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Comparing the funding sources for Seattle’s social housing campaigns [1]
['Guy Oron']
Date: 2025-02-07
Editor’s note: The Real Change advocacy team has endorsed Prop 1A; the views of the newsroom are independent from the organization.
With Seattle’s Feb. 11 special election looming, competition between Proposition 1A and 1B, the two dueling social housing ballot measures, is heating up. Since the start of 2025, the campaigns have collectively raised more than half a million dollars for ads, mailers and other last-minute propaganda.
The election could decide the future funding prospects for Seattle’s Social Housing Developer (SSHD), which was established by voters in February 2023 through the passage of I-135. SSHD is tasked with building and acquiring housing for a range of people with mixed income levels. Unlike other existing forms of affordable housing, social housing is premised on four tenets: It will be owned by the public forever; be permanently affordable and cost no more than 30% of one’s income; not be used for private profits; and incorporate a cross-class community of tenants from different backgrounds and income levels.
Prop 1A, which is sponsored by the House Our Neighbors (HON) coalition, would introduce a new payroll tax on companies that have employees who make more than $1 million a year. The tax is estimated to raise more than $50 million annually for SSHD, if implemented. The Prop 1A campaign is backed by labor unions and progressive organizations like the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council, the MLK Labor Council and 350 Seattle. Between February and June 2024, HON collected more than 38,000 signatures from Seattleites to put the initiative up for a vote.
The alternative ballot measure is Prop 1B, which the Seattle City Council and Mayor Bruce Harrell sent to the ballot. The campaign is largely sponsored by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and its membership, which includes many of the region’s largest businesses. Instead of passing new taxes, Prop 1B would divert $10 million in existing affordable housing funds to SSHD each year for five years. The measure would also impose several requirements on the developer, including limiting taxpayer funds to only support low-income renters.
Data from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has shed more light on who is backing which campaign, with corporations supporting Prop 1B while nonprofits and labor unions have mostly backed Prop 1A. Both campaigns have support from wealthy individual donors.
At the beginning of January, a new group called “People for Responsible Social Housing” began raising funds in support of Prop 1B. As of Feb. 3, it has raised a total of $445,350.00, including $368,000 from corporations. The largest corporate pledges include $100,000 from Microsoft, $100,000 from Amazon, $25,000 from Russell Investments and $20,000 from T-Mobile. It has also secured $35,000 in large donations from wealthy individuals, including $10,000 from Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith and $2,000 from famed glass artist Dale Chihuly and his wife.
The Proposition 1A campaign has raised considerably more funds than the 1B campaign. Chart by Guy Oron and Henry Behrens.
HON’s political action committee, “Let’s Build Social Housing,” which is spearheading the Prop 1A campaign, has raised a total of $589,954.73. Its largest contributor is the Inatai Foundation, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that funds a diverse range of groups to advance social justice, with a donation of $125,000. The Prop 1A campaign has also raised a significant number of funds from wealthy individuals, totalling more than $341,000. In addition to individual donations, the Prop 1A campaign has also raised nearly $178,000 from nonprofit organizations and $17,000 from labor unions.
Since the beginning of January, Prop 1B has significantly outraised 1A, mainly driven by donations from corporations like Microsoft and Amazon, which have each contributed $100,000. Chart by Guy Oron and Henry Behrens.
With 496 donors, the average contribution from all donors to Prop 1A is $1,189.42, with the average donation from individuals being $817.76.
By contrast, the average donation size of the Prop 1B campaign is $11,419.23, with the average individual contribution being $2,309.38. The Prop 1B campaign has 39 donors.
Donation sizes for the Prop 1B campaign are nearly 10 times as large as that of the 1A campaign. The disparity remains when comparing donations made only by individuals, rather than by corporations, nonprofits or labor unions. Chart by Guy Oron and Henry Behrens.
Voters have until 8 p.m. on Feb. 11 to turn in their ballots. For more information, like the locations of ballot drop boxes and in-person voting centers, visit the King County Elections website.
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Guy Oron is the staff reporter for Real Change. He handles coverage of our weekly news stories. Find them on Twitter, @GuyOron.
Read more of the Feb. 5–11, 2025 issue.
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