Hundreds of people from across Washington gathered in Olympia on Jan. 30 to lobby the state Legislature to pass stronger renter protections and fund affordable housing and social services.
The effort, known as the Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD), was the first in-person housing justice lobby day since 2020. According to Rachael Meyers, the executive director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA) — the group which organized HHAD — more than 700 people registered and about 450 attended.
Advocates gathered at the Washington Center for Performing Arts to listen to speeches and information about how the Legislature works and what housing-related bills are being considered this year. They donned red scarves that symbolized housing justice and served as a sort of uniform.
Next, participants walked and bussed about a half mile south to meet with their representatives in the Capitol buildings. They spoke with senators, state representatives and their aides from 47 out of the 49 legislative districts, according to WLIHA. Advocates shared their stories and experiences with facing housing insecurity in an attempt to convince lawmakers to pass better renter protections and fund more affordable housing. They also held a rally with allied politicians on the steps of the Capitol building.
The group of advocates included people with lived experience of homelessness, low-income tenants and nonprofit service providers. Seven Real Change vendors and staff members also attended, riding the “Advocacy Express,” a coach bus rented by the Seattle and King County Coalition on Homelessness.
Real Change Vendor Cliff Tymony said his experience facing mistreatment by his landlord motivated him to attend HHAD for the first time. He said that knowing your rights and advocating for yourself is essential as a renter.
“The greatest principle of justice is fair dealing,” Tymony said. “The landlord, he doesn’t see that. All he thinks of is just more money.”
Carl Nakajima, a seasoned activist and Real Change Vendor, said it was important for legislators to hear from people with lived experience of homelessness.
“They grow up in a different environment, and I don’t know how much they really understand about [the lives of] homeless people,” he said.
Nakajima added that during his meeting with Rep. Chipalo Street (D-Seattle), who represents Southeast Seattle, young advocates shared deeply touching stories about facing housing insecurity.
At HHAD, the topic that took center stage was rent stabilization. Advocates called for the passage of House Bill (HB) 2114 and its companion Senate Bill (SB) 5961, which would impose a 5% annual cap on rent increases for most residential units. The bills would also extend a number of tenant protections, including limiting move-in and late fees, requiring advance notice for rent increases and authorizing the state Attorney General’s Office to enforce rental regulations.
The bill appears to be a priority for House Speaker Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma), who has said the high cost of housing is a key priority for her. According to Rep. Nicole Macri (D-Seattle), HB 2114 is likely to pass with Jinkin’s support.
With a healthy 58-40 majority, House Democrats can afford to lose the support of a couple of moderate lawmakers. However, the same cannot be said for the state Senate, where Democrats only have a 29-20 majority, meaning they cannot lose more than four senators. Due to the opposition of Sen. Annette Cleveland (D-Vancouver), SB 5961 did not pass through committee by the Jan. 31 deadline. So if HB 2114 does pass through the House, it will still have to overcome moderate senators’ opposition.
Meyers said HHAD was timed to create an extra push to guarantee passage of the rent stabilization legislation.
“There are a handful of senators who we need to shore up and make sure they’re supportive,” she said. “I think hearing directly from their constituents probably does help push the needle. We wouldn’t spend all this time and energy coming down here if we didn’t think it did. And we’ve absolutely heard from lawmakers that they have changed their minds on issues in the past because they heard such important stories from their constituents.”
On that same day, the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association (WMFHA) held its own lobby day at Olympia but for diametrically opposed causes. About a hundred of the organization’s members, which include property managers, for-profit developers and owners of large rental buildings, met with lawmakers to advocate against HB 2114 and SB 5961. They starkly contrasted HHAD participants in both politics and style; while the latter donned red scarves and casual clothes, the former sported pristine business suits and laminated pins.
WMFHA director of government affairs Ryan Makinster said rent stabilization would disincentivize the development of new apartment buildings, decreasing supply and thus exacerbating the housing crisis in the long term. He said investors and businesses were likely to get pushed out of the market if rent stabilization passes.
“Most industries have a much higher return than eight cents on the dollar,” Makinster said. “Yes, it’s an industry, and people get into it or run it because there’s obviously profit to be made. But eight cents on the dollar — I would not say it’s a windfall. There’s a lot of risks inherent in this industry.”
Makinster added that rent stabilization could drive down property values, which would decrease tax revenue essential to many state and local government services. However, Meyers disputed this view of seeing housing as a vehicle for profit, asserting that tenants deserve predictability and stability just like landlords.
“They still are going to make profits,” Meyers said. “If there’s limits on how much they can raise the rent, they just can’t make unchecked profits at the expense of their tenants’ lives and ability to keep their homes.”
In addition to the rent stabilization bill, advocates also pushed to maintain funding for homelessness service providers and rework the real estate excise tax to generate more revenue for affordable housing. Since those bills are budget-related, lawmakers have until Feb. 21 to pass them from their house of origin.
“I see every single day in my job the need for more affordable housing and making it more accessible,” said Rebecca Scheldrup, a service worker with REACH, a Seattle homelessness outreach and case management organization. “A lot of things with available housing right now are also screwing a lot of people over, whether that’s the clients I work with or my co-workers. So I think it’s really essential to be down here pushing for some changes [that are] actually going to assist some people.”
Guy Oron is the staff reporter for Real Change. He handles coverage of our weekly news stories. Find them on Twitter, @GuyOron.
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