Washington lawmakers have an opportunity this year to make historic investments in addressing homelessness. They should take advantage of it.
As advocacy group House Washington wrote in a letter to legislators: “Every day thousands of Washingtonians are living unhoused and we know that the pandemic has made the problem worse. We see it in our communities throughout the state.”
There is nothing profound or particularly insightful about that. But what gives the message added weight is the fact that House Washington is a broad coalition of leaders from major businesses, social organizations and municipal governments. The city of Vancouver was among more than 100 signees.
Building and preserving affordable housing, dealing with the social and legal costs of homelessness and keeping our communities safe and clean typically fall to city and county governments. Locally, Clark County is the lead agency in dealing with the issue, working in conjunction with city governments.
But municipal governments throughout the state are being overrun, without having the resources necessary to deal with a vast social issue.
That is where the state government must provide assistance. The supplemental state operating budget, currently under negotiation in Olympia, offers an opportunity for such assistance.
A budget proposal in the House of Representatives would earmark $400 million for rapid housing and an additional $101.5 million for the housing trust fund, which provides loans and grants for affordable housing projects. An additional $72 million would fund short-term care for people with mental or behavioral health needs.
That exceeds the request from Gov. Jay Inslee in his supplemental budget proposal, and it reflects the desperation lawmakers are feeling as they try to address what constituents view as one of the state’s most pressing problems.
A budget proposal in the Senate is slightly lower than the governor’s request. Lawmakers should lean toward the larger amount, understanding the depth of the issue and recognizing both the social and economic benefits of dealing with it. Our state has a moral obligation to effectively assist those in dire situations.
In Vancouver, voters in 2016 approved a tax levy to help build and preserve affordable housing. That has provided numerous benefits, with more than $30 million being distributed to various projects; and yet the number of unhoused people has continued to increase.
The Legislature has money at its disposal. The COVID-19 pandemic has had less of an economic impact than expected, and federal stimulus money has been added to the coffers. Projections for state revenue through mid-2023 — the end of the current budget cycle — have increased by $1.3 billion since November.
Some of that money, we have written editorially, should be returned to taxpayers. But for areas where additional spending is needed, homelessness should be at the top of the list.
Last year, advocates told lawmakers that with $400 million from the state government, they could quickly shelter more than 2,600 people by purchasing facilities for shelters and creating transitional or permanent housing. The Legislature ignored the request, and the need has increased.
Lawmakers should listen this year, using unique economic conditions to make an investment in our state. As Housing Washington puts it: “We stand ready . . . to help our community members move into housing and receive the support and services to provide them the stability they need.”
