WA spent $5B over past decade on homelessness, housing programs

For much of the past decade, the amount of money Washington lawmakers dedicated to housing and homelessness programs grew gradually, climbing from around $200 million to $400 million in each two-year budget between 2013 and 2021.

But in the past four years this spending has surged, according to an analysis of state spending data provided by the Office of Financial Management.

These figures show that more than $4 billion – or around 80% – of the roughly $5 billion directed to expanding housing and preventing homelessness since 2013 has been packed into the past two state budgets.

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While it’s helped, affordable-housing construction is still not meeting the estimated need; rents remain too high for many tenants; and home ownership is often out of reach for lower and even middle-income households.

https://crosscut.com/news/2024/05/wa-spent-5b-over-past-decade-homelessness-housing-programs