During the 2026 state legislative session, the Housing Alliance will continue to stand up for equity while pushing for bills and budget investments that will help our state prevent and end homelessness. Our communities are facing attacks from the federal government that threaten to significantly reduce funding for housing and homelessness and force people out of their homes. It is critical that our state elected officials do more than ever to protect our neighbors. Because federal attacks also threaten our immigrant neighbors and our trans community, the Housing Alliance will continue to support the work of our allies in these communities.
Our 2026 lead and support agenda were developed after much input from people across the state. We will continue to fight to protect renters and housing stability, to defend critical housing and homelessness programs, and to stop discriminatory actions by some local governments that block affordable housing or to punish people experiencing homelessness. As our state faces a significant budget deficit, it is more important than ever that our state lawmakers pass progressive revenue that increases taxes paid by very wealthy corporations and individuals. None of these fights will be easy, but together we can continue to make progress towards the day when everyone in our state has the opportunity to live in a safe, healthy and affordable home.
Secure a new significant Capital Budget investment for affordable homes
Washington has only 45 affordable homes for every 100 very low-income households in search of housing. But the state Capital Budget could help build and preserve more affordable homes across our state. In the 2025 legislative session, the legislature invested over $605 million foraffordable homes. In 2026 there is room to grow that record investment and lawmakers should increase its invest in the affordable homes that our communities need.
Keep people in their homes: Secure $3 million for eviction prevention
The statewide Right to Counsel program ensures that renters don't face their landlord's attorney in court without their own legal support. 90% of closed cases have resulted in people keeping their homes or moving into another permanent housing option. The program is one of the state's most cost-effective tools preventing homelessness and displacement. Households helped by the program are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and People of Color or have disabilities. Without this $3 million in funding, many fewer people will be served, just as evictions in Washington continue at all-time high levels.
Progressive Revenue
Without new revenue, the state would need to make billions in cuts on top of the $7 billion they already cut in 2025. But state budget cuts will hurt our communities, and a cuts-only approach will also make it impossible to address any of the funding gaps to homelessness, housing, food assistance, and more that are all being created by ongoing federal budget and policy decisions. Lawmakers should reject an all-cuts budget and ensure that the wealthiest individuals and most profitable corporations contribute their fair share by passing significant progressive revenue.
Prevent local governments from blocking permanent supportive housing and shelter: Pass HB 1195/SB 5497
Washington must ensure that every community does its part to create housing and shelter for people experiencing homelessness, but some local governments are still creating discriminatory roadblocks. The state should outlaw these practices, streamline local zoning, and remove the many obstacles that some local governments intentionally create that make it harder, more expensive, or even impossible to site these critical homelessness solutions. This would ensure that local politics don't stand in the way of people accessing safe, stable places to live.
Stop the criminalization of homelessness
In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling that freely allows cities to criminally punish people experiencing homelessness even when there is no shelter available to them. Now cities in Washington are increasingly passing and enforcing laws that fine, arrest, and punish people simply for trying to survive outdoors, even while failing to provide accessible shelter options. Lawmakers should protect people experiencing homelessness by passing a state law that stops this kind of criminalization. We need our state and local governments to focus on real solutions to homelessness, instead of punishing and harming people.
Defend against rollbacks of tenant protections or homelessness prevention
Some landlords, big real estate interests, and their lobbyists are working to roll back tenant protections and homelessness prevention efforts that keep people safe and housed. We will fight back against bills that increase housing instability or attempt to roll back hard-fought renter and homelessness protections.
Protect against federally driven cuts to permanent supportive housing and homelessness prevention programs
Because of Trump driven federal budget cuts and policy changes, our state and local governments stand to lose up to $120 million in federal funding for successful program that prevent and end homelessness. Without state action, more people will face homelessness and people will suffer longer on the streets. Lawmakers should do all they can to offset the harm caused by the federal government with a supplemental budget appropriation and by passing a bill to provide new flexibility for existing local fund sources that could be used to sustain existing programs to keep people in their homes.