Washington boasts 221 housing-related programs across 30 state agencies.
But despite all of these initiatives, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck thinks the state is still going in the wrong direction developing affordable housing.
“We’re not doing a very good job at all, because the hole is getting deeper,” Heck said last week.
Heck is part of a group of elected officials, state agency staff, tribal members, local government advocates and developers tasked with devising ideas for Washington to set up a new state Department of Housing.
Two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies sued Washington state, alleging a new law to tamp down prescription drug prices for hospitals won’t result in discounts for patients.
Communities across the state have pushed back to varying degrees to permitting homeless shelters and permanent supportive housing in their neighborhoods.
Democrats in the Washington Legislature released a budget deal Wednesday balanced with one-time maneuvers, siphoning of rainy day reserves and slashing of child care funding.
Washington state Democrats are likely abandoning plans for a new tax on employers like Walmart and Amazon, whose workers get health coverage through Medicaid.
Democrats in the Washington Legislature on Feb. 22 proposed tapping the state’s rainy day savings account and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars for a child care program for low-income families to balance the state’s budget into next year.
