In our semi-annual listening sessions, the main things we hear about from Washingtonians living on low incomes are the struggles of living in debt and rising costs of living. When payments are impossible to make, collectors can take what they're owed directly from Washingtonians bank accounts through garnishment. Washingtonians facing bank account garnishment are struggling to make ends meet, facing rising costs in addition to a mountain of debt to pay back. As one listening session attendee put it, “As much as I'm trying to get ahead, I'm really not. I'm basically robbing Peter to pay Paul just to survive.”
This is an issue that disproportionately impacts communities of color. 14% of Washingtonians have a debt in collections, which is better than the national average. However, in communities of color, up to 29% of people have a debt in collections, more than double our state average.
While $2,000 is protected from garnishment by law, under current statute only $1,000 of that amount is self-executing. This means that Washingtonians have to go through a legal procedure to get back up to $1,000 illegally garnished by collectors. Washingtonians facing garnishment do not have the time or resources to navigate a complicated, time-sensitive legal process to keep the full $2,000 protected by law in their bank accounts, and that amount is not sufficient to meet families' basic needs in our state.
SB 5651 offers a simple solution – it makes the full amount of last dollar protections automatically protected and increases that amount to more effectively cover the cost of living in Washington.
With this bill, Washingtonians facing collections can focus on navigating the path to financial stability instead of scrambling to navigate our state's legal system to claw back money already protected by law.
Tell your lawmakers: schedule and pass SB 5651 to support Washingtonians living on a low income in our state.
