Three representatives of the Seattle Human Services Coalition and allied organizations used the committee’s Sept. 25 public‑comment period to praise some elements of the mayor’s proposed budget and to press for larger investments in provider pay and services for seniors and survivors.

Hallie Willis, policy manager for the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, told the committee that frontline human‑services programs struggle to retain experienced staff when wages remain low and warned that federal cuts would make the problem worse.

Willis said, “We know that when human services can pay their staff fairly, they’re able to hold on to experienced staff, fill vacancies, operate more efficiently, and serve people better.” She thanked the mayor for expanding noncongregate shelter and for reserving funds to respond to federal funding changes.

Amarantha Torres, co‑executive director of the Coalition Ending Gender‑Based Violence and co‑chair of the Seattle Human Services Coalition, also praised a 2% provider pay increase in the mayor’s proposal but said that the budget contains “no new investments” for seniors and survivors of gender‑based violence. Torres told the committee she was “disappointed” that the proposal did not add new funding for those groups and urged further work with council on the budget.

Seneca Zhang, speaking for the Seattle Human Services Coalition, thanked the mayor for largely balancing the budget without “drastic cuts to critical human services” and for including a buffer against federal reductions. Zhang echoed the other speakers in urging the council to pursue the UW wage‑equity recommendations: Willis and Zhang noted the UW study’s finding that providers need roughly a 7% pay increase to stem staff turnover; Willis and Zhang said the mayor’s proposal would bring provider pay to about a 4% increase since 2013, roughly half of the recommended change.

Why it matters: Human‑services providers told the committee that retaining experienced staff is essential to operating shelters, food banks and treatment programs; they said modest pay increases make a direct difference in frontline capacity. Speakers also pressed the council to consider additional, targeted investments for seniors and survivors of gender‑based violence given recent statewide and federal funding cuts.

The committee’s public‑comment period ended before the executive presentation began; central staff and the City Budget Office later presented the mayor’s proposed budget to the committee for detailed review.