How to Make a Difference in the 2022 Elections

Combating new rental housing regulations in Washington has proven to be an uphill battle for housing providers in recent years. While there are several lawmakers who are sympathetic to the experiences of small housing providers, they are outnumbered by a significant majority of lawmakers who support policies that have a detrimental impact on the rental housing market. This problem is especially present in the City of Seattle, where rental housing laws have strangled rental housing providers to the point where we are seeing housing providers leaving the city in startling quantities. While the situation has been difficult in recent years, RHAWA believes this year's election cycle can help turn the tide of politics in order to give small housing providers a break from these highly restrictive regulations. We believe this could be one of our most crucial election cycles because we are noticing palpable shifts in the legislative landscape and public opinion.

In last year's election cycle, we were successful in nearly all elections we engaged in, and we continued our success in the 2022 Legislative Session, killing all of our highest priority bills, amending the remaining problematic bills, and working to pass a much need Landlord Mitigation Fund Expansion. We are looking to continue this streak of successes in the upcoming elections and the 2023 Legislative Session. It is essential for our members to stay engaged and continue to participate for this success to continue. State elections are coming up and we must continue to have widespread member engagement.

Our confidence for this upcoming election is bolstered due to the outstanding participation of our membership in the 2022 Legislative Session. We could never overstate how much our members' involvement helps advocacy efforts through public testimony and messaging your lawmakers. Our government affairs department works tirelessly to make real changes in the rental housing market, and we are overjoyed to see our members engaged in our efforts. We provide as many resources as possible in order to make it as easy as possible to engage in our advocacy efforts and we are incredibly encouraged by the turnout from this year's legislative session. 

But the fight is never over! We need to keep this momentum we have built and set ourselves up for success in the future. We want to build on our successes and help get lawmakers elected who understand and support rental housing so we can work together and improve the rental housing policy in Washington. 

So, you may be wondering what you can be doing to help our Government Affairs department make the changes we desperately need in Washington. Donating to our Political Action Committee is essential in supporting our government advocacy efforts as well. Donations to the PAC go directly to candidates who support rental housing. You can donate to the RHAPAC here: RHAwa.org/products/donations.

Additionally, attending fundraisers and donating to candidates who support our position on rental housing policies is necessary to ensure that moderate, data-observing lawmakers get elected. This is something that nearly all of our members can do, and we would like to increase our fundraiser turnout even more than we did last year. We are currently working on scheduling our upcoming fundraisers and we do our best to host fundraisers in multiple districts in Washington state to provide easy access to these events to a wide group of our members.

RHAWA is always on the lookout for especially engaged members who would like to take on a bigger role in advocacy efforts. Offering a venue for a fundraiser is one of the most helpful and cost-effective methods of assisting in government advocacy. Hosting a fundraiser not only helps out our government affairs team, but it is also a wonderful way to directly support a candidate you believe in. If there is a candidate you are in particular support of and would like to host a fundraiser, please reach out to either arobertson@RHAwa.org or dbannon@RHAwa.org to let us know about your interest.

Also, make sure to stay engaged with any communications coming from the government affairs department. Be on a constant lookout for calls to action, legislative updates, and updates to our blog in order to stay up to date with what is happening and what you can do to help. We will of course be doing our RHA Voter’s Guide once again so look forward to seeing that this summer.

Lastly, encouraging those around you to get involved with elections. It is an often overlooked but highly effective method in getting candidates elected. Reaching out to friends or family who may be less engaged with elections helps to build a stronger voter base for the candidates you support and is a completely free method of advocacy. 

We thank you for your continued support which has helped bolster our advocacy in this upcoming election and the 2022 Legislative Session.