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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the military field hospital site at CenturyLink Field. This new hospital will create at least 150 new hospital beds and will be staffed by 300 soldiers from the 627th Army Hospital from Fort Carson, Colorado. The field hospital will serve non-coronavirus patients and construction is underway to get the hospital up and running as soon as possible. Shout out to elected officials who joined the tour, including U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, and Denny Heck, Mayor Durkan, State Representative Nicole Macri, State Senator David Frockt, Seattle City Councilmember Debra Juarez, King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, and Port Commissioners Ryan Caulkins and Stephanie Bowman.
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News Source for Workers in Washington State
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For worker-centered news out of Washington State, check out The Stand. The Stand is a service of the Washington State Labor Council and its affiliated unions, dedicated to bringing news about and for working people. During these times, The Stand is a great source of information on new COVID-19 policies and resources for workers in Washington and efforts to advocate for workers through this crisis and beyond.
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$5 Million for Food Vouchers
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Yesterday, Seattle City Council passed a $5 million transfer to provide food vouchers to 6,250 low-income families already enrolled in several city programs, including child care assistance the City’s Fresh Bucks Program. This new program will provide $800 in vouchers to purchase food, cleaning supplies, and other household goods at any Safeway store.
We’ve heard from many families that have been let go of their jobs, and are desperate to get sufficient food and supplies to stay healthy during the pandemic. Due to the crisis, we’ve had to make tough decisions on how to spend our resources to respond to COVID-19. The funds for the food voucher program came from a reallocation of the revenue from the Sweetened Beverage Tax fund. While this is not ideal, it necessary to respond to the immediate needs of our community.
Thank you Mayor Durkan for sending down the legislation, the Office of Sustainability and Environment for acting swiftly in getting the vouchers out the door and to families in need, and to the Sweetened Beverage Tax Community Advisory Board for your understanding and support of the legislation.
We know that there is still a great need for these grocery vouchers, the City is currently seeking funding from philanthropic organizations to support more residents in need, with the goal of raising $15 million. If met, the donations would allow the City to distribute food vouchers to an additional 19,000 households. Organizations can donate here and note “EMERGENCY FOOD VOUCHER” in the comments or contact Lauren McGowan at United Way of King County at lmcgowan@uwkc.org.
Today is the last day to apply to the Fresh Bucks Vouchers public lottery. If you are interested please fill out the short application.
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Advocating for a Moratorium on Foreclosures
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Yesterday, my City Council colleagues joined myself and Councilmember Pedersen in unanimously signing onto a letter requesting Governor Inslee to place a statewide moratorium on foreclosures—including multifamily and commercial properties. While the City of Seattle has taken actions to protect residents, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations from eviction—and we aim to extend these protections—we have been hearing that banks will foreclose on thousands of property owners as the loss of income for households and businesses causes a downward spiral in the market. This moratorium on foreclosures would address large gaps that the federal government isn't addressing. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has implemented a foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages for the next 60 days, but does nothing to address homeowners in townhouses, condos, other multifamily housing, and commercial property. A statewide moratorium on foreclosures responds to the calls for action from the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and others to protect renters and small businesses as well. Our hope is that action by the State can provide much needed relief for tenants and small landlords in these dual of public health and economic crises.
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Congresswoman Jayapal’s COVID-19 Relief Tele-Briefing
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Tomorrow, April 1st at 5 PM PT Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal will host a Telephone Town Hall to brief us on what’s on the emergency COVID-19 relief package that Congress just passed and to answer your questions. For information on how to tune in:
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Teresa Mosqueda
Seattle City Council Councilmember, Position 8
teresa.mosqueda@seattle.gov
206-684-8806
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