As Washington State lawmakers in the State Capitol Building debate Governor Jay Inslee’s latest expensive proposal to fix the state’s never-ending homeless problem, just a mile or two away there is a clear example of one approach which helps lift people out of homelessness and another example which has kept people living in the cruel and unsafe encampments.

Public property next to Interstate 5 in Olympia is an encampment full of tents and other temporary structures, while just across the freeway in Lacey the property is clear. 

More importantly, on the Olympia side of the freeway people are living in misery due to untreated drug and/or mental health issues, while in Lacey, many formerly homeless individuals are receiving help they need to become productive again.

Why the difference between the two cities?

Is it money and resources?

Or is it the policy?

As the Discovery Institute’s Jonathan Choe reported last year, the primary difference between the approaches used by the two city governments is that the City of Lacey enforces its No Trespassing laws while the City of Olympia does not.

Lacey Police Chief Robert Almada stated that part of his city’s efforts to follow the law is that when officers encounter a homeless individual, his department works with the person to make sure they receive available assistance.

The chief stated that Lacey officers “Find out who they are, what they need, and how the city can help them.”

So, while the City of Olympia has public spaces filled with garbage-filled encampments with hundreds of people suffering with addiction and mental health issues, the City of Lacey’s public property is clean and homeless individuals are getting the assistance they need.

Money has very little to do with the difference between the two cities and why encampments continue to cause problems for Olympia’s residents and businesses. It boils down to policy.

The City of Olympia is run by progressive city officials who are uncaringly dedicated to the failed “Housing First” policy which states governments should first provide unconditional housing to homeless individuals before providing services to assist them with their drug and/or mental health issues.

Just like in Seattle/King County, Olympia’s leadership (in 2018) declared an emergency on the homeless issue in order to focus more public resources on the problem and grow the city’s homeless bureaucracy. Despite taxpayers funding 200 permanent housing units, increasing the size of the city’s Housing and Homeless Response Department and the creation of the Regional Housing Council the number of homeless individuals continues to grow in Olympia (from 766 in 2022 to 792 in 2023).

As we have sadly experienced in Seattle, the City of Olympia should be included in the overabundance of evidence that Housing First does not work.  .

To return to Governor Inslee’s latest request for more money, the Housing First policy has not worked at the state level either. A new federal study revealed that Washington State experienced an incredible 27% increase in the number of homeless since 2019 and nearly twice as many people (36 out of 10,000 residents) are homeless than the national average (20 out of 10,000). This significant growth occurred as the Inslee Administration increased the state budget by an incredible 38% ($49.1 billion in 2019 to $67.8 billion in 2022).

Let that sink in: a 27% increase in homelessness accompanied by a 38% increase in spending. Clearly, that’s not a formula for success.

As at the local level, money is not the issue for the state. It is Governor Inslee and Democrat lawmakers’ adherence to the progressives’ Housing First policies which are preventing Washington from reducing its number of homeless individuals.

The question for state lawmakers is the same question to ask local officials…why should Washington State taxpayers continue to fund an expensive policy which thus far has only increased the number of homeless? Why should state lawmakers give more money to the Inslee Administration when their previous policies have failed to meet their promises?