As legislators in the House and Senate consider budget proposals for Operating, Capital and Transportation, now is the time to let them know your priorities. The budget is a moral document and must reflect our values as a state.

Please send emails to your legislators using this platform, advocating for addressing human and environmental needs in the budget at this crucial time before the budgets are finalized. We are running out of time as the end of the session approaches on March 7th!

In particular we are urging money to:

Promote Economic Justice

Working Families Tax Credit Outreach ($2 outreach funding for community organizations to make sure hard to reach communities, like rural communities, BIPOC communities, and immigrants to let them know about this credit and are able to apply. In 2023, less than half of eligible households applied for their cash refund) Fact Sheet

Protect and Expand the Social Safety Nets

Basic Needs Navigators on College Campuses ($1.8M to fix the oversight of only .5 FTE navigators and help colleges be able to help their students better)

Expand Access to Free School Meals ($45M from both the House and the Senate to ensure schools get reimbursed for all the free meals they serve for the rest of the biennium) Fact Sheet

Emergency Food Assistance Program ($15M minimum to fund food banks that are experiencing more client visits than in any time in the past decade and are struggling to afford to keep enough food on their shelves) Fact Seet

Launch a robust Summer EBT this year ($12.23M ensures our program includes proactive family-facing communications that will make Summer EBT more effective for families - and more efficient for schools) Fact Sheet

Senior Nutrition ($15.2M/year at DSHS to help low-income seniors and people with disabilities access healthy food programs via local Area Agencies on Aging) Fact Sheet

100% of Child Support Payments to TANF families ($16.3M ask to the Senate to match the House's proposal to allow families on TANF to keep the entirety of child support payments they are owed) Fact Sheet

Address Climate and Environmental Justice

Clean School Buses ($60.5M to purchase 182 waitlisted electric school buses) Fact Sheet

Increase Safe Affordable Housing and Prevent Homelessness

Housing Trust Fund (Increase the Senate’s supplemental Capital Budget from $111.6 million to $153 million to build affordable homes)

Homeless Services (Urge the Senate to support the House's proposal for $70M to backfill the shortfall in document recording fees and prevent cuts to homeless services) Fact Sheet

Advance Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Health Equity for Immigrants ($28.5M to fund the Medicaid-like program for undocumented immigrants and community organizations' outreach which would reflect the current House budget) Fact Sheet

Immigration services for newly arrived immigrants ($25M for FY25 supplemental grants for The Office of Immigrant and Refugee Assistance for services for immigrants who do not qualify for federal resettlement programs) Fact Sheet

Unemployment Insurance for Undocumented Workers ($8M to fund Washington Wage Replacement (stop gap program) to provide unemployment benefits) Fact Sheet

Foster Public Safety and Civil Rights

Security Grants for non-profits and faith communities (One-time $3M for FY25 to fund the physical security or repair of institutions and $1M/year thereafter) Fact Sheet

Expand Access to Health Care

Youth Behavioral Health ($11.1M to expand support for youth and young adults at their initial psychotic episode and fund community residential services for young adults exiting inpatient behavioral health facilities and who are at high risk for homelessness) Fact Sheet

Thank you for communicating these priorities with your legislators!