Rachael Myers, Executive Director

It's been a busy summer for all of us at the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, even while we've been enjoying every bit of sunshine and warmth possible! We’ve been running since the gavels in Olympia signaled sine die* (finally) on June 29, from planning for our 2014 State Legislative Agenda, to working with our partners in D.C. on securing a National Housing Trust Fund, to ramping up our Board Advocacy Project.

We wanted to update you on all the exciting things we are working on and make sure you know how to get involved. You can click each heading to jump to that specific section below.

2014 State Legislative Agenda
Housing Trust Fund Summit
Board Advocacy Project
Medicaid Expansion
United for Homes: Securing a National Housing Trust Fund
Emerging Advocates Program
Racism, Classism, and Other Oppressions
Save the Date

*Sine die is a Latin term that means "to conclude a regular or special session without setting a day to reconvene."

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2014 State Legislative Agenda

Every year we develop a set of state budget and policy priorities. These are legislative initiatives that will move us toward a day when everyone has the opportunity to live in a safe, healthy, affordable home.

Our Public Policy Committee is in the process of developing a proposal for our 2014 legislative agenda. That proposal will go to the Housing Alliance Board of Directors who will consider it in September. Next year will be a short, 60-day legislative session and many Olympia insiders are saying a combination of factors indicate that additional special sessions are unlikely. Thus, it will be a hard environment to push anything controversial or new. The chambers will still be split by party and that will make negotiations as difficult as they were last year. With this in mind, we expect to keep our 2014 priorities close to the issues we championed and supported in 2013: the Housing Trust Fund, protecting funding for homelessness services, and furthering the Fair Tenant Screening Act.

If you have suggestions for our agenda or if you are working on an issue that you’d like the Housing Alliance to partner on, please complete this form and return it to Michele Thomas at michele(@)wliha(.)org no later than Wednesday, September 4 at 5:00pm. Please use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader to complete the above form.

Housing Trust Fund Summit

The Housing Alliance will host a summit in October to bring together state Housing Trust Fund stakeholders to discuss 2014 advocacy strategies. In addition to discussing 2014 advocacy efforts for an additional investment in the Housing Trust Fund, the summit will bring stakeholders together to discuss strategies for ensuring that the allocation process is fair and transparent and to discuss important issues like prevailing wage rates for workers on HTF funded projects. Stand by for final details, and feel free to email Michele Thomas with any questions or suggestions.

Board Members Make Great Advocates

The Housing Alliance is busy updating our board advocacy resources to provide board members with the tools they need to be effective and powerful advocates. We’ll be rolling out an advocacy newsletter for board members this fall. If you’d like to talk about getting your board involved, please don’t hesitate to contact Ben Miksch at benm(@)wliha(.)org. He can come talk to your board and assist your organization in developing an advocacy plan that fits with your needs and with your strengths.

Leveraging Medicaid Expansion to End Homelessness

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion, there are significant opportunities to link supportive services and affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness and for ensuring that the newly insured are well served by their new providers. The Housing Alliance is participating in workgroups and making sure there is a strong voice for affordable housing and homelessness. If you’d like to learn more about Medicaid expansion, visit our new resource page here.

United for Homes – Funding the National Housing Trust Fund

The United for Homes campaign is a revenue-neutral proposal led by the National Low Income Housing Coalition that proposes to rethink the federal mortgage interest deduction in order to create a funding source for the National Housing Trust Fund. The proposal is to convert the current mortgage interest deduction into a 15% non-refundable tax credit, while reducing the amount of mortgage eligible for a tax break to $500,000. The savings generated would be invested in the National Housing Trust Fund, which states would use to dramatically expand access to affordable housing. The Housing Alliance is leading the effort to ensure that Washington State is a strong voice in this national campaign. To get involved or to learn more, please contact Ben Miksch.

Emerging Leaders – Get Ready to Advocate!

The Housing Alliance is excited to share that this fall we will be convening people directly impacted by the issues we work on. They will come together over six weeks to be part of our new effort, the Emerging Advocates Program. Over 25 people from across the state applied to the program with the goal of deepening their advocacy skills to help end homelessness and increase access to affordable housing. Trainings will include a trip to Olympia to get familiar with the capitol campus, how to use social media for advocacy, how to share your story, an in-depth overview of the legislative process, and much more. To learn more (although spaces are already full for this fall), please don’t hesitate to contact Alouise Urness at alouise(@)wliha(.)org.

Help the Housing Alliance Confront Racism, Classism, and Other Oppressions

We know institutional oppression plays a significant role in perpetuating poverty and homelessness. We also know that to achieve our vision of ensuring all Washington residents have opportunities for safe, healthy, affordable homes, we need to address those injustices. We are in the early stages of developing a plan to be more deliberate about our role in undoing oppression in all its forms and will share our plans as we progress. If you have feedback about our work in this area, please contact me at rachael(@)wliha(.)org.

Save the Date

Like us, are you looking ahead to 2014 already? We invite you to mark your calendar now for two exciting 2014 dates:

Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day
January 22 in Olympia

Conference on Ending Homelessness
May 21-22 in Yakima

Thanks for being involved with the Housing Alliance. We couldn’t do all this exciting work without you.