2023-25 budget deal passes before Legislature adjourns – funds significant programs for cities

The final 2023-25 operating, capital, and transportation budget proposals were passed by the Legislature on April 22 and 23, just before the Legislature adjourned this year’s session. The final compromise $69.3 billion operating budget funds city priorities such as housing, State v. Blake resentencing, and behavioral health treatment programs. Infrastructure funding for broadband, culverts, and full funding for the Public Works Assistance Account are also included.

There are significant new investments in state housing programs, nearly a billion dollars, with highlights such as $400 million for the Housing Trust Fund. AWC had advocated strongly that additional ongoing resources in the form of the House’s proposed $4 billion bond measure or HB 1628 creating a local option REET and increasing the state REET. Unfortunately, none of those new revenues to address the vast need for affordable housing passed this session.

The final budget relies on the Climate Commitment Act’s auction revenues from carbon emission allowances to fund new climate resilience and transportation projects for state and local governments. It also transfers $1.3 billion of the federal pandemic assistance funding for use in the general fund.

The budget includes additional dollars for public safety and court operations. It funds co-responder programs, increases therapeutic court funding, and additional law enforcement training.

The reserves are projected to be $3.6 billion for 2023-25.

City impacts are highlighted below. For more details and information, see AWC’s budget matrix.

Operating budget

• Housing:
  • $150 million for covenant homeownership program (HB 1474).
  • $150 million to transition those living in encampments to safer housing, requiring $120 million to be used for those living on state-rights-of-way.
  • $130 million for the Housing and Essential Needs program.
  • $111 million for emergency housing and rental assistance.
  • $62 million for grants to support O&M costs of permanent supportive housing.
  • $45.6 million for homeless service contracts.
  • $18 million for grants to local government to maintain programs impacted by loss of document recording fees.
• Resentencing implementation of State v. Blake: $11.5 million to assist municipal courts, prosecutors, and defense counsel in resentencing impacted by the Blake decision and $51.4 million to the Administrative Office of the Courts to operate a centralized statewide legal financial obligations (LFO) refund bureau.
• Community behavioral health and substance use treatment: significant investments for community-based programs like mobile crisis response teams, peer support specialists, enhancements to the 988 system, and therapeutic courts. The Legislature failed to pass SB 5536, the Blake fix, and with it the specific appropriations included in the bill for implementation of additional substance use programs. Read more.
• Basic law enforcement training (BLEA): Funds 23 BLEA classes in both 2024 and 2025, with at least three classes in Spokane each year, and six additional training classes in three regional locations.
• Alternative co-response teams: $4 million for grants to cities to reimburse the cost of creating alternative response team programs.
• State shared revenues: Funded at anticipated levels.

Capital budget

• $400 million to the Public Works Assistance Account, which honors the sunset of revenue diversions to education, but continues the $114 million diversion to the Move Ahead Washington transportation package passed last year.
• $200 million for broadband, including $50 million as a federal grant match for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) state grants program and $150 million in federal funds for broadband grants.
• Significant additional investments in affordable housing construction and other housing needs:
  • $400 million to the Housing Trust Fund.
  • $83.2 million for the Inflation Reduction Act HOMES Program.
  • $60 million for Connecting Housing to Infrastructure (CHIP) grants to local governments.
  • $40 million for home weatherization.

Transportation budget

• $287 million for the Transportation Improvement Board:
  • $3.9 million to Small City Pavement and Sidewalk Program
  • $14.6 million for Complete Streets grants
  • $9.3 million for city preservation and maintenance
• $70 million for Safe Routes to Schools grants.
• $72.2 million for pedestrian and bicycle safety programs and grants.
• $1 billion for state and local culverts.
• $33.7 for clean alternative fuel vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure.
• $23.7 million for pilot federal fund exchange pilot program.
• $2.5 for WSDOT to coordinate with local governments and private entities to recommend new truck parking sites.
• $300,000 from cities’ share of fuel tax revenues for JTC to convene a study of a statewide retail delivery fee.
• $300,000 from cities’ share of fuel tax revenues for a JTC-MRSC joint study on collaborative partnerships on local delivery of state projects.