S-5042

WHEREAS, A significant number of low-income housing units were created in the State of Washington as a result of the enactment of Section 8 of the Federal Housing and Urban Development Act of 1974; and

WHEREAS, As of October 1999, there were 18,887 housing units of project-based, Section 8 housing state-wide and 7075 units of housing assisted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and

WHEREAS, Since 1996, owners of 1,438 housing units have discontinued their Section 8 contracts, resulting in the permanent loss of federal subsidies for those units; and

WHEREAS, As of January 13, 2000, owners of 13 Section 8 Housing Projects with 727 units of very low-income housing in the counties of Spokane, Jefferson, Mason, Yakima, King, Island, and Pierce Counties have issued notices to opt out of the program; and

WHEREAS, A significant number of additional Section 8 housing units and other federally assisted housing units could be at risk of loss as low-income housing due to the expiration, termination, or prepayment of federal contracts on these units, including low-income housing units developed under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, 3,687 of which have use restrictions that will expire between 2001 and 2005, and 7,075 low-income housing units developed under the U.S. Department of Agriculture in rural areas in the state; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development has provided funding for nonprofit purchases of 15 federally assisted housing projects serving 911 households, thus preserving these units as low-income housing for the long term; and

WHEREAS, Significant and additional resources from the federal, state, and local governments are needed to preserve the remaining units at risk; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development has also provided a limited amount of technical assistance funding for tracking at-risk properties and conducting feasibility studies for nonprofit purchases; and

WHEREAS, The Washington Low-Income Housing Network has completed studies that detail the scope of the potential loss of federally assisted housing units in the state; and

WHEREAS, The Affordable Housing Advisory Board and the Section 8 Local Response Project have developed potential strategies for preserving federally assisted housing that have not been formally presented to the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, or its successor agency, in cooperation with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, local governments, nonprofit housing providers, tenant groups, owners and managers of such housing, and others, is in the best position to develop a proposal that identifies the specific state strategies that should be implemented to prevent the permanent loss of a significant number of Section 8 and other federally assisted low-income housing units;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate of the state of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, direct the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, or its successor agency, work in cooperation with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, local governments, public housing authorities, the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, nonprofit housing providers, tenant groups, and owners and managers of federally assisted housing to develop and recommend state strategies that should be implemented to preserve the existing stock of federally assisted low-income housing in this state. For the purposes of this resolution, "federally assisted low-income housing unit" means the same as "federally assisted housing" defined in RCW 59.28.020 and also includes federal tax credit housing created under Section 42 of the United States Code; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That by December 1, 2000, the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, or its successor agency, shall provide recommendations to the Senate and House of Representatives on state strategies that should be implemented to preserve federally assisted low-income housing units.