Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"PART I
Local Law Enforcement Grant Program
NEW SECTION. Sec. 101. A new section is added to chapter
43.101 RCW to read as follows:
GRANT PROGRAM. (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, including amounts appropriated from the supplemental criminal justice account created in section 104 of this act, the commission shall develop and implement a local law enforcement grant program for the purpose of providing direct support to local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring, retaining, and training law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response to increase community policing and public safety.
(2) Under this section, the commission shall:
(a) Establish the policies for applications and publish them on the commission's website;
(b) Establish the procedures for submitting the grant applications and publish them on the commission's website;
(c) Establish and publish on the commission's website the criteria for evaluating and selecting grant recipients; and
(d) Create a grant application form that local and tribal law enforcement agencies must use to apply for grant funding.
(3) The grants under the local law enforcement grant program must be awarded to local and tribal law enforcement agencies based on their submittals to the commission. To qualify for a grant pursuant to this section, a law enforcement agency must have:
(a) Issued and implemented policies and practices consistent with RCW
43.17.425 and
10.93.160, and the office of the attorney general's keep Washington working act guide, model policies, and training recommendations for state and local law enforcement agencies;
(c) Issued and implemented procedures and policies regarding use of force and de-escalation tactics consistent with RCW
10.120.030 and the office of the attorney general's model policies, and all other commission and attorney general model policies for law enforcement including, but not limited to, duty to intervene and canine;
(d) Implemented use of force data collection and reporting consistent with chapters
10.118 and
10.120 RCW when the program is operational, as confirmed by a notice from the attorney general's office to all police chiefs and sheriffs;
(e) Issued and implemented policies and practices consistent with chapters
7.105, 9.41, and
10.99 RCW and the commission model policies and training addressing firearm relinquishment pursuant to court orders and domestic violence 911 response;
(f) A 25 percent officer completion rate with the commission's 40-hour crisis intervention team training;
(g) A 100 percent officer compliance rate for those officers required to complete trauma-informed, gender-based violence interviewing, investigation, response, and case review training developed or approved by the commission pursuant to RCW
43.101.272,
43.101.276, and
43.101.428, and if requested by the commission, participated in agency case reviews;
(h) Primary funding from a jurisdiction that has authorized the imposition of the sales and use tax pursuant to RCW
82.14.340 or
82.14.450, or authorized in section 201 of this act before the awarding of the grant;
(i) A chief of police, marshal, or sheriff who is certified by the criminal justice training commission pursuant to this chapter and who has not:
(i) Been convicted of a felony anywhere in the United States or under foreign law; or
(ii) Been convicted of a gross misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, fraud, or corruption; and
(j) Issued and implemented policies and practices that prohibit, with the exception of reserve officers as defined in RCW
10.93.020 and those volunteers and specially commissioned officers who are certified under this chapter, the use of volunteers and specially commissioned officers to enforce criminal laws, carry or use firearms or other weapons, or use dogs to track people or animals other than for purposes of search and rescue.
(4) In addition to the requirements of subsection (3) of this section, in order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this section, a law enforcement agency must provide the commission, at time of application for grant moneys, a detailed staffing plan specifying the following:
(a) The total number of commissioned officers currently employed by the agency;
(b) The total number of noncommissioned officers currently employed by the agency;
(c) The total number of co-response teams established within the agency and what staffing are included in each co-response team;
(d) The total number of administrative staff currently employed by the agency;
(e) The average 911 response rate of the agency over the 12-month period immediately preceding the month in which the agency is applying for the grant; and
(f) The average case closure rate of the agency over the 12-month period immediately preceding the month in which the agency is applying for the grant.
(5) The commission may provide an advance on grant funding to a law enforcement agency that does not qualify under subsection (3) or (4) of this section, but who otherwise meets the grant application criteria established by the commission in subsection (2) of this section. However, such moneys may only be used by the agency to come into compliance with the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) of this section.
(6) Grant funding awarded to local and tribal law enforcement agencies may only be used for the purposes of:
(a) Recruiting, funding, and retaining new law enforcement officers, county corrections officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response in Washington state. Grants may provide up to 75 percent of the entry-level salaries and fringe benefits of full-time local or tribal law enforcement officers for a maximum of 36 months, with a minimum 25 percent local cash match requirement and a maximum state share of $125,000 per position. Any additional costs for salaries and benefits higher than entry level are the responsibility of the grant recipient agency. Recruiting lateral hires is not a permissible use of funds under this section;
(b) Funding use of force, de-escalation, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed trainings for officers to remain in compliance with the commission's required trainings; and
(c) Funding broader law enforcement and public safety efforts including, but not limited to, emergency management planning, environmental hazard mitigations, security personnel, community outreach and assistance programs, alternative response programs, and mental health crisis response.
(7) In selecting grant recipients, the commission shall prioritize those law enforcement agency applicants in the following order:
(a) Those who are seeking grants to establish co-response teams or community immersion law enforcement programs;
(b) Those who currently maintain co-response teams and are seeking grants to hire additional law enforcement officers;
(c) All other applicants.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 102. CRIMINAL JUSTICE TRAINING COMMISSION REPORTING. Effective July 21, 2026, and annually thereafter on July 31st, the criminal justice training commission must report to the fiscal committees of the legislature on:
(1) The total count of law enforcement grant applications received by the commission by fiscal year;
(2) The total count of law enforcement officer positions applied for by fiscal year;
(3) The total count of grant funding requested by fiscal year;
(4) The name of each law enforcement entity that applied for the grant, how many officers they requested funding for, and how much state funding they requested by fiscal year; and
(5) The count of grants awarded, to include the name of each law enforcement entity that was an award recipient for the grant, how many officers they received funding for, and how much state funding they were awarded by fiscal year.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 103. A new section is added to chapter
36.28A RCW to read as follows:
WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF SHERIFFS AND POLICE CHIEFS REPORTING. (1) The Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs shall complete a report on law enforcement personnel employed as general authority Washington peace officers, as defined in RCW
10.93.020, over time for each local law enforcement agency in Washington state. The report must include data points for each local law enforcement agency on July 1, 2020, July 1, 2021, July 1, 2022, July 1, 2023, July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, on the:
(a) Count of general authority Washington peace officer positions;
(b) Count of filled general authority Washington peace officer positions;
(c) Count of vacant general authority Washington peace officer positions; and
(d) Count of retirements of general authority Washington peace officer positions over the past 12 calendar months.
(2) Using data from subsection (1) of this section, the report must also include a table to show the above data and in turn the vacancy rates and turnover rates for each local law enforcement agency, as well as a compiled statewide view of vacancy and turnover rates for general authority Washington peace officer positions year over year.
(3) The report is due to the governor and fiscal committees of the legislature by January 1, 2026.
(4) This section expires July 1, 2026.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 104. SUPPLEMENTAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACCOUNT. The supplemental criminal justice account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from legislative appropriations, donations, gifts, grants, and funds from federal or private sources must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account must be used exclusively for local law enforcement grants authorized in section 101 of this act for the purpose of providing direct support to local and tribal law enforcement agencies in hiring, retaining, and training law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavioral health personnel working in co-response to increase community policing and public safety. Only the criminal justice training commission or the commission's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Moneys may not be used to supplant general fund appropriations. PART II
Local Sales and Use Tax
NEW SECTION. Sec. 201. A new section is added to chapter
82.14 RCW to read as follows:
LOCAL SALES AND USE TAX. (1)(a) By December 31, 2027, the legislative authority of a qualified city or county may authorize, by resolution or ordinance, a sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The resolution or ordinance must include a finding that the city or county has met the requirements under (b) of this subsection.
(b) A qualified city or county may impose the tax authorized under this section only if the city or county:
(i) Receives a grant under section 101 of this act; or
(ii) Otherwise meets the requirements to receive a grant under section 101 of this act.
(c) To establish that the city or county qualifies under (b)(ii) of this subsection, the city or county must submit an attestation with the criminal justice training commission indicating that the city or county is otherwise eligible to receive a grant under section 101 of this act. As part of its attestation, the city or county must submit documentation, in a form and manner required by the criminal justice training commission, to substantiate its attestation. Within 45 days of receipt of such attestation, the criminal justice training commission must notify the city or county of any deficiencies. If an attestation is found deficient, the city or county may submit a new attestation at a later time.
(d) The tax authorized in this section is in addition to any other taxes authorized by law and must be collected from those persons who are taxable by the state pursuant to chapters
82.08 and
82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within such city or county.
(2) The rate of tax under this section equals 0.1 percent of the selling price, in the case of a sales tax, or value of the article used, in the case of a use tax.
(3) Moneys received from the tax imposed under this section must be expended for criminal justice purposes.
(4)(a) Cities and counties who impose the tax authorized under this section shall, within one calendar year of imposition of the tax and annually thereafter, make a report to either the association of Washington cities or the Washington state association of counties on how the moneys received from the tax were expended.
(b) by December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the association of Washington cities and Washington state association of counties shall compile all information received pursuant to (a) of this subsection and submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature detailing the purposes for which each city and county expended the moneys received from the tax.
(5) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(a) "Criminal justice purposes" means activities that substantially assist the criminal justice system, which may include circumstances where ancillary benefit to the civil justice and behavioral health systems occurs, and which includes:
(i) Domestic violence services, such as those provided by domestic violence programs, community advocates, and legal advocates, as those terms are defined in RCW
70.123.020;
(ii) Staffing adequate public defenders to provide appropriate defense for individuals;
(iii) Diversion programs;
(iv) Reentry work for inmates;
(v) Local government programs that have a reasonable relationship to reducing the numbers of people interacting with the criminal justice system including, but not limited to, reducing homelessness or improving behavioral health;
(vi) Community placements for juvenile offenders; and
(vii) Community outreach and assistance programs, alternative response programs, and mental health crisis response.
(b) "Qualified city or county" means a city or county where the voters have not repealed by referendum a tax imposed pursuant to RCW
82.14.340 or rejected a ballot proposition to impose a tax pursuant to RCW
82.14.450 in the previous two calendar years."
• Expands the purpose of the grant program to include hiring peer counselors and behavioral health personnel working in co-response.
• Requires the CJTC to establish policies for grant applications and to publish them on the commission's website.
• Removes the requirement that grant recipients provide the CJTC with a report related to the grant funding.
• Requires agency grant applicants to provide a report to the CJTC that includes the estimated time the agency took from recruitment to hiring for the grant funded positions in the last closed fiscal year.
• Conditions the grant applicant requirement of implemented use of force data collection and reporting on the program being operational.
• Requires grant applicant requirement of 25 percent officer completion rate, rather than compliance rate, with the CJTC's 40-hour crisis intervention team training.
• Removes the requirement that grant applicant agencies must have adopted a flexible work policy.
• Removes the requirement that the grant applicant agencies disclose the number of vacancies at the time of application.
• Adds a grant applicant requirement that the chief, marshal, or sheriff of the applicant agency meet certain requirements.
• Adds a grant applicant requirement that the applicant agency have policies and practices that prohibit volunteers and certain specially commissioned officers from enforcing criminal laws, carrying or using weapons, or using animals other than for the purposes of search and rescue.
• Requires grant applicant agencies to provide the CJTC a detailed staffing pan.
• Permits the CJTC to provide an advance of grant funds to an agency for the sole purpose of the agency coming into compliance with the grant applicant requirements.
• Expands the use of grant funds for recruiting, funding, and retaining to apply to county corrections officers, peer counselors, and behavior health personnel working in co-response as well as new law enforcement officers.
• Clarifies the use of grant funds for recruiting, funding, and retaining specific personnel applies to recruiting, funding, and retaining those personnel from Washington state.
• Prohibits the use of grant funding for recruiting lateral hires.
• Aligns the use of grant funding for hiring with the requirements of the federal COPS program.
• Permits the use of grant funding for training of all officers instead of only newly hired officers.
• Permits use of grant funding for alternative response programs.
• Removes the claw-back provision.
• Requires an annual report from the CJTC pertaining to the grant program.
• Requires a report from WASPC related to law enforcement personnel.
• Clarifies the supplemental criminal justice account created in the bill relates to the creation of the grant program.
• Amends the sales and use tax to require cities and counties to either have received grant funding or otherwise meet the requirements to receive grant funding.
• Requires cities and counties who wish to implement the tax who have not received grant funding but who otherwise meet the requirements to receive grant funding to attest to that fact to the CJTC and requires the CJTC to verify this within 45 days of such attestation.
• Removes the null and void clause.
• Requires qualified grant applicant agencies to have a chief, marshal, or sheriff who is certified by the CJTC rather than "who has not engaged in conduct meeting the requirements for denial or revocation of certification."
• Prohibits the use of grant funding for lateral hires instead of prohibiting lateral hires from outside of Washington only.
• Requires the CJTC to prioritize grants to LEA seeking to establish co-response teams or community immersion law enforcement programs, then LEA with active co-response teams, then all other applicants.
• Requires cities and counties who impose the newly created tax to report the use of tax moneys to AWC and WSAC, and requires AWC and WSAC to report all city and county tax usage to the Legislature.