(Olympia, WA) Washington’s new Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson has vowed to veto any state budget bill that does not include $100 million for hiring more cops.
The idea doesn’t sit well with Black members of the state Legislature.
So when they met with Ferguson and his aides last week, they said if there’s going to be $100 million to beef up the ranks of law enforcement, there should be at least as much to shore up social services and other supportive programs in communities.
“It can’t be all cops all the time,” said Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. The caucus has 14 members who are all Democrats.
“We’ve spent the last five years trying to repair the harm done over law enforcement investments in communities where real people have been harmed, and particularly Black people have been harmed,” she said. “We want to make it clear that we are equally prepared to have hard conversations about how we prioritize community investments.”
Reeves said Ferguson’s inaugural address pledge to not sign a budget without the $100 million for police hiring consumed a chunk of the Jan. 28 discussion with the Black caucus.
Caucus members made the case for resupplying funding for the depleted Community Reinvestment Project account created by the Legislature in 2022.
The purpose of the project is to address racial, economic, and social disparities resulting from the enforcement of state and federal criminal laws in the War on Drugs.
Under the Community Reinvestment Project, the state contracts with nonprofits, tribes and other local organizations to support economic development, reentry services for people who’ve been incarcerated, legal assistance, and violence prevention programs. The Legislature made a one-time allocation of $200 million for the program and it’s been spent.
“We believe that this account benefits not just Black folks, but the community overall,” Reeves said
The Black lawmakers outlined two other priorities this session: retooling the rules for licensees in the cannabis social equity program and undertaking a study on reparations in Washington.
Ferguson’s office did not respond to questions on specific matters discussed.
“Governor Ferguson had a productive meeting with the Legislative Black Caucus,” Brionna Aho, Ferguson’s communications director, wrote in an email. “It was an opportunity for him to hear about their priorities. He generally does not comment on the substance of private meetings. He looks forward to working together with the Caucus.”
On police funding, the governor has embraced Senate Bill 5060 sponsored by Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney. As originally introduced, the entire sum would be doled out in grants for hiring cops.
The bill has been amended to allow grant recipients to spend the money on officers, peer counselors or behavioral health personnel working alongside officers. Some Republican lawmakers plan to push back on those changes.
Members of the Black caucus told Ferguson that in order to strengthen community policing, officers hired with grant funds should live in the area they serve. They also said city and county leaders should have flexibility to spend money they receive in ways other than hiring cops if they think it will improve public safety.
The lawmakers stressed the need for balance. Any increased spending on cops should be matched with investments in human services, they told Ferguson, according to Reeves.
To that point, they provided Ferguson with data showing “when law enforcement increases in a community and social safety nets decline in a community, particularly in Black and brown communities, the people who get harmed the most are Black folks,” she said.
But there were no ultimatums.
“I’m not going to commit our caucus to 14 ‘no’ votes yet,” Reeves said. “But what I can tell you is that you’ve got 14 people who are paying probably a lot closer attention to it than maybe some other people might be. We care a lot about this issue. We want to use this as a starting point.”
This story first appeared on Washington State Standard.