Summary

On behalf of the people of King County, I would like to commend the State Legislature for their recent approval of 2SSB 5433, a package of revenue tools that will help counties throughout Washington State.

Story

On behalf of the people of King County, I would like to commend the State Legislature for their recent approval of 2SSB 5433, a package of revenue tools that will help counties throughout Washington State.

In particular I would like to mention the extraordinary leadership and hard work of Senator Debbie Regala and Representative Ross Hunter for getting this piece of legislation through their respective chambers and through conference. We appreciate their dedicated efforts to ensure counties can continue to fund adequate levels of services in areas like human services, transit, and criminal justice. 

Washington's counties sought a revenue package that would give counties additional revenue tools allowing them the same taxing authority as Washington's cities, since counties often serve populations similar in size to cities, but without the same resources. While 2SSB 5433 in its final form does not permanently address the structural imbalance, it does provide all counties temporarily with critical flexibility for existing mental health sales tax receipts.

The legislation also provides King County the tools to help Metro Transit weather the collapse in sales tax revenues while also providing the most robust transit service possible across Lake Washington as the state implements tolling on SR-520.

I would finally like to honor the role human service providers had in keeping these issues at the forefront of the legislative process. Their hard work, persistence and dedication are a significant reason why this piece of legislation passed.

King County looks forward to working with the State Legislature in the next legislative session to find long-term solutions to the structural financial problem Washington's counties face.