We’ve been hard at work on our legislative priorities. Because it’s a short session, February 21st marked the three-quarters point in the 60 days we have to advocate for children, youth and families experiencing homelessness in Washington State. Here’s where things stand with our top priorities:
- 2E2SSB 5580 is a Maternity Support Services (MSS) bill that will help ensure MSS continues to support and benefit pregnant and post-partum persons experiencing homelessness. It has passed out of the Senate and is well on its way through the House of Representatives.
- Having secured funding for the Homeless Student Stability Program (HSSP) for the biennium, we are working with legislators to ensure that there is $2.6 million in ongoing funding for HSSP in the 2025 budget.
Building Changes staff at Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day in Olympia
Building Changes also supports ESHB 2114, which is a rent stabilization bill that would limit how much a landlord can raise rent from year to year and gives tenants increased protections. It also supports tenants who have been taken advantage of. On February 13th, the bill was voted out of the House of Representatives and sent over to the Senate! But the job isn’t done yet! We’re going to need every Senator to hear from YOU to get this bill on the Governor’s desk. Please contact your legislators and tell them to vote YES on ESHB 2114. You can send them a message now. Your voice matters!
Another big priority is a budget ask of $70 million to eliminate the current deficit in the budget for housing and homelessness services. Without this, housing and homelessness service providers across the state will experience severe budget cuts; some are even at risk of shutting down this year. You can help by contacting your legislators to let them know that we cannot afford to lose these essential services.
Here are some of the other bills we’re supporting alongside our partners to make sure children, youth, and families get the support they need to maintain housing stability and to thrive:
- 2SSB 5591: Providing dependent youth with financial education and support
- 2SHB 2270: Creating a Washington state department of housing
- 2E2SHB 1541: Establishing the nothing about us without us act
- E2SSB 5908: Providing extended foster care services to youth ages 18 to 21
- 2SHB 1929: Supporting young adults following inpatient behavioral health treatment
- ESSB 5850: Supporting students who are chronically absent and at risk of not graduating high school
- SHB 2287: Creating an advisory board to the office of the corrections ombuds
