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Bill would let state align Washington homeless census with HUD schedule, easing county burden
Summary
House Bill 18 99 would remove Washington’s statutory annual homeless census and require the Department of Commerce to conduct the census on a schedule consistent with HUD guidance, Commerce staff told the House Housing Committee.
House Bill 18 99 would remove the statutory requirement that the Department of Commerce conduct an annual Washington homeless census and instead direct the department to run the census on a schedule consistent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) notice, Commerce staff told the committee on Feb. 13.
The change aligns state practice with HUD: HUD requires point‑in‑time (PIT) counts at least biennially and issues notices describing required data. Audrey Vacek, staff to the committee, summarized the bill: "Under state law, the Department of Commerce is required to conduct an annual Washington homeless census for unsheltered persons... House bill 18 99 removes the requirement that a Washington homeless census be conducted annually."
Why it matters: County and Commerce witnesses said the bill would relieve persistent administrative pressure and let counties focus staff time on services. Curtis Steinhauer of the Washington State Association of Counties testified in “strong support,” saying coordination of the PIT count places a heavy burden on small and mid‑sized county staff and that federal practice has shifted from annual to biennial counts.
Commerce’s interim assistant director for housing, Ted Kelleher, described Washington’s supplemental data work designed to provide more reliable trend information than the PIT alone. “We created this other data set... called the snapshot of homelessness. We publish that every six months,” Kelleher said, explaining that the snapshot matches Department of Social and Health Services and health‑care records to produce an unduplicated administrative data set used to track trends.
Discussion and questions: Committee members asked whether the administrative snapshot can over‑ or undercount people. Kelleher said the snapshot is an unduplicated cross‑system match that has been refined over a decade and provides consistent trend data. Representative Jacobson and others pressed Commerce staff on where to access the snapshot; Kelleher said the data are published on Commerce’s website.
Outcome: The committee held a public hearing and closed testimony on HB 18 99; no committee vote occurred during the hearing.
Ending: Supporters said aligning with federal guidance and relying on more comprehensive administrative data would free county staff for direct outreach and services; counties urged the committee to adopt the change to reduce redundant work.
