Last night the tumultuous 2012 legislative session came to a temporary close. With the final swing of the gavel and the declaration of “sine die”, the legislature closed their session with significant work remaining before them. And the Governor immediately called for another special session to start on Monday the 12th.

With two of our biggest priorities on the line, what happens next has big implications for affordable housing and homelessness. The Capital Budget/Jobs Package and the Housing Trust Fund allocation are yet to be resolved. And the future of the Housing and Essential Needs program – slashed to the bone in the “Zarelli Budget” – hangs on the line.

On Thursday morning, the House released new Operating and Capital Budgets in an effort to reach agreement before the midnight “sine die” deadline. They started to debate the new Operating Budget in the late afternoon and passed it almost along party lines, but with three House Democrats voting no. The Capital Budget, with a new striking amendment by Representative Dunshee, was not voted on. 

“Magical Session” 

That was the way one of our members described the session recently. Although drama and rapid developments in Olympia can sometimes bring about sudden changes that overshadow even recent wins, there were incredible victories this session that shouldn’t be forgotten. Here a few:

• The document recording fee bill will bring resources to prevent and end homelessness to every community in the state.
   
• The passage of the Fair Tenant Screening Act, and the stakeholder commitment to continuing to work on the remaining issues, is a very important step forward for tenants' rights. 
   
• The preservation of the Housing and Essential Needs program in both the House and Senate majority party budgets, gives this program a good starting point in the upcoming negotiations on the budget.

And thanks to the hard work of our allies and members, almost every single one of our support bills passed this session. EHB 1398, which will make it possible for more jurisdictions to waive impact fees for affordable housing, passed yesterday. The bill to “take back the TANF box”, EHB 2262, also passed yesterday after years of negotiations. This bill gives the legislature more control over the spending and regulations of TANF – a critical program that prevents and ends homelessness for very low-income households with young children.

These are just a handful of the victories from this session. And many of these victories were very hard fought. With last minute unfriendly amendments, political hostage-taking, sudden opposition when all seemed well – these bills faced turmoil and roadblocks that were all overcome because of persistent, passionate and strategic advocacy.

What Happens Next? 

On Monday, at least a few lawmakers will return to Olympia to begin budget negotiations anew.  The session can last for up to thirty days and some are already predicting that it will take them that long to reach agreement. Although the Senate only needs one more vote to pass the House's budget, there were some very clear and hard lines drawn by both parties that makes for a rugged, and even treacherous, path to final agreement.

With the Housing Trust Fund, Housing & Essential Needs, and funding for other important programs yet to be decided, sustaining and expanding our advocacy will be critical. Please email Moque if you’d like to talk about how to bring your advocacy efforts up a notch for special session. We’d love to work with you to explore how to best bring your unique voice to the budget debate.

Thank you for all you have done this session. Stay tuned for our upcoming Monday action alert.

Sincerely,
Michele