Like air to breathe and food to eat, safe shelter is a basic human need. It is where we nurture our children, age with dignity, and recover from illness. It is where we take care of one another and where we rest after a hard day's work. A home is the foundation on which our lives are built.

Today, because of unfair rules and laws, too many Washingtonians are left merely surviving. Too many in our communities are living in unhealthy housing that makes us sick. Too many of us live constantly under threat that one unforeseen problem will have us out on the street. Corporate property developers who put money for investors over communities' needs, real estate industry lobbyists, and the lawmakers who side with them are rigging the rules to make it harder for people to find and keep a home.

You can take action today by asking your lawmakers to review the Roadmap to Housing Justice at http://wliha.org/roadmaptohousingjustice, and to join you in taking action to move toward housing justice in the 2024 legislative session, by:

1) Passing statewide rent stabilization, to help ensure people can stay in their homes and have enough left over to meet other basic needs after paying the rent. If excessive rent increases are not prohibited, Washington will never end homelessness.  
 
2) Creating permanent funding for the Housing Trust Fund and for housing for people with developmental disabilities. We need almost 650,000 homes affordable to low-income households over the next 20 years. Adjusting the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) by lowering taxes on most property sale and modestly increasing it on the highest priced properties will allow the state to build those homes for the lowest income and disabled households in Washington.  
 
3) Preventing cuts to homelessness services by addressing an ongoing gap in state and local funding and invest in the frontline workers and nonprofits helping people experiencing homelessness every day.  

Please take action today!

Make your email even more effective by adding one or two sentences to the letter with a personal message about why they should support the actions in the Roadmap to Housing Justice, after you click “Take Action” below.