Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
More than 20,000 people are living on the streets in Washington state, most of them suffering from an untreated mental illness and/or drug addiction. HB 2266 is currently moving through the Washington State legislature to make it easier to develop subsidized housing and emergency shelters in the style of the failed Housing First policy. This bill would override local ordinances and zoning laws, put residents in real danger of increased crime and lawlessness, and leave the homeless housed but without the real help they need. "It is good to want to help them," says Discovery Institute Project Coordinator and Research Fellow Marsha Michaelis. "Wanting to help people is good. Wanting to make sure that no one is free to disagree with your particular idea about how to help people — that's bad, and that's at the heart of this bill."
Contact your legislator today and tell them what you think about HB 2266.
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Discovery Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy think tank promoting thoughtful analysis and effective action on local, regional, national and international issues.
The mission of Discovery Institute is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity and innovation.
The Institute is home to an inter-disciplinary community of scholars and policy advocates dedicated to the reinvigoration of traditional Western principles and institutions and the worldview from which they issued. Discovery Institute has a special concern for the role that science and technology play in our culture and how they can advance free markets, illuminate public policy and support the theistic foundations of the West. For more information about the mission and program of Discovery Institute visit: discovery.org/about
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More than 20,000 people are living on the streets in Washington state, most of them suffering from an untreated mental illness and/or drug addiction. HB 2266 is currently moving through the Washington State legislature to make it easier to develop subsidized housing and emergency shelters in the style of the failed Housing First policy. This bill would override local ordinances and zoning laws, put residents in real danger of increased crime and lawlessness, and leave the homeless housed but without the real help they need. "It is good to want to help them," says Discovery Institute Project Coordinator and Research Fellow Marsha Michaelis. "Wanting to help people is good. Wanting to make sure that no one is free to disagree with your particular idea about how to help people — that's bad, and that's at the heart of this bill."
Contact your legislator today and tell them what you think about HB 2266.
==================================================
Discovery Institute is a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy think tank promoting thoughtful analysis and effective action on local, regional, national and international issues.
The mission of Discovery Institute is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity and innovation.
The Institute is home to an inter-disciplinary community of scholars and policy advocates dedicated to the reinvigoration of traditional Western principles and institutions and the worldview from which they issued. Discovery Institute has a special concern for the role that science and technology play in our culture and how they can advance free markets, illuminate public policy and support the theistic foundations of the West. For more information about the mission and program of Discovery Institute visit: discovery.org/about
Follow Discovery Institute:
X: @DiscoveryInst1
twitter.com/DiscoveryInst1
Facebook: facebook.com/thediscoveryinstitute
Follow Fix Homelessness:
fixhomelessness.org
X: @DiscoveryCWP
https://x.com/DiscoveryCWP
Facebook: facebook.com/discoverycwp
