Special session could be called after lawmakers fail to replace expiring drug possession law
The last day of the 2023 legislative session took a surprising turn Sunday as state lawmakers failed to come to an agreement on a key bill dealing with drug possession in Washington, and a longtime Republican party leader announced he’s stepping down.
Legislators also passed a nearly $70 billion operating budget for the 2023-25 biennium.
Senate Bill 5536, which would have increased the penalty for knowingly possessing a controlled substance from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor, failed to pass in the Democratic majority House chamber in the final hours of the evening. The vote was 43-55.
The bill also would have created pretrial diversion to treatment for those who are charged with possession, and required courts to sanction those who refuse, or refuse to comply with, treatment for substance use disorders.
No House Republicans voted for the measure, and 15 House Democrats voted against the bill sponsored by Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett. Fifteen Democrats sponsored the Senate version of the bill.
House and Senate lawmakers could not agree on the terms of the legislation, with the bill bouncing back and forth between chambers. Eventually, conference committees in both chambers were appointed to sort out differences.
But even agreements in those committees was not enough to garner the votes needed Sunday from House lawmakers to pass the bill. Republicans argued that the bill did not go far enough, and some Democrats argued that the bill would go too far to criminalize simple drug possession.
In 2021, in its ruling on the State v. Blake case, the Washington Supreme Court removed criminal penalties for drug possession after ruling felony possession unconstitutional. Under that decision, convictions were vacated and dismissed across the state by an order from the court.
State lawmakers voted that same year to penalize drug possession charges with a misdemeanor, and mandated two pre-arrest referrals for substance abuse treatment by law enforcement officials before an individual could be charged. That is the law that is set to expire on July 1.
Absent an agreement Sunday night, it is not clear whether lawmakers will meet again for a special session to determine what the law will be after the expiration date. But at a news conference after the session adjourned, Gov. Jay Inslee acknowledged the failure of legislators to adopt a “Blake fix.”
“We expect the Washington state Legislature to produce a bill that will not decriminalize drugs, will provide measures for treatment and will provide some sanction for those who fail to accept treatment,” Inslee said. “This is my expectation and it is the expectation of the people of the state of Washington.”
He said that if lawmakers choose to go into special session, they need to fashion something as rapidly as possible to get the votes necessary, and that it needs to be done before the expiration date of the temporary law in July. He said he expects lawmakers to start those discussions “as soon as it makes sense to do so.”
At a late night news conference Sunday, Sen. Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane, noted that the bill had previously passed in the conference committee and that lawmakers had been discussing the bill all session. Billig and other Senate Democratic leadership blamed the failure of the bill on the House Republicans who refused to vote in favor of the legislation brought to the floor.
Billig’s statements also contradicted the governor’s when questioned about whether the Legislature would have to reconvene for a special session later on for a permanent fix in the state statute.
Billig referred to a letter sent out by several mayors and police chiefs in the state who asked that local municipalities instead “address issues related to drug possession, public drug use and treatment incentives in their own jurisdictions.” He claimed that Senate lawmakers had been working in a partisan way to get the issue fixed, and that he was disappointed because he believed a statewide solution was the best way to handle the law.
Democratic House leaders had been scheduled to meet with reporters following adjournment, but those House lawmakers did not follow up with reporters or grant them the opportunity to meet to discuss the next moves regarding the bill.
Many Republicans including Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, were critical of the compromise that had been made on the legislation. She said there was “an agreement with reasonable amendments from three of the four caucuses for a stronger bill that would have had enough votes to pass both chambers.”
“However, the majority party decided on the last day on a conference bill that they couldn’t even get enough of their own votes to pass,” Mosbrucker said in a press statement. “We’ve had all session to come up with a workable plan that gets addicted people off the streets and into treatment. I think many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle felt this 11th-hour conference bill was wholly inadequate, and we could have done much better than this. This final bill still would not have held people accountable, wouldn’t help them recover, and would have given them broader access to drug paraphernalia and devices to perpetuate their addiction.”
Wilcox steps down
In other surprising news from Sunday, House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, announced in a letter to House Republicans that he would be stepping down from his position. The longtime lawmaker said that his job is a partisan one and that he has said in the past that he would step down “if leadership didn’t result in better results and a more balanced Legislature” for the state.
“That time is now,” Wilcox wrote. “I believe it’s also time for generational change in our politics in a broader sense. Experience is valuable in government, but it also has a shelf life.”
Although it was unclear on Sunday who would be replacing him, Wilcox announced on Monday during a press conference that Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, will be stepping up to take the position.
Operating budget adopted
Aside from the unexpected moments Sunday, lawmakers were constitutionally required to pass a two-year state operating budget for the 2023-25 biennium.
Major investments were made in housing, homelessness, behavioral health, climate change issues and K-12 public schools. No new taxes or fees were included in the budget, and $3 billion is left in reserves. New spending totals $4.7 billion.
A total of $2.9 billion will be invested in K-12 schools for the next two years, and special education funding in particular will see $417 million in investments. The Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program also saw $91 million in investments.
While lawmakers introduced a bill this year that would have provided free meals for all K-12 students in the state, the final version of that bill only applies to certain K-4 schools and parts of the bill will be phased in over the next few years. Lawmakers are investing $85 million for that endeavor.
Budget writers also included about $1.2 billion in state and federal funding for behavioral health care needs in the state, with a significant portion of that funding already allocated for the Blake bill. Lawmakers said the money cannot be allocated for anything else, so the money will simply not be used unless an agreement is reached on the drug possession fix.
The operating budget was passed with a 37-12 vote in the Senate, and a 58-40 vote in the House.
Democratic budget writers told reporters Saturday that they thought the operating budget reflected a collaboration between parties. While some Republicans said they felt like there was some good collaboration on the capital budget, many ideas were not considered for the final operating budget, they said.
On Saturday, the Legislature also passed the capital and transportation budgets.
The capital budget appropriates $9 billion in spending for the 2023-25 biennium with $4.18 billion in newly authorized bonds.
Major investments from the capital budget include $1.5 billion in funding for higher education, $2.4 billion for natural resources projects, $884 million for behavioral health, $872 million for K-12 schools, and $694 million for affordable housing.
Both the House and Senate chambers passed the capital budget unanimously.
State lawmakers also adopted a $13.4 billion transportation budget on Saturday for the next two-year biennium with major investments in the ferry system, transportation workforce, traffic safety and keeping projects on track that are already in the works. The House passed the measure unanimously and the Senate passed the bill with a 46-3 vote.
At least $5.4 billion of that budget will go towards funding major highway projects in the state such as the I-5 bridge that connects Washington and Oregon, the North Spokane Corridor, and the Puget Sound Gateway program between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma.
Other investments include $1.3 billion for the ferry systems, $2.6 billion for the Washington State Patrol, and $1 billion for fish culvert removal and repair.
The capital, operating and transportation budgets still need to be signed by Inslee.
At the outset of the legislative session, the governor had asked lawmakers to consider a $4 billion bond for affordable housing projects, but that was ultimately not included in the state’s budget.
Sine die
Lawmakers tackled a wide range of issues in the 105-day session, including reproductive health protections, a police pursuit bill, housing, and bans on assault weapons, among many others.
The governor and several legislators commended the Legislature on its ability to negotiate on bills such as House Bill 1110 that allows cities to build duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes on lots zoned for single-family homes.
However, government transparency was under fire this year.
Days before the start of the legislative session, McClatchy first reported that lawmakers had been using a legally untested exemption to withhold their public records.
With that as a backdrop, legislators introduced a bill that would have made the process of suing state and local governments for violations of the Public Records Act much more difficult. That legislation stalled this year but could be brought back next year.
This story was originally published April 24, 2023 at 8:49 AM with the headline "Special session could be called after lawmakers fail to replace expiring drug possession law."
