Author: Michone Preston
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In the OTHER Washington
Last week, the Habitat Washington team had the opportunity to travel to the other Washington – Washington DC that is – and talk about the Cost of Home campaign with our elected leaders. As a part of Habitat on the Hill 2020: We’ve Only Just Begun, Habitat leaders from across the country all gathered to…
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23 Leg Session has robust housing bills
In the first week, over 1000 bills were introduced to the Washington State Legislature. Habitat Washington testified in one hearing, and sat in on five others to learn more about their supporters and opponents. One specifically we are watching is HB 1149, the Governor’s proposed $4B Bond bill which will require a vote of the…
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Habitat In The News
‘What can be done about the missing middle’ of housing in Washington? FEB 03, 2022 at 8:47 AM BY Libby Denkmann Joshua McNichols Noel Gasca Habitat WA Board Vice Chair and CEO of SPS Habitat, Carly Colgan shares thougths on proposed legislation and how limited access to middle housing has stalled the growth of Thurston County. https://www.kuow.org/stories/what-can-be-done-about-the-missing-middle-of-housing-in-washington…
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Two Ways to Help
In a time like this, the cost of home becomes more and more important. Before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 18 million families in the U.S. were already paying half or more of their income on housing. Now, with more than 16 million Americans filing for unemployment, the situation is likely much worse. Families are facing additional economic hardship…
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The Legislative Finish Line
And it’s all over but for the signatures! In even numbered years, the Legislature for the state of Washington conducts a “short session,” meeting for 90 days starting in January. This year, that 90-day window closed on Thursday, March 12th. That means any piece of legislation that was under consideration needed to be passed by…
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Breaking New Ground
One of the things I’m asked from time to time is “why is Habitat Washington getting involved in rental issues?” Historically, we’ve stayed away from these kind of issues in Olympia, intentionally choosing not to wade in. Habitat’s wheelhouse is in homeownership, not rental. With the Cost of Home campaign however, we’ve seen a shift…
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Habitat in Olympia Day 2020!
On January 28th, people from 10 affiliates across Washington State came to Olympia to talk to their local legislators about their local programs and the importance of addressing the rising Cost of Home across the state. They came from as far away as Palouse, Washington (329 miles away) and Spokane, Washington (320 miles away) and…
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Habitat for Humanity of Washington State 2020 Cost of Home Legislative Agenda
Updated 3/2/2020 Supply and Preservation of Housing Bill Description SHB 1834/ESSB 5746/HB 2849 Amending Definition of First Time Home Buyer Unifies the definition of first time homebuyer to match the state definition with the definition in the Washington State budget and in federal statute. HB 2849 includes the definition as well as cleans up the…