‘The Public Is Demanding This’: Inslee Proposes $494 Million in Capital Investments to Combat ‘Homelessness Crisis’

Proposal: SB 5662 to Form Coordinated Approach Between State and Local Governments to Address Freeway Encampments

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Gov. Jay Inlsee has proposed $494 million in capital fund investments to acquire and build more shelters and permanent housing for the state’s homeless population, particularly for those encamped along the state’s freeways and highways.

At a press conference Thursday, Inslee said that his proposed Senate Bill 5662 is on its way to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It would seek to form a coordinated approach between local jurisdictions and state government to address the homelessness encampments along roadways such as Interstate 5.

“We really need to give an adequate priority to those people who are encamped along our highways and our rights-of-way,” Inslee said. “The public is demanding this. We have a bill that acknowledges all of these concerns and gets us solutions in months, rather than years.”

He said he proposed the bill “because of our homelesness crisis,” calling it a “sad reality” affecting the entire state.

The matter demands urgent action, Inslee said, calling for a quick and compassionate response to “serve the thousands of people who are now living under bridges, on our sidewalks, on the shoulders of our freeways, and we need to do this now.”

The state has already invested in the development of more than 9,600 affordable permanent housing and shelter units over the last three biennia, Inslee said, but called that investment “not enough.” So the $494 million in capital fund investments to acquire and build more units is paramount.

Yet he said it is also not enough to simply invest taxpayer money in the development of shelters or more permanent housing solutions. To that end, he said the effort requires coordination between state and local governments.

“We know funding is crucial, but funding is not enough to move quickly against this urgent situation. As more buildings are built, it begs the question: ‘How do we work with local governments to get people into them in a compassionate, meaningful and coordinated manner?’” he said.

To address this question, Senate Bill 5662 is designed to create a team to help local jurisdictions prioritize how and where to move the people living on roads such as I-5 or I-90, with the goal being the provision of permanent housing solutions for such individuals.



He noted that tiny house villages could be a viable option.

“I understand the service providers and local leaders can face seemingly unending challenges prioritizing to whom they should reach out to and how to best help them,” Inslee said. “We do know that community is the best and they are certainly dedicated to this work. They are compassionate people.”

However, he said the state must balance its obligation to the stewardship of public rights-of-ways with its moral obligation to the “people who are today living in squalor along our rights-of-way.”

So the bill clarifies that as local jurisdictions are developing action plans to address the issue, they must consider how to transition people away from encampments along the state’s rights-of-way, Inslee said.

“This legislation does not describe how local jurisdictions do this, nor does it authorize sweeping people out for no reason and no place to go,” he said. “But with record numbers of shelter and housing opportunities becoming available, we need to do more to be more coordinated in our approach across jurisdictions to respond to these challenges.”

The mayors of Seattle and Tacoma, along with other officials of large local governments, such as Spokane, spoke in favor of the bill and Inslee’s work on it.

Ultimately, Inlsee said the initiative comes down to doing what’s right.

“We know that a moral society is one that helps those most in need, and we are not meeting that need at the moment,” he said. “It is a moral choice, and a right choice, to transition people out of these encampments. … We need to act. We are not seeing enough progress. This bill will give us a tool to accelerate this so that we find solutions in months, rather than years and decades.”