Michele Thomas, Director of Policy and Advocacy

We've almost reached the halfway point of session and the first major cutoffs happened last week. Bills had to move out of policy committees in order to survive to this week. But this week brings the next hurdle, which is the fiscal committee cutoff on Tuesday, February 11. Bills that have a fiscal impact must clear their respective House or Senate fiscal committees in order to continue in the legislative process.

All these cutoffs can mean a frantic race to confirm votes or to write last minute amendments to appease concerns. This was certainly the case with the Housing Alliance's top policy issues.

Take Action: It's too cold out there to let the sun set on document recording fees! Some legislators want to change SB 6313 so that instead of eliminating the sunsets, they would be extended only for five years. In addition, they want to mandate that 45% only be used for the "private rental market." Please ask your legislators to eliminate the sunsets and to not restrict the use of these funds in any way. Go here to start the email-sending process. Image Photo credit: Wonderlane

Prevent the Sunsetting of the State's Document Recording Fees! (HB 2368 & SB 6313)

A lot happened with these important bills last week and a lot more could happen this week. The Senate version was voted out of committee on Tuesday the 4th. The Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance Committee co-chaired by Senators Steve Hobbs (44th LD) and Jan Angel (26th LD) voted unanimously to move an amended version on to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Unfortunately, the amendment merely extends (rather than eliminates) the sunset of the fees to 2020 and also requires the state set-aside at least 45% of the funds for "private rental vouchers". While we agree part of ending homelessness includes utilizing the private market, the Housing Alliance opposes this set-aside, as we oppose any set-aside for homelessness program funding. Local control and flexibility of the document recording fee revenue allow for innovative and responsive programs that can be tailored to address local needs and local realities. Mandating that the fees be used in any specific way is bad policy and threatens to erode the success these fees have had in ending homelessness. Please weigh in on this issue and ask your legislators to eliminate the sunsets and to not restrict the use of the funds. Take action today by clicking here.

Meanwhile, the House version, HB 2368 had moved out the Committee on Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs with a unanimous and bipartisan vote! If you haven't already thanked each committee member for their “yes” vote, please do today, especially if you are in their district. Below is a list of the committee members. Click on each one to send a quick email of thanks.

HB 2368 has a hearing today Monday at 10am in the House Appropriations Committee. You can watch the hearing with us on TVW here.

We'll let you know the latest updates on these bills. We update our Twitter and Facebook feeds regularly with news about our priorities. Again, Tuesday the 11th marks the fiscal committee cutoffs in the House and Senate and we hope that both chambers will give the bills a hearing and schedule them for a vote. If not, we hope that the House will determine them to be "necessary to implement the budget" or "NTIB". If a bill is considered NTIB, it is not subject to any cutoff other than “sine die” a.k.a. the last day of session. However, there is a chance that both chambers will choose to adhere to Tuesday's fiscal committee deadline and schedule the bills for a public hearing. So stay tuned and take action to help move these bills today!

Also, The Olympian wrote an editorial on February 6 strongly condemning a bill that attempts to transfer $10 of the document recording fees to state parks. Check it out here.

Enact Part 3 of the Fair Tenant Screening Act! (HB 2537 & SB 6291)

The House version of the Fair Tenant Screening Act, sponsored by Representative June Robinson (38th LD) was passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, the 4th. It was amended to address the concerns raised in public hearings and the Housing Alliance supports the amended version. Representative Robinson recorded this video for her constituents to explain the importance of this bill:

The Senate version of the Fair Tenant Screening Act did not make it past last Friday's cutoff. However, we hope that the House version will continue its progress and make it over to the Senate to get a second chance in that chamber. We know that the bill has strong support in the Senate, and if the House version makes it over, it has a good chance, especially since it has been amended to address the concerns shared in testimony.

Stay tuned for an advocacy action midweek on the Fair Tenant Screening Act and please take a moment to thank the members of the House Judiciary Committee who voted yes on HB 2537 by clicking any one of the links for your legislator below. Representative Brady Walkinshaw (43rd LD) deserves special thanks for his central role in crafting and sponsoring the amendment. 

Updates on Housing Alliance Support Priorities

A number of the Housing Alliance's support issues recently made important progress. Here are the highlights. Remember to watch our bill tracker for updates.

Extended Foster Care (HB 2335/Roberts & SB 6101/Fain)
These bills are moving, and HB 2335 has a hearing on Monday, February 10 in the House Appropriations Committee at 10:00am. If you are in Olympia, sign in with support! 

The Homeless Children's Education Act (HB 2373/Parker & 6974/Frockt)
These bills are in the extremely capable advocate hands of UW law students and Columbia Legal Services, and have been swiftly moving along. Each bill has cleared the recent cutoffs and is in position to keep moving. 

Thank you for being an affordable housing and homelessness advocate! Your voice, your action, and your stories move these important issues. Please keep in mind that each time you contact your legislator, you are part of a statewide movement to end homelessness and to expand access to safe, healthy and affordable housing. Your advocacy can move mountains. Please keep it going!

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Edit 02/10/2014: Added information about today's HB 2368 hearing in the House Appropriations Committee & formatting edits.