Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles previewing the 2024 legislative session.
While the start of a new year is a reason for hope and optimism, the new year also means that lawmakers from across the state will soon reconvene in Olympia for the 2024 legislative session.
On Dec. 14, The Chronicle’s Editorial Board sat down with 20th Legislative District lawmakers to discuss their legislative priorities and outline what they envision for the upcoming session.
A day prior, Gov. Jay Inslee released his supplemental budget proposal. While the legislators said they had not reviewed the proposal closely, they did offer an initial assessment.
The Legislature will convene on Jan. 8. The session ends on March 7.
The Washington Legislature operates on a two-year cycle, with a 105-day session in odd-numbered years and a shorter 60-day session in even-numbered years. During the shorter session, the Legislature adopts a supplemental budget.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 2020, Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, serves as the assistant minority floor leader. Abbarno also sits on the Environment and Energy Committee, the Labor and Workplace Standards Committee and the Capital Budget Committee, where he serves as the ranking member.
Appointed in 2002 to fill a vacated term, Rep. Ed Ocrutt, R-Kalama, sits on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and the Transportation Committee, and he is the ranking minority member of the Finance Committee.
Since being elected to the Senate in 2012, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, has risen to the role of minority leader by Senate Republicans. Additionally, Braun serves on the Housing Committee, Labor and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, and is the ranking member on the Rules Committee.
A focus on law enforcement
Republicans in a state where the Democrats hold control of the House, Senate and the governor’s mansion, the legislators from the 20th District know they have limited power, assuming the majority party votes unanimously.
As the Senate minority leader, Braun said he believes the Democrats will attempt to get in and out of Olympia without major headlines.
“I think there’s a certain weariness on the majority’s part on controversial stuff. They seem to be indicating they want to get it and get out of session,” Braun said. “Right now, they’re faced with defending some fairly unpopular, what they called successes at the time, but now they’re likely to be on the ballot in the form of an initiative. And they’re pretty unpopular across the political spectrum.”
The 2024 legislative agenda released by the Senate Republicans includes three broad areas: “secure a safer Washington,” “fight for an affordable Washington,” and “Build a better future for Washington’s children” and subsequent legislative proposals.
Under their plan to strengthen Washington’s judicial system, the lawmakers propose:
• Easing restrictions and allowing law enforcement officers to engage in more vehicle pursuits
• Tightening DUI laws by expanding the lookback period for repeat offenses from 10 years to 15 years
• Reinforcing laws against retail theft
• Supporting law enforcement by “ensuring they have the rules and protections to do their job”
• Increasing penalties for theft or interference with first responders
• Criminalizing the distribution and possession of “deep fake” artificial intelligence pornography
• Expanding domestic violence victims' advocacy
• Fighting against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children
• Protecting children from domestic abuse and financial abandonment
• Increasing the number of public defenders
Broadly, the legislators see public safety as a key area to focus on during the upcoming session, though it could be costly.
“I think one of the most important things we have to do … is rebuild our law enforcement community,” Braun said. “We’re the worst in the country, lowest in the country per capita, on law enforcement per person. We basically have the same number of law enforcement that we had 10 years ago, and almost 20 years ago, and lots more people.”
Washington state ranks 51st in the country for police officers per 1,000 residents, behind every other state and the District of Columbia. According to Braun, estimates show it will cost about a billion dollars a year to fund enough law enforcement for Washington to rank in the “middle of the pack.”
“That means we have enough law enforcement officers to respond, which often doesn’t happen, even right here in our community. We have enough law enforcement to be involved in the community to the point where they prevent crime from happening,” Braun said. “These are all good things that reduce violence, that reduce crime, not because we’re arresting more people but because we’re present. It’s going to take a while.”
The first barrier, Braun said, is encouraging potential officers to apply for a profession that is a “hard sell right now.”
While the Legislature has increased pay for the Washington State Patrol, part of the issue is the number of officers leaving the profession due to retirement, Orcutt said.
“We’re going to have to fill those positions, as well,” Orcutt said. “So when you’ve still got more people that are going to be leaving, every position you fill, you’ve got to fill another. You’ve got to fill two.”
According to the lawmakers, the regulations and requirements necessary for law enforcement to pursue a fleeing vehicle should be eased. During the 2023 legislative session, the Legislature adopted a police pursuit law that allows officers to pursue if they have “reasonable suspicion” of a violent crime rather than “probable cause.”
“We’re one state, out of 50, that requires probable cause to pursue rather than reasonable suspicion,” Braun said. “And it sounds simple, but it’s caused a tremendous number of problems around our state.”
Another change Braun would like to see is the return of the reasonable officer standard when assessing the use of force, rather than the reasonable person standard. The standard assesses whether a reasonable officer would have used the same amount of force in a scenario, based on the information and factors known in the moment.
While he said law enforcement who break the law should be held accountable, he worried the lower standard to prove misconduct could scare potential officers away and into a different profession.
“We have to be fair with them, and we have to make sure that if we’re training them to behave one way, because we collectively think that’s the best way to keep everyone safe, and then we judge them, we’re going to have trouble recruiting and getting people into the profession and staying in the profession,” Braun said.
According to Abbarno, the capital budget includes funding for potential additional police training facilities, including one in Southwest Washington.
“That can help, as well, in the recruitment,” Abbarno said. “But having the least amount of officers per capita is a huge issue.”
