Washington State Legislators – Page 2 – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

Huge Success for Youth! But there’s still work to be done.

February 20, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

It is true, bipartisanship really does still exist! The 72-hour notification bill (SB 5147/HB 1250), one of the Coalition’s legislative priorities, passed the Senate unanimously and easily passed in the House this past week with only seven voting against it. This bill sought to reinstate an important part of the Becca Bill which gave youth shelters up to 72 hours to notify a youth’s guardian after she or he checked into a youth shelter. Because the law “sunset,” the number of hours before a shelter staff person had to contact authorities suddenly decreased from three days to only eight hours. Eight hours is not enough time for the adult staff working at a shelter to engage with youth and be able to develop rapport. Many youth come to shelters after they have run away from disturbed or dangerous family situations, and they need time to feel secure, calm down, and assess their options in a safe place. Thanks to the legislators of our State, youth will now be less likely to avoid shelters for fear that their families, police, or child protective services will be alerted right away. Advocates are now asking Governor Jay Inslee to sign the bill into law on Youth Advocacy Day this Friday, February 22, to show the youth of Washington State that their governor and legislators are behind them. Even though we have a very exciting win, our advocacy does not stop here. As Youth Advocacy Day approaches, one of the Coalition’s priorities, the Youth Opportunities Act (HB 1651 / SB 5689 ), is still under consideration. Currently Washington is one of only eight states that makes juvenile records open to the public and available to be published online. This means that people with criminal records from their youth, before the age of 18, are subject to additional barriers accessing …

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) …

Fair Tenant Screening Act – What’s At Stake in the 2013 Legislative Session?

December 14, 2012 by Alison Eisinger

In 2009, advocates proposed a bill in our state legislature that would become the Fair Tenant Screening Act. Intended to solve the unjust and unfair tenant screening system in Washington state, the bill’s overarching goals were to: Prevent & address homelessness Maintain housing access for survivors of domestic violence Reduce burden on nonprofit housing providers by increasing tenants’ access to the private rental housing market Ensure access to justice, and fair & accurate tenant screening Address affordability of tenant screening reports This was a community effort with many organizations, including the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, endorsing the bill. In the 2012 Legislative Session, part of the bill successfully passed through the legislature. The Fair Tenant Screening Act, passed in 2012, guarantees increased transparency for tenants when applying for housing. Landlords are required to disclose the criteria they use to screen tenants and the screening company they hire to run the reports. Landlords must also give tenants “adverse action notices” explaining why prospective tenants are rejected for tenancy. What does this mean for tenants? When a company screens a tenant and there is a mistake on that individual’s record, the tenant will know what the mistake is and who to contact to fix it. Before this was passed, tenants had no idea what was on the screening reports and why they were constantly being rejected by landlords. They would spend hundreds of dollars in screening fees at each rental property they applied to without ever securing a place to live and not being told why. This was a huge win for tenant rights in Washington, but as only part of the proposed bill passed, there is still more to be done in 2013 to create a just and fair screening system. Advocates for tenant rights are proposing a robust agenda for the 2013 Legislative Session on fair tenant …

Legislative Champion Awards!

July 17, 2012 by admin

SKCCH invited all state legislators from King County who worked hard on our priorities and helped preserve the safety net for the homeless and low income in the last Legislative session to be personally recognized at our General Membership meeting this Thursday, July 19th. I’m pleased to announce that 8 Legislators are able to attend on Thursday to receive thanks and awards from SKCCH members. Legislators attending are: Sen. David Frockt (aide will attend on his behalf) (46); Sen. Sharon Nelson (46); Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (34); Rep. Speaker Frank Chopp (43); Rep. Hans Dunshee (44); Rep. Gutierrez-Kenney (retiring from 46); Sen. Adam Kline (37); and Rep. Tina Orwall (33). This event is open to the public and will be held at the E. Cherry YWCA from 9-11 a.m.