OLYMPIA — A bill before the Washington Legislature could make it easier to house people who make a big difference on a small paycheck. 

House Bill 1022, introduced in the Washington House of Representatives last year, would create a program to help cover down payments and housing costs for first responders, health care workers, child care workers and others in similar roles serving communities. 

“As you know, we have a workforce crisis, as well as some other crisis in Washington State right now, but we do have a workforce crisis, especially when it comes to people that are helping in our community: law enforcement officers, nurses, firefighters, mental health care professionals,” the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. April Connors, R-Kennewick, told the House Housing Committee in January 2025. “And what we found is that supply for homes is so in demand in Washington state and supply is so short right now that the median home price is increased so much in Washington state (that) it’s really hard to have these really important people taking care of our children, helping keep our streets safe, live in our communities. In my community alone, our median price of a house went from $400,000 to $450,000, up 40% since 2020.” 

To qualify, a prospective homeowner would have to have a household income below 100% of the state average median income and work in certain fields, including law enforcement, health care, mental health, social work and firefighting. Veterans and active-duty service members would also be eligible. 

The assistance would come in the form of zero-interest loans, to be repaid when the owner sells or rents the property or when the first mortgage is paid off. 

The idea isn’t new; HB 1022 is a modified form of a bill introduced in 2023. The specifics are different; the original bill allowed people making 110% of the AMI to qualify. 

“Ten years ago, our members almost never brought up housing as an issue that they cared about or needed their union support on,” Washington Federation of State Employees representative Katie Durkin told the committee at the Jan. 14 hearing. “But now it is very regularly a top three concern for many of our membership across all the industries that we represent. Your average state employee is absolutely not making the amount of money needed to buy a home in the community that they work in, or maybe at all. Many barely make enough money to get by. The percentage of our members that rent versus own has skyrocketed and as a state, we are also struggling to incentivize, especially young people, to go into state service due to non-competitive wages. “ 

A bill like HB 1022 is the kind of step the state can take to support those workers, Durkin said. 

“We represent park rangers who are operating as law enforcement in our state parks that would qualify for this program,” she said. “Also, social workers, direct care workers, health and mental health professionals in our state institutions and many more … This is undeniably a great opportunity for the state of Washington to support many of our members in some of the most difficult careers.” 

Simone Bow, representing the Washington Education Association, also spoke in support of the bill, but said educators should also qualify, particularly classified staff like paraeducators and nutrition services personnel. 

“They're just doing incredible work,” Bow said. “We consider them heroes; many in our community do as well, but they can't live in the communities in which they work. They can't afford to in many, many places across the state. We believe that adding educators to the bill maintains the integrity of the bill and fits within the title of the bill.” 

HB 1022 passed the Housing Committee in January 2025 and was referred on to the Capital Budget Committee, but failed to get through that committee before the end of the session. It was reintroduced unchanged Jan. 12, 2026. 

“(Housing costs are) a deterrent to for these (workers), especially for law enforcement and nurses to be able to accept jobs in our community,” Connors said. “I'm hearing that a lot because there's nowhere for them to live or buy a home. We're losing out on some really great people that we could recruit and have in our communities.” 

HB 1022 rundown:

The Homes for Heroes program would be open to: 

• Law enforcement officers 

• Corrections officers 

• Firefighters 

• 911 communications officers, dispatchers and operators 

• Emergency medical technicians 

• Health care professionals 

• Direct care workers 

• Mental health professionals  

• Social workers 

• Owners or employees of a licensed child care home or facility. 

• Military service members and veterans