Washington Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Parson wants Congress to pass a housing bill that will allow a million people to break into empty houses.
According to Parson, these are the number of housing vacancies in her district:
- Clallam County: 3,817
- Jefferson County: 3,380
- Mason County: 7,764 (23% of all housing in the county)
- Kitsap County: 7,445
- Pierce County: 19,649
- Grays Harbor: 6,189
Parson is currently running to represent Washington’s 6th Congressional District. In a video ad, Parson, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, outlined what she and her followers can do if she wins.
“Imagine I proposed a Housing for All Bill in Congress, Then imagine you, me, and a million of our friends took action and occupied empty houses nationwide. They couldn’t ignore us,” Parson says in the ad.
“No one has ever done anything like this,” Parson continues. “That’s why it’s going to work.”
On the surface, Parson’s idea appears to amount to trespass, a misdemeanor in the state of Washington, although state law does say that it is a defense if the property is abandoned.
Occupying empty buildings is nothing new for Parson. In 2020, she was a spokesperson for the group Tacoma Housing Now, which organized a group of homeless people in 16 rooms at a motel in Fife, Washington. The group paid for one night for the rooms, then demanded that the city and state government pay as the people refused to leave, according to local KING5.
The people finally left after six days when police officers arrived and ordered them to get out.
Parson, who says she has been homeless herself, also has an atypical position on the minimum wage. While those in the further left part of the Democratic Party often support a $15 minimum wage, Parson would prefer to double that.
“The minimum wage shouldn’t be $7.25. It shouldn’t be $15. It should be $30,” she tweeted, adding that this “is the bare minimum in every county in the US for an adult with a kid to afford housing, food, healthcare, basic necessities.”
