“God bless our food;
God bless our drink.
And keep our homes
And ourselves
In Your embrace, O God.
God be with my going out,
God be with my coming in,
God be with me in my doubt,
God protecting me from sin.
Christ be with my ebbing,
Christ be with my flowing
Christ be with my entering,
Christ in love bestowing.”
Washington Low Income Housing Alliance held their annual Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day yesterday on the grounds of the Capitol in Olympia. Two members of The Bishop’s Task Force, Elizabeth Maupin and George Fennell, attended and reported that in addition to a “really rousing rally” speakers focused their remarks on bills pertaining to the decriminalization of homelessness (HB 2489), passing progressive revenue measures (HB2100 and SB 6093), and pushing back against federal attacks on housing and homelessness programs.
Criminalizing homelessness with the attendant arrests, fines, and incarcerations is expensive for municipalities, and exacerbates rather than mitigates the crisis of the unhoused individual. Real solutions to the problems of homelessness include expanding shelter options, providing treatment for substance use and mental health issues, and building more affordable housing; money spent on criminal prosecutions would better be spent on these priorities.
Progressive revenue is essential to funding housing and homelessness intervention programs. According to WLIHA, a millionaire’s tax (affecting less than 1% of Washington state residents) plus an employer-paid payroll tax could generate as much as $ 5.5 Billion/year.
Federal budget cuts and policy changes could reduce the amount of monies available for supporting housing stability by $120 Million. WLIHA projects that these cuts could push 5,000 more Washington state households into homelessness this year. The creation of a $120 Million state-level contingency fund could ameliorate the foreseeable consequences of federal policy changes.
Please contact your state representatives and provide your input on these measures. As we are seeing in Minneapolis, citizens exerting their political will can indeed make a difference.
Blessings and gratitude to you all
Lizbeth Adams
lizbethanneadams@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Bishop’s Task Force to the Unhoused