By Laura Ellsworth, Council for the Homeless
The 2021 Washington State legislative session offered a good deal of optimism for those who advocate for more affordable housing and for enhanced services to help those who are homeless and to prevent others from becoming homeless.
Our legislators enacted a series of pieces of new legislation to advance those causes, and also appropriated related funding to address affordable housing and homelessness.
Among the bills passed by the legislature were:
- Appropriations of additional funding for rental assistance;
- Legislation to help tenants who are facing evictions stay in their homes;
- Measures intended to identify policies that create racially disparate impacts, displacement, and exclusion – and to implement policies to undo that harm.
For more information about the bills that were passed this session, join CFTH and special guest Representative Monica Stonier, Tuesday May 25th from 5:30pm-6:30pm. This webinar will include the hopes for local impacts from the new investments into affordable housing and homelessness services. Register for the webinar at: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iFDcy45AS0S0D5rj2eSNRg
Overall, the legislature appropriated in excess of $1 billion to support the creation of more affordable housing in the state.
It will take time for all these new laws to take effect and timing of funds coming into the community depends on a number of factors. Still, these were certainly positive measures taken by our legislators. We are grateful to our elected officials in Olympia for their courage and vision that rose to meet the critical and unprecedented need.
None of this would have been possible without the active advocacy of the many individuals and organizations dedicated to finding solutions for those who do not have access to affordable housing–or to any safe housing at all. To get a sense of this wave of support, consider that:
- Nearly 3,000 advocates took action during the session.
- Lawmakers together received over 20,000 emails from affordable housing advocates.
- Over 1,000 organizations and over 3,800 individuals signed onto letters to lawmakers in support of our priories.
- Over 600 advocates attended the first ever 100% virtual Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day, including more than 60 people from Clark County!
To all of you who participated in this successful legislative session, we want to say thank you so much for standing strong and making your voice heard, and for continuing to work for a Washington where everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home.