AWC is especially pleased to share that HB 1428 has been scheduled for a public hearing February 5 in the Appropriations Committee. The bill increases the existing Municipal Criminal Justice Assistance Account by 50%, thus increasing the overall distribution bucket by $25 million per biennium. It makes a similar adjustment to county funding as well.

This is legislation that we have been working on with bill sponsor Rep. Rule throughout the legislative interim to help come up with creative ideas and solutions to address statewide public safety needs. We like this option because it’s more direct, ongoing, and equitable than some other funding bills this session that may rely on time-consuming grant applications, restrictions on use, or fluctuating sales tax revenue.

Sign-in to support the bill

Please take a few seconds to sign-in here as “pro” to note your support on the legislative record. Then, contact your legislators and ask for their support on this bill. Tell your local story about how this funding will impact your community, keeping some of the following talking points in mind.

Talking points

• The funding is significant: An additional $25 million per biennium goes direct to cities, without any grants to apply for or cumbersome restrictions on usage.
• It’s helpful to all cities: The funding is ongoing, sustainable, and equitable revenue for public safety—the formula already distributes the funds on a per capita basis and increases each year. The flexibility means different cities can use it for the greatest public safety need in their area. Whether that’s more officers, behavioral health co-response, legal aid, or more.
• This idea is preferrable to cities: While we are grateful for the Legislature’s focus this session on several positive public safety funding conversations, this is our favored approach to achieve our shared goals of keeping our communities safe.

Dates to remember

HB 1428 will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday February 5 at 4 pm.

AWC priority to address local public safety needs via state-shared revenues gets a bill number

January 20, 2025

We are excited to announce that one of our legislative priorities this year has been introduced into the Legislature and assigned a bill number.

HB 1428, sponsored by Rep. Alicia Rule (D–Blaine), represents a significant source of ongoing funding for cities to use towards public safety needs. We appreciate Rep. Rule for her support and commitment to helping cities address critical community safety needs by proposing to increase a vital state-shared revenue source by 50% with an additional $25 million per biennium distributed to cities and towns.

It’s never too early to contact your legislator and let them know that you support a bill. If this one would help your city, reach out today with your support.

AWC priority bill to address local public safety needs via state-shared revenues

January 13, 2025

AWC’s legislative priority to increase fiscal tools and resources to address local public safety challenges has an emerging bill.

As part of our efforts to gain more state support for local law enforcement, we have a goal to ask the state for increased funding. One of the avenues for achieving that is by including additional direct state funding via the Municipal Criminal Justice Assistance Account (MCJAA).

The account is a state-shared revenue that was first established in 1990 when the Legislature found that local government criminal justice systems needed help due to congested courts, crowded jails, and increased police staffing and education. Moneys distributed must be spent exclusively for criminal justice purposes.

AWC-proposed amendments

AWC is proposing to increase the distribution from the recent biennium’s $51.7 million distribution total to $75 million in the overall fund.

We have a legislative champion, Rep. Alicia Rule (D-Blaine), who will be proposing a bill to make the change, which aims to increase the overall distribution bucket via a formula to increase the distribution by 50% and then share that revenue with cities via the existing formula as detailed below.

When a bill number gets assigned, we will share more information and closely track this priority bill here in Bulletin throughout the session.

Background information

Here’s how the Municipal Criminal Justice Assistance Account distribution formula works:

• The state treasurer transfers money from the general fund into MCJAA in four equal parts each year on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1
• Each year, the fund grows from the year 2000’s starting sum of $4,600,000
  • (For the 2023-25 biennium, that final sum was $51,700,000)
• The sum increases yearly in July after the prior year’s November OFM forecast using a calculation called the fiscal growth factor, which is the average growth in state personal income for the prior ten fiscal years
• Money from that final calculated sum is distributed using two formulas to direct the funding amount to each city/town:
  Per 82.14.320, half goes to cities based on population and also:

• High crime: Each city must have a crime rate over 125% of the statewide average—as calculated in the most recent annual report on crime published by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs

Per 82.14.330, the other half goes to cities based strictly on population and also:

• Violent crime: 20% for cities with a three-year average violent crime rate that is over 150% of the statewide three-year violent crime rate
• Population: 16% for cities based on per capita (but no less than $1,000)
• Contracted services: 10% for cities that contract with another governmental agency for the majority of the city’s law enforcement services
• Innovative programs: 54% for cities, and must use funds for any one (or a combination) of the following:
  • Innovative law enforcement strategies;
  • Programs to help at-risk children or child abuse victim response; and
  • Domestic violence victim and reduction programs.