On behalf of everyone at AWC, I want to thank city officials and staff for your dedication to your communities during this unprecedented COVID-19 emergency. We know that you are working hard to support your residents. At AWC we are doing our best to support you with information and resources on our website.
When the Legislature kicked off January 13, there was a level of optimism. Legislators were anticipating a short session with modest expectations to make big policy changes and budget adjustments. They were also anticipating a strong economic forecast that would make adopting supplemental budget updates reasonably straightforward. The one big concern was the transportation budget that was impacted by the passage of I-976 and the resulting loss of revenue. However, it was clear from the beginning that legislators weren’t going to make big adjustments to the transportation budget this year and push the hard decisions off until 2021.
Overall 2020 was a positive session for cities. We saw the Legislature make important investments in areas like housing and good policy changes that will benefit cities. We have put together a summary of outcomes on our legislative priorities. This edition of the Legislative Bulletin recaps the session highlights and outcomes for cities in various issue areas.
By the final week of session the tone was distinctly different. It became clear that the economy was going to be disrupted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and that Washington state was emerging as the first U.S. epicenter for the new disease. The Legislature took immediate action to tap the Rainy Day Fund for $200 million for emergency response.
Since then, it’s become clearer that the economic impacts will go even deeper and the emergency response is more complex and far reaching than initially envisioned.
It is possible that the Governor will call a special session of the Legislature if additional funding or emergency action is needed. Regardless, it seems obvious that state and local budgets will be significantly negatively impacted by the emergency. It is also possible that the Governor could veto portions of the supplemental budgets in order to reduce costs in anticipation of lost revenue and increased expenditures.
We can also expect with an economic downturn that in 2021 the Legislature will struggle to balance the budget. We know from the great recession that when faced with budget challenges, the Legislature will turn to reductions in local funding. It is crucial that cities start talking with your legislators now about what cities are experiencing and what support you need from the state. We must do our best to avoid the kind of cuts to city funding that the Legislature adopted during the great recession. We need everyone to be strong city advocates.
We must do our best to avoid the kind of cuts to city funding that the Legislature adopted during the great recession.
Messages for cities to share with legislators:
- Brief them on your city’s emergency response efforts including the costs.
- Highlight any need for emergency financial support related to emergency response.
- Explain the importance of state-shared revenues to your city’s budget and its ability to provide services.
- Remind them that cities are the economic drivers for the state. By supporting cities, the state benefits.