Snohomish County staff brief council on state budget timing, PFAS cleanup and housing/behavioral-health bills

Annika Vaughn, senior government affairs analyst in the Snohomish County executive office, and county lobbyists gave the council a mid-session legislative briefing on Feb. 11.

Lobbyist Josh Weese said the county expects the House's proposed capital budget to be released in late February and that the county is seeking $2,000,000 for a PFAS cleanup at Paine Field and $2,000,000 for the Snohomish River Trail. He reviewed bills that had died and those still live, including measures the county follows for liability in jails and subsidized public-defense funding.

Erin Jagiek, another county lobbyist, said behavioral-health and access-to-care proposals will largely depend on how budget proposals shape out. She flagged efforts to give counties more flexibility in using local "15/90" funds for capital rehabilitation and rental assistance—items reflected in the omnibus local-government flexibility bill (as discussed in the briefing) and SB6027—and noted ongoing concern about potential cuts to Continuum of Care federal grants. Jagiek said county and community partners signed a 67-organization letter asking state budget leaders to consider backstops for Continuum of Care funding.

Weese and Jagiek also noted that several bills the county had tracked did not survive cutoffs this week (for example, a health-care-liability bill and a solid-waste funding bill mentioned in the briefing). They said the legislature has roughly four weeks left in the short session and the county will watch both chambers’ budget proposals closely.

The council acknowledged the update and noted the Board of Health had unanimously approved a resolution supporting foundational public-health funding the prior evening. Staff said they would continue to monitor the House budget and report back when the proposals are released.