advocacy have been significant and continue to be vital moving forward in the Budget process. Budgets from the House and Senate were both released in mid-April. See below for more details. The House and Senate will have to work together to agree upon a balanced budget. We are glad the House and the Governor both provided for revenue in their budgets, however the Senate did not. We encourage you to ask your legislators to “Please ensure the final budget raises new revenue and invests at least $110 million in affordable housing.” Please check out our tracker below and note the status of bills you have been tracking. Keep on making calls, fill out and send in a new postcard, and staying tuned for action alerts – Sign up for Coalition Action Alerts here! Take 5: call the Legislative Hotline to leave a message for your representatives and let them know what bills you support and also urge them to invest $100 Million in the Housing Trust Fund. These bills and budget asks are crucial to helping people experiencing homelessness in our community. Hotline Number: 1-800-562-6000 – real (and kind) people answer the phone! Hotline …

2015 Legislative Priorities

January 27, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

The 2015 One Night Count identified 3,772 too many people outside from 2-5am early morning Friday, January 23. This cannot be considered normal and we need YOU to take ACTION. We are now in the third week of the 2015 Washington State Legislative Session and your elected state legislators need to hear from you today! Call the Legislative Hotline to leave a message for your representatives and let them know that you support legislation that is crucial to helping people experiencing homelessness in our community. Hotline Number: 1-800-562-6000 – real (and kind) people answer the phone! Hotline Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-8pm Please find below short messages to use when you call your representatives and senators as well as links to PDF versions of one-pagers with information about the important acts and programs that are on our legislative agenda. Click here to view the Coalition’s Legislative & Budget Priorities in a printable version. Here are our legislative priorities in no particular order. Thanks to the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Columbia Legal Services, The Mockingbird Society, and the Statewide Poverty Action Network for these one-pagers. State Housing Trust Fund: Invest $100 million to create good homes and local jobs through our State Housing Trust Fund Housing & Essential Needs (HEN), Aged, Blind, & Disabled (ABD) and SSI Facilitation PROTECT Crucial Programs & Prevent Homelessness for disabled and elderly Washingtonians: Maintain Housing & Essential Needs (HEN), Aged, Blind, & Disabled (ABD) and SSI Facilitation at current funding levels. Seniors and people with disabilities must be able to meet their basic needs and access recovery resources. Fair Tenant Screening Act (SB 5123 / HB 1257): ELIMINATE Barriers to Housing: Pass the Fair Tenant Screening Act (SB 5123 / HB 1257), and laws to prevent discrimination based on how people pay rent and ensure fair reporting …

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 – …

A thrilling week for advocacy in Seattle, Bellevue, and Olympia!

February 19, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

This week was an exciting one for housing and homelessness advocacy! Last Saturday, 80 people took part in the Coalition’s Homelessness Advocacy 101 workshops in Seattle and Bellevue. We had an amazingly diverse group of participants, including many people who had volunteered for the One Night Count. Among those who came were social workers; two doctors from the local VA; a member of the Redmond Human Services Commission; a nurse from the Harborview Women and Children’s Clinic; a Weyerhaueser manager; retirees; teenagers; people from local churches; people who are currently homeless; and people who were once homeless. Everyone had a simple and powerful idea in common: that it is unacceptable to allow more than 2,736 people to struggle to survive outside in our community. Our starting point for each workshop is, of course, a summary of the One Night Count. The point of the Homelessness Advocacy 101 workshops is to make sure that the 2,736 men, women and children who were counted outside on a cold, wet night a few weeks ago inspire us to take action to make things better. We have to go beyond the One Night Count, and make the results more than just a number. We have to advocate for affordable housing and vital services so that everyone can have the the opportunity to live in a safe, healthy, affordable home. Two great presenters helped explain several key legislative proposals currently being considered in the State Legislature that will help prevent and end homelessness. Ben Miksch from the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance spoke about the need to reform the state’s revenue system as the foundation for allowing positive investments in housing, services, education, and other important priorities. Ben also highlighted adding $175 million to the Housing Trust Fund, and maintaining and strengthening the Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) …