SEATTLE - With the threats of evictions rising as the pandemic eases, Washington state took a major step this year to protect tenants.

In the 2021 session, state lawmakers passed a measure guaranteeing tenants have a right to legal counsel in eviction cases. It was the first state in the nation to pass such a bill.

John Pollock, coordinator at the National Coalition for A Civil Right to Counsel called it transformative.

"The movement has been very successful in the last five years at the municipal level," said Pollock. "But Washington state was the first one to show that it could be done at the state level as well."

Pollock said Connecticut and Maryland joined Washington shortly after this bill passed and notes that at least 11 states have introduced similar legislation, signaling how mainstream this issue has become.

Gov. Jay Inslee says the state will extend the eviction moratorium beyond Wednesday.

Pollock said only about 3% of tenants have legal representation in eviction cases. He also noted that for the person who might be evicted, there is much more at stake than their homes.

"Child care, child custody, your physical liberty, your health, your employment and so on," said Pollock. "Counsel makes a huge difference from the studies that we've seen. It literally changes what happens in housing court and the vast majority of tenants avoid eviction or the serious consequences."

Pollock said it can be hard for people to rent once they have an eviction on their record. He also noted that this is a significant race-equity issue, with Black women facing eviction rates at least twice as high as white people.

"In a country where we're wrestling with race equity and looking at what it looks like or what it should look like," said Pollock, "we cannot ignore the plight and the situation in our housing courts, which are a reflection of the lack of that kind of equity."

Half of Nevada voters feel their political leaders are ignoring the housing crisis.

Recent polling conducted by the Center for Popular Democracy and the Right to the City Alliance showed voters are growing more concerned about the housing issues plaguing Nevada.

Cinthia Moore, a Democratic candidate for Nevada Assembly from East Las Vegas who previously led the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, said Nevada attracts investors because the state does not have adequate protections in place for renters.

"As I am knocking on doors, a lot of people are doing month to month leases as a way to get more money out of our hardworking families," Moore observed. "That needs to stop."

Moore pointed out many longtime renters no longer have year-leases and their landlords have transitioned them to month-to-month agreements. She argued the move has allowed landlords to raise prices considerably, a practice she has vowed to put an end to if elected.

The poll found almost half of Nevada voters in the survey said they would vote for a candidate supporting government funding for affordable housing. Just over half said they would support a candidate who supports rent stabilization practices.

Sen. Edgar Flores, D-Las Vegas, said when it comes to the cost of housing, many in Nevada are making the difficult decisions to pay rent or make a mortgage payment rather than buying groceries or putting gas in their car. Nevada has made progress, including the passage of a law allocating funds for rental assistance in Clark, Reno and Sparks counties.

Flores said more needs to be done and lawmakers leading these housing-related legislative efforts should better understand the burden it places on families.

"There are people that are making laws that revolve around housing every single day that don't understand what a week means for a family, don't understand what it is to have to go and talk to somebody to just give you a little bit of an extra break," Flores emphasized. "I'm not saying that their families are wrong for that."

Flores stressed because of the lack of lived experience, lawmakers could be shortsighted or disconnected from the effects of policies on the most vulnerable. Flores added it is unfair wages and salaries have not grown in proportion to housing costs, making it a tough issue for Nevadans to grapple with on a daily basis.

Colorado remains the eighth-least affordable state in the nation for housing, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Even as state and municipal minimum wages have increased, up to $18.29 an hour in Denver, Coloradans must earn nearly $38 an hour to afford a modest apartment.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said it is clear wages will not be able to keep up with rising housing costs.

"Colorado has a very robust minimum wage compared to the federal minimum wage, and many other states, and we're still falling behind in terms of housing costs," Alderman pointed out. "We have to think about policies that can bring the cost of housing down."

A full-time worker earning the state's minimum wage can only afford to pay $750 a month in rent. A Social Security recipient can only afford to pay $294. Boulder, Eagle and Summit counties top the list of the most expensive areas in Colorado, where service and other low-wage workers have to travel for hours each day because they cannot afford to live where they work.

Thousands of new housing units have been popping up along the Front Range for years but are offered at price points better suited for hedge funds and other investors than average working families. Alderman argued the housing crisis will not be resolved by market forces alone.

"In the Denver metro area, we have more than 20,000 units of luxury and market-rate housing sitting vacant because people can't afford it," Alderman observed. "There is no incentive to lower the rent to make it accessible."

The federal government stopped investing in housing decades ago, but the "Housing Crisis Response Act" working its way through Congress aims to create nearly 1.4 million affordable homes and help nearly 300,000 households afford their rent.

Alderman believes the federal government, which can tap many more revenue sources than state and local governments, needs to play a role.

"State and local governments have been trying to invest more in housing," Alderman acknowledged. "But if they can't leverage federal dollars, they just can't get very far. And so I think it's time for the federal government to see this as a nationwide crisis, not just as a local crisis."

New Mexico advocacy groups are calling on New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to cancel next week's special session where lawmakers are scheduled to debate public safety legislation. The coalition, which includes progressive-leaning groups that support the governor on many issues, wants community experts consulted before laws are passed.

Marshall Martinez, Equality New Mexico's executive director, said the proposals on next week's agenda are rushed - and would present complicated policy changes to behavioral healthcare, addiction treatment and homelessness.

"We're talking about the ability of the state to force someone into an inpatient treatment center without their consent, and we're talking about things like criminalizing panhandling," Martinez said.

In addition to Equality New Mexico, the coalition that sent a letter to the governor on Tuesday includes the ACLU of New Mexico, the Center for Civic Policy, Common Cause New Mexico and the New Mexico Conference of Churches. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Governor said calling off the special session is not an option.

Martinez believes advice from community experts who provide mental health and other public safety-related services should have been sought by the governor's office prior to the session being scheduled to ensure legislation provides lasting solutions.

"You have to come to the table with community-based organizations, like those of us who've been working on these issues for years, and engage us in a conversation about what will work," he continued. "Good policy isn't made in a vacuum on the 4th floor of the State Capitol building."

He also noted an obvious lack of consensus between Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the legislative proposals, and said the short session does not include opportunities for community feedback.