WATCH: Ferguson signs police hiring bill into law that includes possible sales tax hike

(The Center Square) – On Monday morning, Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law aimed at improving public safety funding by letting cities and towns establish a new 0.1% sales tax without voter approval. The bill is part of a plan to provide $100 million in grants to local police departments to hire more law enforcement officers.

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2015 would create a Law Enforcement Grant Program to be administered by the Criminal Justice Training Commission and a Supplemental Criminal Justice Account to disburse appropriated funds to qualified cities.

Per the bill, local sales tax revenue could also be used to fund public defenders, domestic violence services, and programs to help connect former prisoners with jobs.

Under EHB 2015, local jurisdictions must also implement their own sales tax to fund criminal justice programs and access state grants for police hiring and training. The bill authorizes most local jurisdictions to raise sales taxes for this purpose by .1% without voter approval.

Minority party Republicans, who for the most part did not support the bill as passed, argued that smaller cities should be exempted from the requirement, “because the smaller a municipality gets, the less money they will actually be able to collect from a tenth of a percent sales tax,” said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, during floor debate on the bill during session. “They won’t raise enough money to really do anything or make a difference in improving public safety.”

Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, spoke in favor of an amendment to exempt smaller communities.

“Not everybody that supports the police wants to be held hostage with a tax increase to feel safe in their community,” he said. “If we did accept these taxes, we’re basically not getting enough to hire one cop.

Opponents also criticized the bill for not requiring that revenue from the sales tax be used for hiring police officers, rather than a wide range of other public safety priorities.

The bill passed on a 54-42 vote, with five Democrats joining all Republicans in voting against it.

The final vote in the Senate was 30-19 in support of the bill, with four Republicans voting for passage and five Democrats voting against passage.

“In my inaugural address, I made a promise that this legislative session we must provide significant funding to hire more law enforcement officers in our state,” Ferguson said just ahead of signing the bill on Monday. “We rank last per capita for numbers of law enforcement officers, and that needs to change. I’m so pleased to have House Bill 2015, which not only provides law enforcement agencies with grant funding, but also ensures they are trained in best practices by the Criminal Justice Training Commission.”

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Debra Entenman, D-Covington, spoke about the bill during the signing ceremony.

“We wanted this piece of legislation to be more than just $100 million for cops. We wanted it to be true public safety throughout Washington state,” she said, conceding during public testimony on the bill during session, that she was initially not a fan of increasing numbers of police officers across the state, but has since changed her mind.

“As many of you know, I came here in this Legislature with a different attitude about law enforcement. I have learned, as I have been here, that there is a place in our community for public safety that includes a good and positive working relationship with law enforcement,” said Entenman during a March 25 Senate Ways & Means Committee hearing on the bill.

During the same hearing, several elected officials, including mayors, county executives, and law enforcement officials, testified in support of the bill, including Jeff DeVere, a lobbyist for the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs.

“Our communities have been very clear that is what they want, and they need,” said DeVere, who noted that too many people calling for help must wait far too long for an officer to respond. “We’re talking about people who are calling for help here. Not just funding and not just programs. We're talking about line-level services that people want.”

Jeff Pack, with Washington Citizens Against Unfair Taxes, opposed the bill.

“Right now the people are speaking, but are you listening?” he asked. “Do you folks just not get how all these taxes and fees affect home affordability? Either you don’t or you don’t care. We can’t afford all your taxes.”

As that hearing concluded, the vice chair read into the record the number of people who signed in on the bill, including 36 in favor and 3,308 opposed.