Friends and neighbors,
We wrapped up the 2024 legislative session on March 7th. We had some significant wins in support of first responders, protecting election workers, responding to the opioid crisis, and keeping kids healthy in schools, among many others. Each of us will highlight successes in future emails, but we wanted to talk about some wins for our district in the three state budgets – operating, transportation, and capital.
Capital Budget
(Credit: LSS Photography)
We were able to secure some significant funds for area construction projects. Some highlights include:
- $112,000 to restore names to the graves of former Western State Hospital patients who passed away while at the hospital. These people had tragic and heartbreaking stories that led to their commitment. They deserve to rest in dignity and their families deserve a recognizable place to visit and pay respects to their deceased loved ones.
- $1.86 million for PFAS cleanup in Lakewood and another $855,000 for cleanup in DuPont. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are toxic forever chemicals that contaminate our waterways. The Lakewood Water District and the DuPont Water Wells projects need this critical funding to help mitigate PFAS contamination. This totals over $16 million for PFAS cleanup in our district.
- $258,000 to build an inclusive playground in University Place, helping children with disabilities play and explore.
- $47,000 to expand the Masonic Museum in University Place.
- $103,000 for a new charging station at the Steilacoom Public Safety facility.
- $120,000 for the Steilacoom Tribal Cultural Center & Museum. This is in addition to the $200,000 allocated in 2023 and $814,000 in 2022.
- $103,000 to add sand and gravel to the beach at the Sunnyside Beach Park Nourishment Project in Steilacoom.
Operating
The supplemental operating budget also had incredible investments in opioid and fentanyl response of over $215m, community safety, and healthcare. Some of these funds go directly to efforts in Pierce County, but all of them will help improve community safety and health in our region. Here are just some of the highlights:
- $1.25 million for Naloxone for EMTs, so first responders have adequate supply for emergencies.
- $200,000 to add Day Habilitation (HB2080) to the Medicaid list for folks with disabilities, making it easier for people to get the important services they need.
- $133,000 to have Naloxone available in public libraries to counter fentanyl poisoning in an emergency.
- $2M for a statewide opioid prevention campaign through grants to local health departments and another $2 million for a statewide opioid data dashboard to help educate our efforts to curb the opioid crisis.
- $750,000 of continued funding for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department toolkit for opioid prevention and response that will be shared with health departments across the State. This helps providers prevent and manage communicable diseases, get people treatment for substance use disorder, and offers tools to help improve behavioral health.
- $2.2 million for a 7.5% increase in reimbursement rates for agency (DSHS and HCA) and individual private-duty nursing providers.
- $4.45 million to eliminate the cost-sharing burden for basic police academy training to save local law enforcement agencies resources.
- $189,000 for a communication manager at the Special Commitment Center (HB2096) to support information sharing to the public related to conditional release for less restrictive alternative placements.
Transportation
Finally, we secured $10.2 million in transportation funds to repair sidewalks in the Bethel School District, which had become unusable and dangerous.
Budgets aren’t just spending line items; they are statements of values. This is the approach we take as your 28th district delegation. We fight for the needs of our communities and feel that those priorities are well reflected in the final supplemental budgets this session.
There is much more in the budget that will be shared. Above are just a few highlighted items. Still, there is more work to do, and we would like to hear from you about your thoughts on future budget items. Please reach out with your thoughts, questions, or ideas about what we should include in budgets going forward. We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Rep. Mari Leavitt Rep. Dan Bronoske