Talking Points
This levy is the MAIN source of human services funding that is available to us right now and even .12c is not going to be enough to fully meet the growing needs of our community.
Besides a crisis of people experiencing homelessness and in need of services, we also have a crisis of vacancies and turnovers in the Human Services sector.
If you have stories of your agency's experiences with the real impact of the low-wages our contracts provide, please share them by emailing Tree Willard, SHSC Executive Director.
The RPC and KC Council have committed to both addressing homelessness in our region and to creating equity, undoing racism and institutional oppression in our collective work. This is a unique opportunity to fund both of these commitments- one that was missed the last time the levy was renewed.
Now is not a time to add new services. We need to sustain the services we have by supporting workers. We need to focus on retaining the skilled and experienced providers who are working in human services now and sustaining current levels of service. We need an increase to do this.
Sample Email & Testimony Script
"The King County Alliance for Human Services recommends increasing the VSHSL rate to $.12. The VSHSL is the core investment King County makes to ensure a thriving community. This renewal is an opportunity to meaningfully address systems and communities that have been disproportionately affected by systemic inequities and decades of inadequate funding of our human services infrastructure.
With a right-sized levy, services can be strengthened, essential workers can be paid livable wages, and we can support all our veterans, seniors and neighbors that use our human services systems."
