2024 City Legislative Priorities – Outcomes
Strong cities make a great state. Cities are home to 65% of Washington’s residents, drive the state’s economy, and provide the most accessible form of government. Cities’ success depends on adequate resources and local decision-making authority to best meet the needs of our residents.
The 2024 Legislative Session addressed many of AWC’s priorities. Here are the key pros and cons for cities.
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Help recruit and retain police officers for public safety
Increase fiscal tools and resources to support police officer recruitment and retention.
Pro: Eliminated the 25% local government cost-share requirement for the Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) classes beginning with fiscal year 2025.
Pro: Allow law enforcement officers to work part-time and remain in the LEOFF 2 pension system (SB 5424).
Pro: Allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients to serve as law enforcement officers (SB 6157).
Pro: Established a grant program for first responder wellness and requires the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) to develop a training program for first responder peer support and a taskforce on first responder wellness (HB 2311).
Con: Did not increase cities’ authority to use the public safety sales tax funding tool (HB 2211/SB 6706).
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Revise the outdated property tax cap
Revise the property tax cap to tie it to inflation, up to 3%, so local elected officials can adjust the property tax rate to better serve their communities.
Con: Failed to pass legislation that would have provided a modest increase in the outdated property tax cap to provide additional flexibility for local elected officials to fund needed services (SB 5770).
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Ensure basic infrastructure funding
Continue funding for the Public Works Assistance Account and expand state funding opportunities to help maintain and operate city infrastructure.
Pro: No new diversions from the Public Works Assistance Account.
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Provide behavioral health resources
Expand behavioral health and substance use disorder services and funding for alternative response programs.
Pro: Provided cities with liability protection for behavioral health crisis co-responder programs, alternative response teams, and mobile crisis units (HB 2088).
Pro: Established criteria for 23-hour crisis relief centers for youth (SB 5853).
Pro: Created two post-inpatient housing programs for young adults to provide transitional housing to those exiting inpatient behavioral health treatment (HB 1929).
Pro: Required state agencies to develop a statewide substance use and prevention awareness campaign with emphasis on fentanyl (HB 1956).
Pro: Updated the licensing and other requirements for various behavioral health professions to increase the number of providers (HB 2247).
Con: Failed to pass legislation that would have established a co-responder training program, created a peer support program for co-responders, and ensured ongoing data collection regarding co-responder programs (HB 2245).
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Other significant city issues
Cities identified several other significant policies to focus on during the 2024 session.
Pro: Removed outdated non-supplant restrictions on King County jurisdictions for voter-approved property tax levy lid lifts (HB 2044).
Pro: Created training programs for new prosecutors and public defenders in rural and underserved areas. $1.75M is provided in the budget for these programs (SB 5780).
Pro: Established new felony and gross misdemeanor crimes for wrongfully possessing or selling detached catalytic converters (HB 2153).
Pro: $2.7M provided in the supplemental budget to backfill the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funding for multi-jurisdictional drug task forces that was redirected in 2023.
Pro: $22M provided for the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board for local culvert corrections.
Pro: Removed the grant and loan award limits within the Early Learning Facilities program to facilitate development of more childcare and early learning facilities (HB 2195).
Pro: Backfilled $62M in document recording fees to support local homelessness programs.
Pro: $127M increase for the Housing Trust Fund.
Pro: $4M of clean energy retrofit dollars from Climate Commitment Act (CCA) revenue dedicated to grants for energy audits to city-owned tier 1 & 2 buildings.
Pro: Expanded city authority to use automated traffic safety cameras, under certain conditions (HB 2384).
Pro: $1.5M in one-time funding for technical assistance for Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program grantees.
Pro: Codified the Community Economic Revitalization Board’s rural broadband program in state statute (HB 1982).
Con: Did not address legislation to reduce the impact of vexatious and costly public records litigation (HB 2307).
Con: Did not pass legislation to create long-term dedicated revenues for affordable housing (HB 2276/SB 6191).
Con: Did not modernize the state’s solid waste system by enacting producer responsibility for product packaging (HB 2049/SB 6005).
AWC’s advocacy is guided by the following core principles from our Statement of Policy:
- Local decision-making authority
- Fiscal flexibility and sustainability
- Equal standing for cities
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Strong Washington state partnerships
- Nonpartisan analysis and decision-making
Legislative priority process
The AWC Legislative Priorities Committee meets multiple times per year to identify and recommend to the AWC Board of Directors which city issues should be legislative priorities. The committee comprises approximately 25 city officials from throughout the state. The AWC Board of Directors adopts the next year's legislative priorities at its fall meeting.
Federal priorities
The AWC Federal Legislative Priorities Committee is responsible for developing AWC’s federal priorities to recommend to the AWC Board of Directors. The health and vitality of local economies are critical to a robust and dynamic national economy. Federal fiscal policies should enhance the ability of local elected officials to respond to needs at the local level.
Visit AWC's federal legislative priorities webpage and check out our federal fact sheets.