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If you only have 2 minutes to take action on the housing crisis, here's the quick and dirty:
Within the next couple of days, the State Senate and House will be finalizing the budget. Since we have nearly $1 billion left in federal COVID funding, we have the resources to invest in ALL housing justice priorities, such as rental assistance, homelessness work force retention, and affordable housing.
Use this action tool provided by the WLIHA to quickly contact your legislators and urge them to commit to fully funding these priorities.
Contact your Legislators! ([link removed])
A heartfelt plea from our Legislative Director, Amina Abdalla, on the housing crisis:
Dear John,
After graduating from college I struggled for nearly a year to simply find an affordable place to live. The job I was working at the time, although it paid okay, it did not pay enough for me to be able to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. Like many young people, I lived with my parents for a while before giving up on my dreams to live on my own and deciding to find a roommate. I come from a low income family, so continuing to live with my parents was not an option for me especially since we are a big family and the house was already extremely crowded.
The fact that you cannot afford a modest place to live on the salary you make even after graduating from college (especially while paying off debt) is completely preposterous. Situations like what I and many other young people went through are what essentially causes homelessness, and they’re completely preventable. I had to work two jobs and get a roommate just to be able to afford a safe, clean and modest place to live. That is not okay!
There should be no reason why the state of Washington is not committing to bold budgets that invest deeply in affordable homes and homelessness prevention. Not only does Washington state have a strong economy to commit to these bold budgets, it has nearly $1 billion left in federal COVID funding. WE HAVE THE RESOURCES to invest in all housing justice priorities.
The Senate and House are currently in intense negotiations to reconcile their differences about the budgets. Use this action tool ([link removed]) provided by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance to quickly email your legislators and urge them to commit to fully funding affordable housing. Please also share this on social media and with friends, family and coworkers. The more of us raising our voices the better chance we have of making sure housing justice priorities are met.
Contact your Legislators! ([link removed])
Got a little more time? Support the right for legislative workers to unionize!
HB 2124 ([link removed]) will allow legislative workers to unionize. This is especially important to KCYD because so many legislative aides and staffers are Young Democrats! In fact, the Young Democrats of Washington State wrote a letter of support that we signed onto ([link removed]) . Technically, there was an older bill written to do the same thing that actually died in committee. But then legislative workers organized a sick-out ([link removed]) that convinced legislators to bring it back to life.
What can you do to help? The bill has passed the House and is currently in the Senate. Please contact your Senator and ask them to support this bill. It's super easy to do so: just click on this link, which will send a message directly to your Senator.
Comment on HB 2124 ([link removed])
Not sure what to comment? We've gone ahead and drafted a template comment for you:
Dear Senator,
I urge you to strongly support HB 2124, which will begin the process to allow legislative aides to unionize.
Many of the people who work in the legislature are young people who dedicate their lives and careers to public service. They do so because they believe fervently in doing work that will better the lives of their communities. However, it is widely known that working in the legislature is usually poorly compensated and – unacceptably – often poorly treated or abused. Too often, young people are told that they must accept an unfair trade off, settling for poverty wages and sacrificing basic dignity in order to work in such a highly competitive and influential environment.
By allowing collective bargaining, workers in the legislature will be able to increase their compensation, benefits, and workplace protections. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it also encourages the retention of young people in the legislature. So many young people are dedicated to the work but cannot afford (financially or emotionally) to stay.
Although this bill had originally been killed in committee, staff at the legislature called out sick in protest. We’re grateful that legislators now understand how important this is to current workers. Please do not betray your own staff, and vote YES on HB 2124.
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