Dear neighbors,
With the arrival of rain showers and colder weather, we say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn! This interim I’ve very much enjoyed spending time out in the community with you and on a multitude of tours and meetings. Just last month, I was able to tour the Smith Island Estuarine Restoration Project with the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP). The WWRP provides grant funding for all sorts of things we love – from local parks and trails to wildlife habitat restoration and working lands. In this recent session, we were able to provide $120 million for the WWRP for outdoor community projects.
Visits like these are crucial to seeing implementation of policy and funding in our community. As we move one step closer toward the 60-day legislative session beginning in January, fall is an important time to take inventory of community priorities and refine legislation for the upcoming session. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, please consider sharing your thoughts about the issues that matter most to you in this short survey. Your feedback helps inform my legislative priorities.
Last year, your input helped guide policy that supported working and low-income families. Two areas where we made meaningful progress were increasing affordability and access to childcare and housing. I’d like to take a little time to review what we achieved together on these two issues.
Child Care
Investing in early learning is one of the best things we can do for the future of our state. Not only is it crucial for kids and families, but for the prosperity of our communities and businesses.
With the Fair Start for Kids Act and other expanded childcare and early learning programs in past budgets, we are on our way to providing universal access to our Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) for qualifying families. In this year’s budget, we added $82 million for additional ECEAP slots. We know that in addition to making childcare more affordable, we need to make it more accessible. So, this year, we allocated $256 million to increase salaries for family childcare providers and invested $5 million to help facilities offer more non-standard hours.
Difficulties in finding affordable childcare can also prevent people from accessing opportunities that would lead to living wage careers. That’s why last session, I introduced and passed HB 1525 to expand the Working Connections Child Care program to first-year apprentices. This not only helps us diversify our building and construction trades, but also gives working families a better chance of accessing and completing an apprenticeship program and achieving economic stability. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and know there’s more to come.
Housing
Addressing the homelessness crisis and expanding access to programs to protect people from losing their homes was a top priority in 2023. Housing is a human right, and none of us want to see our neighbors in need, out in the cold, with no roof over their heads. I have been through that as a child and know we can do better. Our housing supply deficit is one of the major issues we worked on. Below are just a few of the most important bills we passed and investments we made to build a future where every family has a safe, permanent, and affordable place to call home:
Easing barriers to accessory dwelling units (HB 1337): Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are an integral part of rapidly building the supply of housing here in Washington. This makes it easier to bring ADU options to more communities.
Increasing middle housing supply (HB 1110): Making it easier for our communities to build housing of all types provides affordable options for families, slows urban sprawl, and reduces traffic.
Covenant homeownership (HB 1474): Historically racist laws & covenants were used to deny families access to homeownership. And while discriminatory covenants are no longer legal, their impact is still felt today. By creating a covenant homeownership account program, down payment and closing cost assistance is accessible to groups of people historically barred from homeownership.
We also invested over $1.2 billion dollars to address our housing and homelessness crisis. This includes a record investment of $400 million for the state’s Housing Trust Fund, $170 million for building affordable housing and shelter, $141 million for emergency housing and rental assistance, $60 million for encampment response and outreach, and $27 million for the Housing and Essential Needs program.
In combination, our work has demonstrated that there isn’t one single solution to solving the housing shortage. By increasing the supply of housing, stabilizing costs, and supporting those who need help, we can begin to make meaningful progress on housing affordability and security. I’m beyond excited to build off this work next session!
Free Books for Children (0-5 yrs.)
We have exciting news! Children across Washington aged birth to five are eligible to receive a free monthly book from the Imagination Library delivered directly to their home! The Imagination Library of Washington provides high-quality, age-appropriate books each month at no cost to the family. By providing books every month for free, the Imagination Library increases childhood literacy rates, fosters a love of books and learning, and promotes a culture of reading amongst all families in Washington.
Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to foster a love for reading in your child. Enroll your little one today at www.imaginationlibrarywashington.org.
Share Your Thoughts with Me
Please continue to participate in the public process by following my Facebook, checking my website for upcoming events, and sending an email to share your thoughts with me. Thank you for all you do!
In Service,
State Representative Mary Fosse