As executive directors of housing advocacy organizations, we hear a lot about the state’s affordable housing shortage.

We hear from advocates with full time jobs, unable to find an apartment close to their work. We’ve listened in on the stories of families struggling to buy a home by their ideal school. Even our own staff members have recently had to move because of skyrocketing Seattle rents.

Everyone should have the opportunity to live in a safe, healthy, affordable home. And one of the most effective ways to do that is to ensure our state continues to invest in building different kinds of housing affordable to the spectrum of income levels across the state. Historically, the state has invested in affordable homes through the Housing Trust Fund in the capital budget.

Market-rate rents are usually out of reach for lower income families and individuals. That’s why Washington State has a central role in ensuring safe, healthy, affordable housing. Our state can even the field by funding these homes.

The state’s capital budget has created homes for low-wage workers, families, seniors, veterans, and more. It’s created homes for people leaving homelessness and helped low-income families purchase their first house.

Last year, the legislature failed to pass a capital budget, so the state passed on an opportunity to expand the supply of affordable homes. This is bad news for King County residents who are living in an affordable housing crisis. According to a recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, for every 100 extremely low-income families in the Greater Seattle area earning less than $23,850 a year for a family of three, only 28 affordable apartments are available. Across the state, the numbers are no better. The coalition also found a shortage of 161,243 homes affordable and available to extremely low-income renters in the state, making Washington tied for the 8th worst affordable housing gap in the nation.

The state’s affordable housing shortage didn’t happen overnight. We got here in large part because of more than 30 years of federal policy choices that reduced the availability of housing affordable to people with low incomes. Today, lawmakers at every level have solutions right in front of them. At the state level, making a significant capital investment in affordable homes is a good start.

Another way we can address local affordable housing needs, championed by Housing Development Consortium (HDC), is allowing the King County Council to issue revenue bonds to create affordable homes.

Here’s how it works. In 2011, the state legislature authorized 37.5% of King County’s lodging taxes to fund affordable housing near transit centers for low- and moderate-wage workers. Unfortunately, this funding doesn’t start until 2021. But as the above numbers show, the need and opportunity is right now.

As an example, Link Light Rail expansion provides a prime opportunity to create affordable homes near reliable transit. However, land in these station areas is being bought up fast. This means land costs are rapidly escalating. If the county could pull a fiscally sound portion of the housing revenue forward, then affordable housing construction can begin years earlier while land near transit stations is still available and construction costs are lower.

That is why the Housing Alliance joins with HDC and others in the region to ask the legislature to clarify King County’s ability to bond against the lodging tax revenue stream and start building today. King County estimates we can reduce construction costs by nearly $60 million and provide affordable housing now!

Everyone wins when this happens, including employers, workers, the construction industry, transit agencies, and neighborhoods. Similar to the Housing Trust Fund, construction of this workforce housing will leverage nearly $200 million in other public and private sources, create more than 1,000 local jobs, generate economic activity, and produce tax revenue.

Housing Alliance State Housing Trust Fund page: http://wliha.org/advocacy/stat

Housing Development Consortium Advocacy page: http://www.housingconsortium.org/advocacy/

Washington State Department of Commerce Housing Trust Fund page: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/Programs/housing/TrustFund/Pages/default.aspx

Rachael Myers is the executive director of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, a statewide affordable housing and homelessness legislative advocacy organization. Their vision is that all Washington residents have the opportunity to live in safe, healthy, affordable homes in thriving communities.

Marty Kooistra is the executive director of Housing Development Consortium, a professional association and advocate for the King County affordable housing community. As a member organization, they collectively advocate for policies that encourage the creation or preservation of affordable housing throughout King County.