Five key bills are at risk right now. Three need to be voted off the House floor:
HB 2453/ Macri: This bill requires that landlords have a legitimate business reason to make someone move. It closes a major loophole in Washington’s Fair Housing protections, by requiring transparent and non-discriminatory reasons to end a tenancy.
HB 1694/ Morgan: For many people leaving homelessness, even if they can afford the monthly rent on an apartment, saving up thousands of dollars for move in costs is an insurmountable barrier. This bill lowers that barrier by requiring landlords to accept a three-month installment payment plan for move-in costs if a tenant requests it.
HB 2907/ Macri: Homelessness is crisis all over the state. This is especially true in our most populous county where more than 11,000 people were identified as living homeless last year. This bill gives King County the ability to tax the largest employers, with the highest paid workers, to help address the crisis. This would help thousands of people, and it could set a precedent for other counties to request taxing authority to address homelessness in their communities. (After you take action, you can sign your organization onto a letter supporting this bill here!)
Two bills need to pass the Senate:
SB 6378/ Kuderer: This is the “trailer” bill to last year’s SB 5600 that gave tenants 14 instead of three days to catch up on late rent before facing eviction. Some landlords unfairly skirted the intention of the bill by issuing 14 day “pay or vacate” notices on the 2nd of the month, to tenants relying on federal help like social security or disability payments that often don’t arrive until a few days later, even after accepting rent payments from those tenants after their checks arrived for years. This is a mean-spirited scare tactic, that punishes good tenants, mostly seniors and people with disabilities, who have no control over when their government checks arrive. The bill requires landlords to accept an alternative payment date based on when they receive their governmental assistance.
SB 6386/ Zeiger: This bipartisan bill would reduce the cost of building affordable homes, by making it easier for local governments to waive impact fees for affordable housing. Affordable housing advocates and local governments have been asking for this policy change for years, and we’re thrilled to see bipartisan leadership to make it happen! This bill passed out of the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability Committee with unanimous support, but hasn’t yet been scheduled for a vote of the full Senate.
With the looming cut-off, time is critical right now. Thank you for taking action! John Stovall
Member Organizer |
