Lawmakers, advocates urge roughly $21.38 million to shore up Washington victim services
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Summary
Advocates and Democratic lawmakers said the state needs about $21.38 million in the current budget to prevent victim-services programs from closing, warning that cuts have already led to layoffs and that restoration is needed to keep forensic interviewers, crisis advocates and coordinated teams operational.
Advocates and state lawmakers said at a press conference in Olympia that Washington needs roughly $21.38 million in the current budget to prevent victim-services programs statewide from closing.
"We are at a breaking point," Colleen McGingles, executive director of the Children's Justice Center of King County, said, urging the Legislature to "restore the additional $10,000,000 in victim services funding" or risk programs shutting their doors. McGingles warned that losing forensic interviewers, crisis-line advocates and coordinated response teams would take years to rebuild.
Kate Garvey, CEO of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KSARC), said the request is not an expansion but a maintenance figure: "Victim services needs $21,380,000 just to hold the line this year so that when someone finally calls and gathers the courage to leave or to reach out for help, there's someone there to answer." Garvey described recent layoffs across service providers and rising caseloads that have forced organizations to triage clients and eliminate programs.
Representative Lauren Davis, who said she survived domestic violence with the help of victim services, recounted how local advocacy positions — some embedded in prosecutors' offices — have been cut. "That position that supported me has been eliminated," Davis said, adding that legislation in 2023 produced what she described as an effective 75% cut to certain prosecutor-embedded victim-advocacy services and left some counties unable to offer advocacy when misdemeanor cases are filed.
Speakers placed the request in the context of falling federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding and progress Washington has made on earlier reforms, including clearing a backlog of sexual-assault kits. Advocates asked the Legislature to adopt a statutory funding mechanism to avoid year-to-year advocacy being required to restore the funds.
There was minor confusion over rounded figures during the audience Q&A: multiple speakers referenced "$21.3 million," one speaker briefly said "$21.5 million" and a different figure of "$23.5 million" was mentioned and corrected on the record. The organizations and legislators at the podium consistently described the formal request as $21,380,000.
The group said they will press lawmakers on the floor and hoped the bills and the funding ask "will be signed into law by the governor."