Olympia wants to take away local control on homelessness

Olympia has done a terrible job handling Washington’s homelessness crisis. Now, they want to take away local control and force cities to allow encampments on public land.

Say hello to HB 1380: Sponsored by Rep. Mia Gregerson (D–SeaTac), this bill would tie the hands of cities and force them to allow homeless encampments on public land.

If they try to regulate these camps? They’ll be dragged into expensive legal battles instead of using resources for real solutions.

12 mayors in South King County oppose HB 1380: They sent a letter to Rep. Gregerson and other bill sponsors pleading for the legislature to stop this bill. Almost half of those mayors live in the bill sponsor’s district, and yet their letter has fallen on deaf ears.

Washingtonians aren’t thrilled with this either:
📊 60% of Washingtonians do not agree with the components in HB 1380
📊 68% believe homelessness policy should be handled locally—not dictated by Olympia

If we don’t stop Mia Gregerson’s HB 1380, cities and the great people across Washington will be forced to live with the consequences and move backward to a couple of years ago when tents dominated streets, parks and other public places including by schools.

For more information on HB 1380, read this overview from Change Washington.