Gov signs budgets, Blake fixed quickly, Trueblood fix, EV chargers



Trouble viewing this email? View this in your browser. [ [link removed] ]



GOV GovDelivery E-Newsletter Header

"Thank you for subscribing to e-news updates from the Office of Gov. Jay Inslee. We hope you find these updates interesting, useful and worth sharing. If you?d like to update your subscription preferences or unsubscribe, you can do so?here [ [link removed] ]?at any time. If you'd like contact the governor, you can do so through his website's?contact page. [ [link removed] ]"






- - -

Inslee signs new budgets that go big on housing, behavioral health

The 2023-25 state operating, capital, and transportation budgets await Gov. Jay Inslee's signature on May 16, 2023.

The 2023-25 state operating, capitol, and transportation budgets await Gov. Jay Inslee's signature on May 16, 2023.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed Washington state?s new 2023-25 budgets Tuesday, advancing affordable housing, reducing homelessness, building behavioral health capacity, supporting educators, protecting salmon, training more police, and implementing world-leading climate policy.

The operating and capital budgets follow many of the priorities put forth by the governor last December, investing more than $1 billion to ?go big? on housing and homelessness.

The $400 million invested in the state?s housing trust fund will build more than 13,200 housing units over the next six years. Land acquisition programs will help lay foundations for more housing. Emergency housing programs will shelter thousands of people experiencing homelessness.

Behavioral health capacity is strained statewide, and the new budgets sustain the system?s rapid expansion. A totally new 350-bed forensic hospital will soon begin construction on the Western State Hospital campus. New civil commitment facilities and residential treatment cottages are opening in several locations. New diversion programs will be initiated to introduce criminal defendants with behavioral health issues to treatment rather than traditional prosecution. The state is also further augmenting its 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by deploying mobile response teams and crisis stabilization facilities.

The budgets also contained the largest increase in K-12 education funding since the McCleary decision. The additional funds invested this year help schools pay teachers, offer student supports, and conduct special education. Per-pupil investment by the state has consistently increased throughout Gov. Jay Inslee?s tenure as governor.

The governor signed the 2023-25 transportation budget Tuesday, but warned that lawmakers had not been realistic in some areas. The Legislature underfunded maintenance and likely overpromised on some projects.

?I will be signing this budget today out of necessity, but no one should interpret my signature as an endorsement,? said Inslee. ?In the coming months, my office and transportation leaders will need to continue discussions about how to prioritize projects and ensure that maintenance and preservation is adequately accounted for.?

*Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee?s Medium. [ [link removed] ]*

________________________________________________________________________



?Blake? fixed ? new drug law balances treatment and accountability
Gov. Jay Inslee signs the ?Blake fix? bill regarding drug possession on May 16, 2023 balancing treatment and accountability.

Gov. Jay Inslee signs the ?Blake fix? bill regarding drug possession on May 16, 2023 balancing treatment and accountability.

A special session of the Washington State Legislature adjourned in a matter of hours Tuesday as Gov. Jay Inslee signed?SB 5536?to settle the matter of appropriate sanction for drug possession in the state.

?This bill is not designed to fill our jails, it?s designed to fill our treatment centers,? said Inslee. ?And the investments we?re making will create treatment resources in small townships and big cities. This is a statewide solution to a statewide problem.?

The signing was just in time ? a temporary statute was set to expire on July 1, after which possession would be essentially decriminalized in Washington state. Local governments were preparing to enact their own ordinances which would result in a confusing patchwork of laws.

Lawmakers nearly had a deal on a permanent fix during the regular session that ended April 23, but it fell apart just before the final gavel. That urgent but unfinished business prompted the governor to?call for the special session that began and ended Tuesday. The new statute prioritizes treatment, establishes a gross misdemeanor penalty for drug possession and public use of drugs, and offers some local control to municipalities.

?Drugs have stolen free will from some of these individuals,? said Inslee. ?But we love them. We care for them. And we want to help.?

*Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee?s Medium. [ [link removed] ]*

SB 5536 directs historic investment to support the recovery of people suffering from chemical dependency.

SB 5536 directs historic investment to support the recovery of people suffering from chemical dependency.

________________________________________________________________________



Inslee signs reforms to improve competency services
Gov. Jay Inslee signed SB 5440 on May 15, 2023 to improve the state?s competency system.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed SB 5440 on May 15, 2023 to improve the state?s competency system.

Criminal defendants have the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, and the right to a trial by jury. They also have the right to understand their charges and assist in their own defense. When they are unable, defendants deemed incompetent for trial by courts have the right to expedient competency restoration.

Since a 2015 decision in?"Trueblood v. DSHS", the state has served a quickly-growing number of patients awaiting competency services. Referrals for competency restoration increased by 40 percent in just one year from 2021 to 2022 for a total of 8,596, nearly triple the figure from a decade ago. In January, Gov. Jay Inslee called on legislators to produce reforms and on May 15, he signed a bill to overhaul the competency system and reduce an impossible volume of referrals.

New?"Trueblood"-related?investments and policies will help more defendants break their cycle of involvement in the criminal justice system and begin a path to durable recovery.

The bill establishes new diversion programs to introduce defendants to treatment. It pays intervention specialists to help ensure that defendants waiting in jail for competency services receive proper care. It also requires courts to prove genuine doubt as to competency before referring defendants to services. The bill will reduce the deluge of court orders for inpatient treatment, prioritize the most serious cases, and reduce wait times for defendants before their trial may begin.

*Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee?s Medium. [ [link removed] ]*

________________________________________________________________________



EV charger installation is amping up
Construction of new EV charging stations in Washington state is taking off.

Construction of new EV charging stations in Washington state is taking off. More than 460 were built in 2021, and 2023 may see that number eclipsed as the state begins to implement its NEVI plan.

Electric vehicle popularity is amping up ? EV registration statewide and nationwide has quintupled in five years. EVs now account for one in ten vehicles sold in the United States. But as the EV wave rises, is Washington state ready to charge all these cars?

Washington will receive a total of $71 million in federal funds to install new chargers over the next few years. And the state is investing $69 million a year of its own funds to build chargers. Those investments will address charging deserts and help Washingtonians in multifamily housing or in rural areas charge up.

Construction of new charging stations has zoomed since 2013, and the new funds will supercharge that effort.

*Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee?s Medium. [ [link removed] ]*

________________________________________________________________________



News you might have missed:

*Seattle unveils FIFA World Cup 2026 logo*

The FIFA World Cup, one of the world?s largest sporting spectacles, is coming to the Pacific Northwest in 2026. Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell helped unveil the official logo [ [link removed] ] for the event on Thursday from the top of the Space Needle. Up to five or six games with a Super Bowl-sized audience [ [link removed] ] may play at Seattle?s Lumen Field during the tournament.

*Memorial Day is Monday, May 29*

Memorial Day, a federal holiday to honor lost military servicemembers, will be observed on Monday, May 29. The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs has posted a list of local observances [ [link removed] ] taking place in more than a dozen Washington cities. The state Department of Transportation has posted a traveler?s guide for the weekend [ [link removed] ], warning of highway delays and long ferry wait times due to heavy weekend traffic.

*New grants promise high-speed internet connections to 15,000 WA households*

The Washington State Broadband Office announced over $121 million in grants [ [link removed] ] to 19 broadband construction projects that will deliver high-speed internet access to underserved communities across the state. The projects will serve households in Benton, Franklin, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Skagit, Spokane, Whatcom, Whitman, and Yakima counties. In total, 14,794 end users will receive initial service.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell hold a flag bearing the new logo for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Gov. Jay Inslee, former U.S. National Team goalkeeper Kasey Keller, OL Reign forward Jordyn Huitema, and Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell hold a flag bearing the new logo for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

________________________________________________________________________









Stay Connected with the Office of the Governor:
Facebook [ [link removed] ] ? Twitter [ [link removed] ] ? Instagram [ [link removed] ] ? Flickr [ [link removed] ] ??Medium [ [link removed] ] SUBSCRIBER SERVICES:
Manage Subscriptions [ [link removed] ] ?|? Unsubscribe All [ [link removed] ] ?|? Help [ [link removed] ]

________________________________________________________________________

This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Office of the Governor / Office of Financial Management ??PO Box 40002 ? Olympia, WA ??98504-0002 GovDelivery logo [ [link removed] ]