Housing assistance not smart place for budget cutting
RACHAEL MYERS AND MIA WELLS
The economic crisis is making this holiday season a hard time for many people, even those of us who usually don’t have to worry about money.
For many people in Washington, an uncertain economic outlook is forcing hard choices between necessities, like paying rent or putting food on the table.
In Pierce County, the housing crisis is being felt more than anywhere else in the state. Recently, The News Tribune reported that 1 out of 319 homes in the county were in foreclosure last month. That means adding almost a thousand local families to the long line of people who need housing assistance. Without help, some of these families will join the ranks of the 1,800 homeless people already surviving in Pierce County.
Gov. Chris Gregoire released her budget Thursday, and we had a chance to see what it means to balance the budget by cutting vital services to low-income people. Her budget cuts the Housing Trust Fund by half and eliminates General Assistance-Unemployable (GAU), both of which will be devastating to low-income families. This “solution” to the budget deficit will cause more harm than it achieves in savings, and the Legislature should reject those cuts.
Everyone should have the opportunity to live in a safe, decent, affordable home, but for many disabled individuals in Washington who cannot work, this is nearly impossible. GAU provides $339 of temporary cash assistance each month, plus health care, to people whose mental or physical illness or disability prevents them from finding and keeping a job.
This small amount is frequently the single barrier between just hanging on and living on the streets. The small savings the state would gain from cutting GAU is not worth the harm it would do to the most vulnerable.
Children deserve a chance to succeed in school and in life, which all begins with their family being able to afford a decent place to live. The Housing Trust Fund makes this possible for thousands of Washington’s children by helping to develop affordable housing across the state. That housing helps families leave homelessness, helps teachers, nurses and retail workers live near their work, and provides down payment assistance to first-time home buyers.
This investment in housing does much more than provide places for people to live; it also drives economic growth. Since it began in 1989, the Trust Fund has leveraged more than $3 billion in other public and philanthropic support. This is especially important as we work to find our way out of recession.
According to the National Association of Homebuilders, building a 100-unit apartment complex creates 116 jobs. An Oregon study found that for every $1 invested in affordable housing, an additional $10 to $15 of economic benefit was generated for the surrounding community. At a time when local communities desperately need an economic stimulus, the Housing Trust Fund presents a prime opportunity to put people back to work and provide homes for struggling families.
If the Legislature passes these cuts, taxpayers will spend significantly more on services for homeless people through emergency medical care, uninsured hospital stays, law enforcement and incarceration to compensate for the cuts proposed by the governor – dollars that will be wasted as long as the people needing help don’t have stable housing.
While the governor’s budget does recognize the need for survival assistance in the form of a $20 million increase for emergency shelter and homelessness prevention and $40 million for community health care clinics, these increases will only help providers meet the current need for shelter and medical care. The investments won’t even begin to address the increasing need brought on by the current economic crisis.
We know that the people of Washington believe in the fight to end homelessness and the value of ensuring a decent place to live for everyone in Washington. We urge our leaders to embrace those values and protect these critical programs. We know that by working together, we can find solutions that protect the most vulnerable, provide security and opportunity, and fuel an economic recovery.
Rachael Myers is executive director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (
www.wliha.org).
Mia Wells is executive director of the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless (
www.endhomelessnesswa.org).
