OLYMPIA – The state House voted today to pass a bill from Rep. Alicia Rule (D-Blaine) that helps families with young children struggling with homelessness.
The legislation, HB 1221, passed the House in a 61-36 bipartisan vote.
“This bill is about children, about little children. The reality for too many of our littlest children is that they don’t have a stable home and lack the support they need to thrive. Imagine a 4-year-old sleeping on a floor in a pile of blankets at a family friend’s home. That’s who we can help today by simply recognizing that we need to do more,” Rule said after floor passage.
HB 1221 standardizes the definition of homelessness to streamline services for Washington state’s most vulnerable children, rather than having different definitions for each program and causing families of young children in crisis to have to prove “how homeless they are.”
This is Rule’s second bill to make it through the House. The chamber recently passed her bill to support small businesses in rural areas by expanding the Main Street Program.
HB 1221 is now headed to the Senate for further consideration.
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