WA State bill and budget updates: Your Wins, Your Budget: TANF Investments, Dream Act, Foreclosure Fairness and More! “Yes, a dark time passed over this land, but now there is something like light.” ― Dave Eggers, Zeitoun The dark days of deep budget cuts are done! We are moving toward the light of smarter investments into our Safety Net. That is why this quote reminds all of us at Poverty Action about the power of the people, the power of members like you who helped reverse years of devastating cuts to our state’s Safety Net, by sharing your story and taking action during this year’s budget process. Thank you for your calls and emails to legislators over the past 60 days; these wins belong to you! In line with our 2014 Policy Agenda, and now that the 2014 legislative session is over, here is our session wrap up: Budget Wins The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program (TANF) strives to improve the well-being of struggling families with children by helping them reach economic security through employment. In recent years, massive cuts have narrowed TANF eligibility and resulted in a caseload decline that left thousands of families unable to access the critical support for basic needs and housing. For the first time since 2011, the Legislature re-invested $5.87 million back into TANF! The Document Recording Fee has been renewed for another 4 years! Our state’s modest document recording fees on some real estate related transactions has been the foundation of state level funding for low-income housing and homelessness reduction efforts. We are pleased to see this vital revenue source included in the budget. The fight is not over: we will continue to work to make this a permanent source of support for our fight against homelessness. Mental Health is better known as the Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery. They provide direct care or contract out care through mental health programs. Services are provided for people who are Medicaid-eligible. They also manage involuntary treatment services and ensure that services are provided to those with serious mental illnesses. This budget has invested an additional $10.4 million dollars in a variety of community mental health enhancements, including operating funds for an evaluation and treatment facility in three regional support networks. This kind of investment into our mental health safety net is a win for us all. For more of our analysis on the 2014 supplemental budget click here. Immigrant Justice This session, with the DREAM Act Coalition, we helped pass the Real Hope Act, or as it is more commonly known as the Dream Act! As one of our top legislative priorities, the Real Hope Act invests $5 million into the State Need Grant program for low-income students and helps build a pathway to college for immigrant students. More than 550 people and hundreds of organizations supported and advocated for this bill. This was an excellent example of cross-issue organizing and people-powered politics that delivered on the dream of a quality and affordable education for every child. Legal Financial Obligations Legal financial obligations (LFOs) prevent many in our community from accessing opportunities by pushing them into a debt trap that often times leaves families unable to meet their basic needs and re-enter their community after incarceration. LFOs are financial penalties assessed by judges at the time of a criminal conviction and often carry an interest rate of 12 percent. Working with the ACLU of Washington and Columbia Legal Services, we were able to build momentum to reform Washington state’s LFO system. Our efforts gained national media and a bipartisan work session from the legislature. Our LFO campaign has the opportunity to help end the practice of sentencing people to poverty and make this antiquated practice more equitable for everyone impacted by crime. Moving forward we will work with the legislature to convene a statewide taskforce that works to reimagine a more equitable LFO structure for our state. Consumer Protection People fall into debt for a variety of reasons. Unexpected medical events, moving, tuition, and unemployment should not be reasons to fall prey to deceptive business practices when attempting to get out of debt. An alarming new industry has emerged during the Great Recession. Debt settlement companies, or debt adjusters, have emerged as a nationwide threat to the economic stability for millions of families. These businesses charge people high fees to negotiate down debt on the consumers’ behalf, but it rarely works. In fact, studies have shown and lawsuits proven in some states the success rate of Debt Settlement companies has been less than 2%. Debt settlers set their sights on Washington consumers and promoted legislation that would have allowed them to operate outside of existing consumer protections. The Debt Settlement industry pushed hard to get HB 2607 passed. However, your emails, calls, and face-to-face visits helped stop these charlatans in their tracks. You helped keep Washington from falling for their traveling show of trickery by making sure HB 2607 was stopped cold in committee. Lastly, along with our partners, we fixed some gaping holes in the hard won Foreclosure Fairness Act. These fixes included helping housing counselors guiding homeowners through the mediation process and helping make the process more equitable for homeowners and also the counselors trying to keep people housed. HB 2723 moved through both houses with strong bi-partisan support, encouraged by your advocacy. We know that foreclosure continues to impact communities across Washington. In fact, approximately 24,000 foreclosures are expected in 2014 alone, displacing hundreds of thousands of our friends, family, and neighbors. By strengthening the Foreclosure Fairness Act we are working to reduce that number and help people retain their most valuable investment and asset, their home. Thank you for your advocacy!
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:22:56 +0000
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