We update the Budget Tracker daily. Follow us on Twitter and/or Like us on Facebook to find out when we last updated this Budget Tracker. Updated February 27, 2014.
These items are listed in no particular order.
Budget Item |
Gov.
|
Senate |
House |
Our Position &
|
Proposed 2014 Supplemental Operating Budget |
||||
| Housing & Essential Needs Program (HEN) |
No change. |
No change. |
No change. |
|
| Aged, Blind & Disabled Program (ABD) |
No change. |
↓ $850,000 |
No change. |
|
| HEN & ABD Incapacity Exams* |
No change. |
↓ $600,000 |
No change. |
|
| Home Security Fund** |
No change. |
No change. |
↓ $26,000 |
The House Operating budget allocates $26,000 for a Homeless Certification Pilot to be funded out of the Home Security Fund. The legislature should resist funding new programs out of existing resources. If the legislature finds merit with the pilot program introduced in HB 2415, then it should be funded by the Operating Budget’s General Fund rather than the Home Security Fund, in order to avoid adding pressure to existing funding sources for homelessness services. |
Budget Item |
Gov.
|
Senate |
House |
Our Position &
|
Proposed 2014 Supplemental Capital Budget |
||||
| Affordable Housing Capital Investments |
On Friday, February 28 we need you to call the legislative hotline and leave this message with your legislators: "Please make sure the homeless housing and assistance surcharge fees don’t sunset by supporting ESHB 2368. And neither the House nor the Senate Capital Budget invests enough in affordable housing. Please help ensure all Washington residents have opportunities for safe, healthy affordable homes by making a deeper investment in affordable housing." |
|||
| Housing Trust Fund (HTF) |
No change. |
No change. |
No change. |
|
| Facilities & Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness*** |
No change. |
No change. |
↑ $6 million | |
| High Energy Efficient Housing**** | ↑ $5 million |
No change. |
↑ $5 million | |
| Capital Funding for Weatherization ***** |
No change. |
No change. |
↑ $2 million | |
*This funding is for facilitation services that move clients to Social Security Insurance (SSI). The incapacity evaluation is critical to identify the presumptive SSI population and the temporarily incapacitated population.
**The Home Security Fund is funded from document recording fees and is used for homeless housing programs.
***Note that this funding is not all for affordable housing. Rather, this allocation is a sum of money that will be awarded competitively and organizations wanting to build affordable housing for people with chronic mental illness can apply.
****Go here for more information on this particular budget item. Search for "High Energy Efficient".
*****This program pays for weatherization specialists to perform air sealing work, to add insulation, to seal leaky duct seams, and to replace inefficient appliances in the homes of low-income residents.