House unanimously approves Rep. Caldier’s bill to reduce homelessness

The state House of Representatives voted Friday to unanimously approve a bill authored by Rep. Michelle Caldier that would create a home sharing grant program to help reduce the homeless population in Washington state.

House Bill 1183 would use a portion of the state’s document recording fee to support home sharing programs that match homeless people with homeowners willing to share space on their property.

“The home sharing program is a very innovative solution where we can build capacity for people who are either homeless or at the brink of homelessness. The cost per person to get them housed is only one-thousand dollars on average per person. This is in comparison to other more costly programs, such as tiny buildings purchased in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood by the state Department of Commerce to house homeless people, which cost more than three-hundred thousand dollars per studio unit,” said Caldier, R-Port Orchard. “This is a far more cost-efficient program that would help provide shelter for the homeless.”

The measure would create the Home Sharing Support Grant Program within the Washington State Department of Commerce to support nonprofit organizations that operate home sharing programs.

The bill passed from the House, 95-0. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

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Washington State House Republican Communications
houserepublicans.wa.gov