Guest blogger, Kelly Rider of the Housing Development Consortium, discusses the benefits of the Veterans and Human Services Levy to our community.

On or around July 29^th, you will receive your 2011 Primary Ballot in your mail. That’s just one week away, and the renewal of the King County Veterans & Human Services Levy is Proposition 1 on that ballot.  

The current Veterans & Human Services Levy was passed by nearly 58% of the voters in 2005, but it is set to expire at the…

Earlier this week, our Public Policy department decided to reach out to community members involved in our Volunteer Reader Program. Via e-mail, we asked volunteers to do more to help support early learning in our state.

 Volunteers were asked to sign on to a letter thanking our King County Legislature for its outstanding bipartisan effort to support early learning in Washington. We were very excited when enthusiastic and highly positive responses came flying in. In all, a total of 35 Volunteer…

Thanks to the combined advocacy of our United Way constituents nd partner organizations, United Way of King County was able to achieve many of its legislative asks even in one of the most challenging economic years on record.  Below is a summary of the outcomes of our main advocacy efforts for FY 2011-2013.

 2011-2013 Budget Outcomes

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Recently the legislature made significant changes to Disability Lifeline (HB 2082) for FY 2011-2013.  It eliminated the current Disability Lifeline Program effective October 1, but preserved medical services for eligible clients.  In place of the old program, it created 3 new programs—the aged, blind and disabled program (similar to the current DL-X and is the only program to keep cash assistance grants), pregnant woman assistance program, and the Essential Needs and Housing Support program funded at $64 million and offered to those eligible for…

The State budget passed by the Washington State Legislature (and not yet approved by the Governor) has moderate to severe reductions in health and human services funding for low income King County residents particularly those who are not eligible for Medicaid funding.  These cuts in prevention and intervention services will likely result in more people using emergency rooms, becoming homeless and incarcerated.

Basic Needs and Housing:

Disability Lifeline – Eliminates Disability Lifeline Program effective October 1 and creates three new programs Aged, Blind, and Disabled…

The April revenue reports are in and the picture is not rosy.  Public officials were hoping that the slight increase seen in the last revenue forecast would continue, but those hopes were dashed when Arun Raha, the state’s economist, announced that the April revenue level was 1.8% below the previous month (when the unanticipated revenue from collection of back taxes is excluded from the calculation). 

With thoughts of unanticipated revenue from existing revenue sources out of the picture, several other issues are holding…

This blog was prepared by Sherry Hamilton, Communications Manager, Office of the Director, King County Dept. of Community and Human Services

The House and Senate budgets both cut mental health and substance abuse funding by less than the governor’s budget proposal, but the reductions are still significant – particularly as they come on top of cuts made in the last two legislative sessions. There are differences between the House and Senate budgets, and the House budget is the preferred alternative.

The House budget cuts an involuntary…

Even though the House and Senate are $300 million apart in spending levels, they are much farther apart programmatically.  The first week of special session has yet to see a proposal that would bridge either divide and most of the House members have left for the week, with the House budget negotiators remaining in Olympia to attempt to bridge the differences with the Senate.  For its part, the Senate has been meeting regularly to re-pass a handful of bills in committee and on the floor that…

With continued cuts to Disability Lifeline (DL) looming, we decided to ask DL recipients attending United Way’s Community Resource Exchange how they might be affected by upcoming changes to their benefits. It is anticipated that the House and Senate will agree to preserve DL medical coverage. However, the cash assistance benefit will likely see big cuts, if not complete elimination. We asked people why they need this cash benefit and how they will get by if this benefit is no longer available. This is what…

This blog was written by Naomi Goodman, Senior Policy Analyst at Seattle Housing Authority

At the Federal Level

Congress passed the 2011 budget a few weeks back, ensuring some stability for housing and homeless providers for the remainder of the federal fiscal year, ending September 30. However, this year’s budget made significant cuts to affordable housing programs and laid the ground work for additional cuts in 2012. Local providers are struggling to comprehend how cuts will affect the communities they serve. The federal budget calls…