Bill to keep kids and families healthy signed into law

Dear friends and neighbors:

With just a few weeks left in the 2025 legislative session, the Legislature is busy taking votes on key bills and negotiating final operating, capital, and transportation budgets for the state. I’ll be sure to keep you updated in the coming weeks on the important investments we are making to improve lives in Spokane and across the state.

Healthier kids and families

Last week, Governor Bob Ferguson signed my first bill as a senator into law. Senate Bill 5244 will allow providers in the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program to perform infectious disease tests using finger-stick sampling. This change in law will help remove a major workforce barrier for community health clinics, where finding licensed staff for essential tests can be difficult. The bill passed by unanimous votes in both the House and Senate.

Improving public safety

I am working with Spokane city and county officials to secure two key investments in this year’s capital budget that will make our community safer and healthier.

Crisis Relief and Sobering Center: For people in our community experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, it remains difficult to access quality care when they need it most. I am working to secure funding to design and build a new treatment center next to the Spokane Regional Stabilization Center where people can receive comprehensive behavioral health services to address mental health, substance use, and the opioid crisis. This will help prevent more costly acute medical services, reduce unnecessary callouts by law enforcement, and provide better access to community resources.

Improving law enforcement training: We all benefit when Spokane’s police officers are provided the best training possible. That’s why I was pleased to work to fund an additional $750,000 in the state capital budget for renovation and expansion of the training facility which serves as the primary training center for SPD and other regional and state law enforcement agencies. Expanding the facility located in East Spokane will give our local police new classrooms and office space to stay up to date on the knowledge and techniques needed to keep our community safe. Funding of this project in the final budget would bring the total state investment I have helped secure to $2,150,000.

Thanks for taking the time to read my newsletter and I’ll be in touch in the coming days as we near the end of the 105-day session in Olympia. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more updates and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Marcus.Riccelli@leg.wa.gov.

It is an honor to serve you!

Sen. Marcus Riccelli