2023 - COFW Legislative Priorities`CITY OF
Federal Way
Centered on Opportunity
#1— Public Safety & Mental Health Reform
• Restoring "Reasonable Suspicion" Standard for Police Vehicular Pursuits
The amount of car thefts and the number of criminal suspects dangerously fleeing the police have
increased dramatically since the evidentiary standard for police vehicular pursuits was increased far
beyond the constitutional requirements of "reasonable suspicion" by the State Legislature in 2021. To
restore the prior level of community safety throughout the state, the City of Federal Way supports a
return to "reasonable suspicion" (from the current "probable cause") as the standard for police
vehicular pursuits, at least for violent offenses, sex offenses, escape offenses and automobile theft.
• Restoring the Role of The Courts in Enforcing Drug Possession Laws
In the wake of the Blake decision (which invalidated the State's existing prohibition on possession of
illegal drugs for lack of an element of intent), the State Legislature passed SB 5476 in 2021, a stop -gap
measure that will expire in the summer of 2023. Failure to adopt further legislation in 2023 would
result in the decriminalization of the possession of every type of drug in our State.
SB 5476 lowered the offense level for most drug possession offenses from a Class C felony down to a
misdemeanor, though the provisions of SB 5476 mandating two unstructured referrals by law
enforcement prior to any engagement with the court systems have made it much more unlikely that
individuals will ever be prosecuted for the possession of illegal drugs. The failure to implement
diversion programs through the court system all but guarantees that individuals caught possessing
illegal drugs will not be placed into a structured rehabilitation program which includes any element of
accountability for making progress toward becoming clean and sober. Another flaw with the failure to
utilize the court system is the lack of record -keeping. There is no ability for law enforcement in one
jurisdiction to know if an individual has already used up their mandatory two referrals in other
jurisdictions.
To address the flaws of SB 5476, the City of Federal Way supports removing the current requirement for
two unstructured referrals by law enforcement and instead restoring the role of the courts in the
referral of individuals to diversion programs in order to ensure structure and accountability, and also to
allow for proper record -keeping of each individual's history of interaction with the legal system. The
penalty for possession of illegal drugs should be a gross misdemeanor, which is a compromise between
the previous Class C felony and the current simple misdemeanor, and courts should have the discretion
to refer an individual to diversion programs, but not a requirement to do so.
The City of Federal Way also supports the efforts of the court system, law enforcement, and jails in
seeking state resources to provide regional coordinated intervention for behavioral health issues that
participants in the criminal justice system are confronted with.
• Behavioral, Mental Health, & Addiction Recovery Resources
Supports creating greater access to behavioral and mental health services and establishing funding to
support communities' efforts in establishing response programs like designated peer professionals and
crisis responders who work alongside law enforcement, the courts, and jails. People experiencing
mental and behavioral health challenges continues to increase and the mental health system struggles
to respond. Oftentimes it is police officers who are solely responding to people suffering mental health
issues. In addition, the lack of coordinated behavioral health intervention and adequate state resources
contributes to the seemingly endless cycle people experience in the criminal justice system.
#2 — Maintain Local Control of Zoning
• Maintain the Abilitv of Local Government to Plan for Growth
(Over)
Several recent legislative proposals in Olympia would mandate highly prescriptive land use
regulations on local governments. Blanket mandates -- whether for duplexes, ADU's or other types of
housing --fail to recognize that the suitability of higher density development can vary within a city
depending upon the unique characteristics of individual neighborhoods and also undermine the
principle of local control. The City of Federal Way has not sought to limit growth generally or the
construction of new and affordable housing, but has invested considerable time and effort, through
deliberate processes that involve extensive public participation, to plan for smart growth. Instead of
proposing to mandate zoning standards from Olympia, the state should look to provide incentives to
cities which would promote higher densities and leave local zoning decisions with city elected officials.
• Condominium liabilitv and housine affordabil
Supports condominium liability reform aimed at lowering regulatory barriers associated with building
affordable condos and improve the climate for condominium construction statewide to support home
ownership. Changes are needed to create more certainty for developers and insurers and remove
disincentives to building affordable condominium projects while maintaining consumer protections. The
City of Federal Way would also welcome other proactive approaches to create new
tools/incentives/revenues for cities to use to support increasing housing supply and addressing housing
affordability.
#3 -- Capital & Transportation Asks
• Turf Ball Fields at Celebrations Park ($1.8 Million)
The City of Federal Way has already compiled $1.2 million for this project. The additional funding will
support the resurfacing of two turf fields.
• City Center Access ($50 Million)
The City Center Access project improves access from Federal Way's City Center to and across 1-5.
Additionally, it improves intermodal and multi -modal access by modifying the existing over -utilized S
320th Street interchange in order to better accommodate concentrated urban growth and provide
multi -modal connections with transit agencies.
• Improvements to the SW 336th-SW340th Corridor ($20 Million)
Construct the SW 336th St to SW 340th St corridor, including a roundabout at SW 340th Street and Hoyt
Road SW. With traffic from the City of Tacoma's Brown's Point area and the City of Federal Way, this
area has seen an increased level of congestion. Traffic is projected to continue to increase, and with the
anticipated Sound Transit South Federal Way station improved connections between Tacoma and
Federal Way are needed.
• Increase Circulation and Traffic Capacity in Downtown Federal Way ($5 Million)
The City of Federal Way has limited connections from the downtown area to the regional transportation
network, with limited ways to disperse traffic. To partially address this, this circulation improvement
project includes: Reconstruction of S 314th St between Pete von Reichbauer Way S and 23rd Ave S, (all
but 25% of this section of roadway is a private street in a failing condition); extending sidewalks on S
312th Street from Steel Lake Park going east to 28th and; and construction of frontage improvements
and a safe walking route for students between 312th and Truman High School.
• WSDOT Triangle Project
Currently the triangle project includes construction of the southbound off ramp to 161, and replacement
of the northbound to eastbound ramp if funds allow. The City supports funding the project to allow full
construction.