State budget and session outcomes: Lakewood secures Edgewater Park funds; Western State Hospital program funded but statutory change stalled

Lakewood, Wash. — The Lakewood City Council received an update from the city’s Olympia lobbyist on June 16 summarizing outcomes of the 2025 Washington legislative session that matter to Lakewood, including budgets, transportation revenue changes and local capital grants.

Shelley Helder, the city’s state lobbyist, told the council the 2025 legislative session produced a $77.8 billion operating budget, a $7.5 billion capital budget and a $15.5 billion transportation budget. Lawmakers faced a multiyear revenue shortfall and adopted a mix of spending reductions, project‑timing adjustments and new revenues. On transportation, the legislature enacted a 6¢ per gallon gas tax increase indexed to inflation; Helder said 2.5% of the new revenue is projected to flow to cities and 2.5% to counties over the next six years.

Helder reported specific wins and outcomes for Lakewood: the final capital budget included the city’s $360,000 request for Edgewater Park (the packet number included a 3% commerce administrative fee). Staff also secured $640,000 in the operating budget for the city’s community partnership program at Western State Hospital — an inflationary increase to existing appropriations that Helder said was notable because most agencies faced cuts this cycle. A draft bill (Senate Bill 5286) to codify the community partnership program at Western State and at Eastern State Hospital passed the senate but did not advance out of the House Appropriations Committee; Helder said it is scheduled for automatic reintroduction during the second year of the biennium.

Other session outcomes Helder summarized: the legislature passed a clean buildings bill (HB 1543) that creates alternative compliance pathways to be defined by Commerce rulemaking and allocated $11 million for public‑building energy retrofits plus $5 million for clean‑building performance grants; it enacted changes allowing greater flexibility for REIT funds toward affordable housing and passed a parking minimums bill (SB 5184) that limits the number of parking spaces a city may require for jurisdictions with population 30,000 or greater (which applies to Lakewood). She noted a public safety package (HB 2015) that created a $100 million law enforcement recruitment/retention grant program and allowed a councilmanic one‑tenth of 1% sales tax for criminal justice uses.

Helder advised staff and council to participate in the rule‑making process for the Clean Buildings Act and to maintain legislative contact and project readiness so the city can access awarded capital funds.