A newly passed Washington state law to hire more local law enforcement across the state could help Lewis County

Yahoo

29-04-2025

Apr. 28—The Washington state House of Representatives approved final changes Tuesday, April 22, for a bill that creates local funding for new law enforcement officers across the state.
After making it out of the Legislature before the end of the session Sunday, the bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Bob Ferguson to become law.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2015 enables city and county governments that meet certain requirements to institute a 0.1% sales tax in their jurisdictions to fund public safety.
The bill also creates a grant program under the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) to fund hiring, training and retaining new law enforcement officers as well as peer counselors and behavioral-health professionals working with law enforcement.
While the grant program is dedicated to hiring officers and co-responders, money generated by the new sales tax could be used for any aspect of public safety, from law enforcement to prosecution to jails.
The bill is seen by many as a huge step forward for the state in addressing shortages of law enforcement officers in local jurisdictions. The state ranks last among states for the number of police officers per capita. The legislation could help smaller departments like those in Centralia and Chehalis as well as the Lewis County Sheriff's Office hire more officers and fund the local jail or other programs.
But it's still unclear how the grant program will be implemented and if local departments will be able to get a piece of the pie.
The fiscal note attached to the bill estimates that if the sales tax increase is adopted by eligible cities and counties across the state, it could bring in nearly $300 million in funding through 2028.
The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Debra Entenman, D-Covington, during a public hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee introduced the legislation and pitched it as a compromise between support for more law enforcement and a need for funding other parts of public safety.
During the hearing, some lawmakers asked questions on how the bill will make sure grant funds are distributed fairly between cities and counties across the state and how the state will ensure that funding for these programs is sustained and not just a one-time payment.
Entenman included only that she hopes the requirements for departments to qualify for the money will make sure that funding is distributed fairly and that the intention of the bill is to provide long lasting support.
"This is not a bill that we want to consider to be a 'gotcha' or a bill to stop something from happening," Entenman said. "I am hopeful that this will not just be a one time. I am hopeful that we will work together to support the work if we feel in our communities that it is doing what we need."
In the same committee session, state Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, emphasized the importance of taking advantage of the chance to support the hiring of additional law enforcement, urging James McMahan, policy director from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, to "go with the flow."
"Everybody's asking for adjustments on this ... It's a complex bill." Holy said. "Please don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good here. This is something, the first time in 12 years we've actually had a governor that's been paying attention to priorities of government and public safety specifically."
The legislation has received support across many industries, but with many requests for small technical changes that could affect how the new law is implemented. Supporters included multiple law enforcement groups as well as the Washington Retail Association, the Washington Food Industry Association, the Washington State Association of Counties and the Association of Washington Cities. Also testifying in support were mayors, county executives and a host of other local elected officials from all over the state.
Ferguson's office also supported the bill as it meets his goal of securing $100 million for hiring local law enforcement in the state during this year's legislative session.
Despite industry support, the bill strikes at difficult issues such as balancing more local taxes with widespread demands for additional law enforcement and where funding should go to improve public safety. It has split state Republicans who are in support of the idea but not in love with the technique, even drawing mild criticism from Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, at a recent Republican media availability. He commended the money for law enforcement but added it's "not exactly in the form we would like it."
"We have some concerns with that bill," Braun said. "It allows for spending that money on things other than law enforcement, co-responders, and the other big concern with that bill is it allows for a councilmatic increase in sales tax."
The legislation passed out of the state Legislature with mixed support as members of both parties voted on either side.
Republicans won some notable concessions in the Senate, mainly a sunset clause on the ability of local governments to enact the public safety sales tax.
That amendment seemingly quenched some concerns over the potential tax burden imposed by the bill. It also means the Legislature will need to pass additional legislation in the future if they wish to extend the local law enforcement sales tax revenue beyond 2028.
Now that the bill has passed, many local police departments, especially city departments that stand to gain the most funding from the bill, are faced with how the new grant program will be implemented and how funding will be doled out.
Both the Centralia and Chehalis police departments are approaching the new law with caution, unwilling to get their hopes up about the potential for new funding. That's because the new funding comes with strings attached, including certain training requirements for departments to be eligible.
Chehalis Police Chief Randy Kaut raised concerns over the sustainability of the funding, saying it will be hard to know if hiring new officers is the right direction for the department as temporary funding will just mean those officers are laid off in a few years.
"At least currently we're hurting for officers. You know we're really lacking officers. But I don't know if getting additional officers is going to be beneficial at this point," Kaut said. "Quite frankly, any time they do these bills, they add a whole bunch of restrictions to it. I have no idea if this will benefit us or not."