At the Sound Alliance's Action Assembly on Homelessness, leaders confronted state legislators from District 46, including Senator David Frockt, Representative Gerry Pollett, and Representative Jessyn Farrell about the lack of affordable housing and the regressive tax structure of the Washington state budget. Leaders secured public commitments for statewide budget reform in order to expand the resources available to fund public education and other human services.

Sound Alliance leaders are planning to partner with Spokane Alliance to work with statewide legislative allies to develop a proposal in time for the 2017 legislative session. House meetings are being organized now to determine statewide priorities.

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According to Rick Nicholson, "Winter is the hardest time to be homeless in Federal Way."

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The Sound Alliance partnered with the Tahoma school district, parents, and other organizations to sway voters to overwhelmingly pass a school bond. Two years ago, the vote on a smaller bond failed to receive the 60% supermajority needed to pass, and failed with 53% of voters supporting it.

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300 leaders of the Sound Alliance and their allies reached an agreement with King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski to support an ordinance that would change how the County handles ICE "detainer requests". Under current practice, when undocumented immigrants are arrested and taken to the County Jail, ICE often sends requests to the jail to hold them at County expense until ICE can transfer them to a nearby for-profit immigrant detention center. Under the ordinance, the County will stop honoring these requests except when an individual has been convicted of certain violent or serious crimes.

People from a diverse mix of faith, labor, and community organizations at the assembly were excited to have an opportunity to strike a blow against our nation's unjust immigration policy at a local level. King County has a population of over 2 million residents and includes the City of Seattle.

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