Rep. David Stuebe introduces a bill to assist local governments in their efforts to address homelessness

Rep. David Stuebe introduces HB 1708, a bill to help local governments track and address homelessness through a state-funded dashboard system. Photo courtesy Washington State House Republicans

HB 1708 would provide a new, more expansive tool for local government websites

In an effort to address Washington’s ongoing homelessness crisis, Rep. David Stuebe has introduced legislation to help local governments better track the impacts of homelessness with the intent that they will create more effective ways to address it.

House Bill 1708 would direct the state to create a dashboard app for cities and counties to use at their discretion.

“This bill would enable local jurisdictions to provide information about their communities in a dashboard format, which would make it easier to address their needs,” said Rep. Stuebe, R-Washougal. “Having a dashboard would be a motivating factor in modifying behavior when we need to try something different.”

The Department of Commerce already collects and posts some information about housing-related expenditures on a dashboard on its website, but the information is limited. HB 1708 would provide a new, more expansive tool for local government websites. The state would pay for the computer application to create the dashboard, and local governments would have the choice to use it or not. The application would have to show multiple statistics, including the following:

The number of known homeless encampments in the jurisdiction.
The number of homeless encampments near elementary or secondary schools or child day care centers.
The total amount spent to clean up or remove garbage from locations where unsheltered people are living within the jurisdiction.
An estimate of the total housing units needed for the jurisdiction, total new housing units permitted to be built, and the difference between those two numbers.
The number of people who transitioned from homelessness to government-subsidized housing or other permanent housing.
The number of homeless people who needed medical treatment for addictions, how many entered an addiction treatment program, and how many completed it.
The number of retail, residential, and car thefts near unsheltered communities compared to the jurisdiction’s average.
The number of arrests and convictions of people for selling illegal narcotics in the jurisdiction.

“The homelessness issue is not getting better,” said Stuebe. “We need to take a closer look at the programs currently in place so the people can hold government more accountable. We can’t keep throwing money at failing programs and expect to get better results. This legislation would make it possible for communities to examine homelessness issues more closely on a local level and see where to make changes.”

In addition to the need for more housing units, Stuebe noted there are several factors to consider when addressing the ongoing homelessness crisis, including drug addiction interventions and pathways for people to transition out of homelessness.

State and local governments spend billions of dollars every year on programs to provide housing and services to people in need. However, no actual tracking mechanism exists to determine if those efforts are effective.

“I recognize we can’t solve the homelessness crisis in a day and there are so many things to consider when addressing this issue,” said Stuebe. “As the mayor of Washougal, I get an up-close view of how homelessness affects my community. This dashboard is just one way we can take a better look at this crisis and find ways to fix it.”

The bill now waits for a public hearing in the House Local Government Committee.

Information provided by Washington State House Republicans, houserepublicans.wa.gov