What’s on the agenda for Snohomish County legislators?

OLYMPIA — Heading into a 60-day session starting Monday, lawmakers are gearing up to tackle the state’s biggest issues.

For Snohomish County legislators, a few priorities come to mind: public safety, opioids, housing and ferries.

The county has a few names in high places too. Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, will chair the Senate Ways and Means Committee, making her the state’s chief budget writer.

Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, which will tackle troubles in the state’s ferry system and pedestrian safety.

Liias’s legislative district represents both the Edmonds and Mukilteo ferry terminals. It’s been one of the biggest concerns for his constituents, he said.

Robinson is mindful of three citizen initiatives that could toy with significant state revenues.

One would repeal the state’s capital gains tax, enacted in 2021. Robinson said this would remove revenue that will provide $500 million for early learning and child care and nearly $400 million for capital projects in schools.

“I don’t see capacity to backfill those revenues,” she said.

The initiatives, backed by conservative donor Brian Heywood, are waiting for signatures to be certified by the Secretary of State’s office.

The collection of intiatives are supported by Washington’s Republican Party and combat new taxes. If the initiatives are approved, they will be sent to the Legislature where they can be made law, modified or pushed aside. In the case of the latter, the intitiatives will be put to a statewide vote in November.

The other two initiatives would repeal the Climate Commitment Act, which has brought in more than $1.5 billion so far for climate-related projects, and allow workers to opt-out of the long-term care payroll tax.

While the initiatives can’t be completely ignored, Robinson wants to stay focused on funding fixes to the state’s most important issues.

Here’s how Snohomish County legislators want to achieve their goals in this short session.

Opioid crisis

For Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, it’s clear that fighting the opioid crisis needs to be high on the priority list.

Low also serves on the Snohomish County Council, where members have made addressing the opioid crisis their issue of the year.

“Fentanyl and opioid abuse is out of control right now,” Low said.

One of the proposals he hopes to push through, House Bill 2002, would make exposing children under 13 to fentanyl a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in jail.

This bill would ramp up the punishment for public drug use. Currently, using a controlled substance in public around anyone amounts to a gross misdemeanor.

Putting tougher penalties on illegal drug use is a way to get people the help they need, Low argued.

“Our jail is very much geared toward meeting with nurses and doctors, getting treatment inside the jail and encouraging that treatment as they leave the jail,” he said.

Other bills filed aim to introduce more education in schools about the danger of opioids, which was a priority of the Snohomish County Council.

“Education is key,” Low said. “The drugs out there today are not the drugs that were out there five, 10 years ago.”

House Bill 1956 would require opioid prevention curriculum for middle and high school students.

Ferries

Commuters riding the ferries in Edmonds and Mukilteo know the disarray of Washington State Ferries.

Long wait times, fewer boats in service and a crew shortage has led to frustration.

For big changes, like replacing the state’s aging fleet, Liias said those investments have already been made.

But the first new electric ferry isn’t expected to sail on Puget Sound until 2027.

Between now and then, Liias wants to focus on short-term fixes to make the ferry system more tolerable.

“We can’t get the boats any faster,” he said.

One way to improve the system now is to allow people to reserve a space on the boat or to give them extended notice when boats come out of service, he said.

“That’s not a great solution for people but at least they could plan their lives around it, rather than just constantly be surprised,” he said.

Low has ideas to improve staffing shortages on the seas.

His House Bill 1878 would reinstate seniority for state employees when they are rehired. The idea came to him when he learned engine workers on ferries don’t get their seniority back after taking time away from their jobs, while most other staff on the ferries do.

With the bipartisan support it has received, Low hopes it will have an impact on the state’s struggling ferry system.

Public safety

Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, wants to put more police on the streets.

Lovick pointed to two new regional police academies in Franklin and Clark counties that are creating more opportunities to train officers and rectify staffing shortages. A third academy was in the works last year in Skagit County.

Washington ranks 50th in the nation for police officers per capita, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

While it failed to pass the Senate last year, Lovick and Liias want to keep pushing Senate Bill 5002, which would lower the legal limit while driving from a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% to 0.05%.

In 2022, 745 people were killed in traffic collisions, according to a report from the state’s traffic safety commission. The report said impairment from drugs or alcohol was involved in more than half of all fatal crashes.

After a recent trip to Finland to learn about traffic safety, Liias said lowering the alcohol limit was the most impactful policy change the Nordic country made in its push to limit fatal crashes.

For victims of drivers under the influence, Lovick wants to make sure they are properly compensated for their loss. His Senate Bill 5841 is modeled after Melanie’s Law in Kentucky. It would require drivers convicted of driving under the influence and related crimes to pay for child support if the offense resulted in the death or disability of a parent.

“It would force people to think more before they go out and drive and do the unthinkable thing of killing or disabling someone,” Lovick said.

Lovick’s bill would promote accountability in traffic incidents, he said.

Housing

Many lawmakers dubbed the 2023 session as “The Year of Housing,” after a number of bills passed focusing on increasing the supply of affordable housing.

Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, said 2024 could end up being “The Year of Housing 2.0.”

As chair of the House Finance Committee, Berg wants to find more ways to use tax dollars to build housing.

On Monday, she plans to file a bill that would increase the real estate transfer tax amount on properties sold for over $3 million by 1%. That revenue would be directed to building more affordable housing.

Currently, a 3% transfer tax applies to properties sold for over $3 million. In Snohomish County, an additional local rate of 0.5% is tacked on, except for Darrington property owners, who see an extra 0.25%.

For properties sold for under $3 million, the real estate transfer tax would be decreased under her planned legislation.

Behavioral health treatment

Robinson wants to focus the bulk of her energy in her new role leading the Ways and Means committee.

This year, she said she will have less interest in working on specific policies. However, she still wants to see more done on the behavioral health front, particularly what she calls “community-based interventions.”

Locally, that might look like more resources directed to behavioral health centers in Snohomish County, like Compass Health, Robinson said.

Compass Health is in the midst of constructing a new behavioral health facility in Everett, expected to open in 2025. The nonprofit has so far secured nearly $40 million from the state for the project bearing an estimated $90 million price tag.

In a bill sponsored by Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, more temporary housing would be readily available for young adults exiting in-patient behavioral health treatment.

The proposed legislation aims to reduce the number of young adults who end up homeless after going through treatment.

To stay apprised of the goings-on in Olympia and what they mean for Snohomish County, subscribe to The Daily Herald’s politics newsletter at heraldnet.com/heraldnewsletters.

Jenelle Baumbach: 360-352-8623; jenelle.baumbach@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jenelleclar.