Dear friends and neighbors,  

We just wrapped up the 2024 legislative session! This is my first year in the Washington State Senate, and I focused on some of the most pressing issues Kitsap County faces—ferries, homelessness, and substance use disorder—and built on my work to make college and apprenticeships more affordable to help people get jobs and support their families.  

Funding for ferries 

Good news to share on ferries! This year’s transportation budget includes key investments Rep. Tarra Simmons, Rep. Greg Nance and I supported to improve service reliability, hire additional crew, maintain Washington’s aging fleet and complete terminal improvements.  

In a previous newsletter, I shared the investments we made on ferries in recent legislative sessions. (Many of us had raised the alarm on ferry funding for years, but it took the complete service meltdown of 2021 for enough other legislators to realize the severity of the crisis and start giving our ferries the resources they should have had years ago.) To make a very long story short, we made substantial investments in vessels and terminals—including redoing the procurement process so we can get boats cheaper and faster— and we also invested significantly in crewing, so we don’t have to cancel sailings for lack of staff. 

We built on these investments in the 2024 transportation budget. Highlights include: 

  • $10 million for additional vessel crew members, both deck and engine, across the fleet 
  • $4 million to continue the extra sailings for Kitsap Transit from Bremerton so we can fill the gaps in service on the Bremerton route 
  • $4 million for Kitsap Transit to construct an electric hydrofoil passenger-only ferry 
  • $2.1 million to help sailors upgrade their credentials to mate, allowing them to become licensed deck officers. This is particularly important because many of our current deck officers will be eligible for retirement in the next five years; we need to rebuild our “bench,” so we have people ready to step into those positions. 
  • $24 million for vessel and terminal preservation 
  • Nearly $200 million in new Climate Commitment Act investments (which will roll out over many years) for vessel conversions, construction and terminal electrification. 

The last few sessions have seen some of the largest investments we’ve made in ferries in at least a decade, and I’m grateful to my legislative colleagues who have stepped up to treat our ferry system as the marine highway that it is. We’ll need to keep focused on this, but we are finally giving our ferry system the resources to get back to reliable service. 

Help for people who are homeless or struggling with substance abuse  

I’m sure you’re aware that in Kitsap County—as in the rest of the state—we have a lot of neighbors who don’t have a safe place to live or who are struggling with substance use disorder. One of my principal legislative goals this year was to get some help for people who are homeless or dealing with addiction. I’m happy to report that our final capital budget includes new funding for significant projects to help Kitsap County with homelessness as well as the fentanyl and opioid crisis:

  • $4.5 million to help the Suquamish Tribe plan for a new health treatment or other service center. I learned this year that it is significantly more cost-effective for the state to partner with our tribes for new health centers (rather than building and running them on our own), and I’m excited for this new partnership with the Suquamish Tribe to bring more health care services to our region. 
  • $1 million to help St. Vincent de Paul Bremerton house more people with mixed-use affordable housing and community services. The funding will help complete predevelopment of a project that will eventually add 57 permanent and transitional housing units and 10 shelter beds. That’s a significant step forward in helping people have a safe place so they don’t need to camp in the woods or on city streets.  
  • $773,000 to help Kitsap Mental Health Services purchase land in Bremerton to expand its behavioral health campus to increase capacity for mental health and substance use treatment.  We are in the middle of a fentanyl and opioid crisis, and one of our most urgent needs is for more treatment facilities: I learned from a community meeting in Bremerton last summer that people sometimes have to drive to Clark County for substance abuse treatment. I’m excited to give people treatment options closer to home to help them get free from addiction and move their lives forward. 

On a separate note, I was also able to secure $300,000 to make sure we have adequate water service to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. Visiting the memorial is an extraordinary and moving experience. You can learn more here. I look forward to supporting the memorial for many years to come. 

Helping people afford college and apprenticeships 

We also made more progress this year on helping people afford college and apprenticeships. I was the #2 sponsor on a bill that will give people a little more time to use financial aid to finish their degree programs, which will help people get jobs and support their families. I also supported $6 million in new funding for Electrician Apprenticeships—we have an electrical apprentice program at Olympic College, and I learned a lot from a visit from some of our Kitsap County electricians this session. (Did you know that electrical apprentices get paid $20-$30/hour while they’re learning the trade, and then they “journey out” at anywhere from $36.50/hour (residential) to $72.05/hour (commercial)? These are great jobs!) 

SAVE THE DATE! 

I hope you’ll join me, Rep. Tarra Simmons and Rep. Greg Nance for a post-session town hall on Saturday, April 13. There will be two opportunities to ask any questions you have about the work we’re doing in Olympia:  

  • 10 a.m. at Olympic College Poulsbo, OCP P1 (1000 NW Olympic College Way, Poulsbo, WA)
  • 1 p.m. at Olympic College Bremerton, Bremer Student Center (1600 Chester Ave., Bremerton, WA)

And finally, thank you to my staff (left to right: Angela, Anders, Olivia and Mary Beth) for a great session! They do the behind-the-scenes work of helping track legislation, coordinate meetings and answer questions from constituents.  

The session may be over, but you’re always welcome to reach out to my office at Sen.Drew.Hansen@leg.wa.gov if you have questions.  

Sincerely,  

Drew Hansen