Friends and neighbors,
Last session, I prioritized improving our statewide disaster preparedness and supporting mobile home park residents. With the support of my colleagues, I was able to make significant progress on both issues.
Statewide resiliency program
I sponsored House Bill 1728, requiring the Emergency Management Division (EMD) within the Military Department to develop and run a program improving disaster resilience. The program aims to better coordinate state and local disaster response efforts, ensure collaboration between agencies, and identify and mitigate all types of natural and human-caused hazards. With the Governor’s signature, the statewide resiliency program will now begin to promote collaboration between agencies to advance statewide resilience activities. The EMD will work with agency partners to identify opportunities to leverage funding and improve the resilience of communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems. This is necessary to ensure that when disaster strikes, Washington State is ready.
Protecting mobile home park residents
Manufactured and mobile home residents are often forced to move because of site closure. Yet, they have done nothing wrong. Bearing the brunt of the financial hardship associated with relocating, there can be unique and substantial costs associated with moving from this type of housing. I introduced House Bill 1771 that removes hurdles for tenants and provide more time to move and remain eligible for assistance from the Manufactured Home Relocation Assistance Fund.
I am also proud to have voted for Senate Bill 5198, which requires landlords to provide tenants with two years notice before closure or conversion of a manufactured/mobile home community, with exceptions like compensating tenants for relocation or cost of their manufactured home to get a quicker closure date. It also requires landlords to provide written notice, providing tenant organizations the opportunity to compete to purchase when the owner is selling or leasing a manufactured home community. This ensures that community members can make the necessary arrangements to vacate and relocate if needed, which can take a considerable amount of time.
Next month, I will share some updates on community investments and making our roads safer. As always, please reach out if you have any thoughts, concerns, or suggestions.
Thanks,
Rep. Brandy Donaghy