Inslee: Public safety a priority

OLYMPIA – Public safety should be a top priority for this year's legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and bipartisan state legislators said on the eve of the 2024 legislative session.

"We need additional officers on the street," Inslee told reporters last week. "And to help local police forces find their additional officers, I'm proposing a $10 million grant program."

Washington ranks 50th in the nation for the number of law enforcement officers per capita, Inslee said.

At the annual legislative preview with reporters, Republican and Democratic lawmakers and Inslee agreed they must work together to address challenges in education, housing, behavioral health, environment and transportation.

Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, agreed hiring more police should be at the forefront of this session.

"We need to get rid of homeless encampments near schools, parks and playgrounds," Stokesbary said.

In the short term, Inslee said he wants to focus on behavioral health, proposing a bill to address fentanyl and substance-abuse prevention.

Despite statements on the need for police, Inslee said his long-term priority remains "climate change."

"I have six grandchildren," he said. "I am going to do everything I can in the next 60 days to make sure that we have a brighter vision for everybody's grandkids, and everybody else".

The Legislature in 2021 passed the so-called Climate Commitment Act, introducing the "cap-and-invest" program, as Democrats call it. Republicans refer to it as the "cap and tax" law.

That bill added nearly 50 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline as a way to pay for so-called environmental projects.

The bill has increased cost of doing business and living; and a movement is building around a ballot initiative to repeal the act.

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and Reps. Joe Schmick and Mary Dye are challenging the law and its effect on farming communities. All three represent the 9th Legislative District, which includes Eastern Adams and Eastern Franklin, Whitman, Lincoln, Southern Spokane and other counties in Eastern Washington.

Inslee defends the act, saying it raises money to reduce pollution.