Protect consumers' last dollars!

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 .

E2SSB 5651 offers a simple solution – it makes the full amount of last dollar protections automatically protected.

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 E2SSB 5651 to support Washingtonians living on a low income in our state.

Contact Your Lawmakers: [link removed]

Bonus action! Sign in PRO for removing barriers created by medical debt!

ESSB 5480 would prohibit hospitals, physician groups, collection agencies and others from reporting medical debt to a consumer credit reporting agency and make medical debt unenforceable if an entity reports it to a consumer credit reporting agency.

Basically, this bill would ensure that medical debt can't count against your credit score!

ESSB 5480 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Consumer Protections and Business Committee on 3/18 at 1:30pm. Support this great bill by taking 30 seconds to sign in PRO!

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Statewide Poverty Action Network
1501 N 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
United States
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