Jan 17
RECAP: Washington State of the State
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee delivered his state of the state address last week laying out what priorities he has for the upcoming session in 2023. This was the first time Governor Inslee delivered his state of the state in person since the pandemic began in 2020.
Before Governor Inslee got into his state’s priorities coming up in 2023 he talked about Washington being rated number 1 in the economy and number 2 in business. He also announced that the 1,200 dollar tax credit they passed year will affect February 1st for millions of Washington residents.
Housing
Governor Inslee started his speech by addressing the housing issues currently happening in Washington. He told the legislators 17 years Washington will be 180,000 houses short causing many people to be priced out of the market and become homeless.
Governor Inslee introduced a 4 billion dollar investment to build new supportive and affordable housing. Governor Inslee also wants to cut the red tape around new construction to allow developers to build more affordable housing for Washington residents.
Mental Health
Governor Inslee also made new proposals to help those in Washington that need help with their mental health. Governor Inslee passed legislation in 2019 to build a mental health inpatient facility and saw real improvements in that hospital. When he found those results he wants to build one more identical hospital.
Since 2020 court orders dealing with mental health is up 60% and court referrals to mental health services are up 145%. Due to this, he wants to rewrite the laws that would require courts to help people get the services they need while giving them the resources to help people.
Education
In the last session, Governor Inslee made investments in schools to get more school nurses and counselors in schools to support students. This year he wants to invest in special education to invest in educators that specialize in special education. He says this year he wants a 3 billion dollar investment in schools.
Public safety
Governor Inslee also addressed public safety, he proposed legislation that would make anyone who wants to buy a gun needs to go throw a basic training course. He also asked the legislators to pass legislation to ban assault rifles bans in the state of Washington.
Governor Inslee also said he wants to make huge investments in hiring and retaining new police officers through new training centers and higher pay.
Governor Inslee also spoke about the 988 crisis phone number for mental health. He told Washington, residents, that because of them they now have a mobile unit statewide that is trained in mental health that can come to you and help them in person.
Reproduction Rights
Governor Inslee talked about the overturning of Roe v. Wade and how it overturned years of rights for women and protections for them. He is calling on the legislators to pass legislation to protect patients and doctors from legal action in Washington.
Governor Inslee also called on the legislators to pass a state Constitutional amendment that would protect the right for abortions in the state of Washington for years to come.
He ended his speech by telling the legislators its time to get to work and make lives better for the residents of Washington.
