The proposed Governor’s budget for 2023-25 addresses key priorities around housing, behavioral health, infrastructure funding, and expanding police training.

See the city budget impact summary for more detail.

The Governor’s $70 billion operating budget proposal:

• Incorporates the state’s positive November revenue forecast;
• Includes revenues from a proposed voter referendum to fund $4 billion bonds for housing; and
• Uses $2.1 billion from the Washington Rescue Plan Transition Account set aside from federal pandemic assistance.

The reserves are projected to be $2.6 billion for 2023-25 and $2.4 billion for 2025-27.

Of the remaining $202 million federal pandemic relief funds, the budget includes spending:

• $76 million for emergency housing;
• $89 million for food programs;
• $27 million for public health; and
• $9.21 million for special education.

The proposal includes full funding for the working family’s tax credit created in 2019 that’s scheduled to be implemented in February 2023.

Programs of interest to cities include:

• Seeking a voter referendum to provide $4 billion in bonds over six years to address a broad spectrum of housing needs, including $1.3 billion for the 2023-25 biennium.
• Significant additional investments in affordable housing construction, infrastructure, home ownership, rapid acquisition, and other housing needs within existing resources.
• Additional investments in behavioral health, building on existing community-based treatment capacity.
• Incentives to encourage climate change response, including for permitting clean energy facilities.
• Funding for additional basic law enforcement academy (BLEA) classes to provide 23 classes each year, two new regional training sites, and $6 million grant assistance for jurisdictions to help with the 25% local match for training costs.
• $4 million to AWC to continue to fund more of our Alternative Response Teams Grants (ARTG).
• Continued funding for Blake implementation, including ongoing investments in new and existing therapeutic courts.
• $400 million to the Public Works Assistance Account, which restores previous diversions of revenues to education, but continues the $114 million diversion to the Move Ahead Washington transportation package.
• $50 million for the State Broadband Office as match for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) state grants program.
• $25 million to establish a federal fund exchange pilot program between Surface Transportation Block Grant population funding and state funds (directed through counties).
• $2.3 million for WSDOT to implement recommendations from the Truck Parking Action Plan.
• $267 million for the Transportation Improvement Board.
• Funding for state-shared revenues at expected levels.

One of the items AWC requested that was not funded was continuation of the $20 million in public safety assistance funds to help offset the costs of implementing recent criminal justice changes and support cities in hiring and retaining law enforcement officers.

The Governor’s proposed budgets are required by statute and will kick off the Legislature’s budget discussions for the 2023 session. The Legislature is tasked with developing their budgets for the biennium, usually following the March state revenue forecast, and passing them before they adjourn the session in late April.

AWC encourages city officials to talk to your legislators about city budget priorities for 2023, in addition to AWC’s 2023 legislative priorities.