(The Center Square) – As Olympia faces another shortfall, state health care officials said Monday that the governor’s supplemental budget proposal could impact Washington’s Recovery Navigator Program.
The Legislature started the program after a 2021 Washington Supreme Court decision, which declared the state’s felony drug possession law unconstitutional. Gov. Bob Ferguson proposed cutting it by 50% to address another budget gap last year, but lawmakers ultimately settled on a 20% reduction instead.
Democrats say the reduction helped close a $16 billion deficit, which nonpartisan budget staff had only estimated at $7.3 billion. While the majority said the final budget cut about $9 billion, overall spending actually increased to record levels due to a $9.55 billion tax hike — the largest in state history.
When considering local taxes authorized by the Legislature, the historic tax increase rises to about $12 billion. Now the state faces another deficit despite record spending, and RNP is on the chopping block.
“The governor’s proposed supplemental budget does include a 10% reduction,” Tony Walton, a section manager with the Washington State Health Care Authority, told the Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee. “It was a 20% statewide reduction that passed as part of the biennial budget.”
The 10% reduction Ferguson proposed for 2026 would bring program funding closer to what he had planned last year, but it wouldn’t cut RNP altogether. The diversion program funds taxpayer-subsidized outreach to treatment services and case management for individuals navigating the justice system.
According to state data, the HCA contacted an estimated 10,401 people during RNP outreach work last year, with 15% of those referrals coming from law enforcement. Around 8,280 people enrolled in case management, but that figure also includes individuals called “continuing enrollees” from the year prior.
Last year’s cut reduced funding to $19.6 million annually; Ferguson’s plan would leave $17.6 million.
“It’s not as dramatic as what we’re thinking on most fronts,” HCA Legislative Relations Manager Shawn O’Neill told the committee. “The 10% reduction … if it were passed, it would go into effect on July 1.”
The state Senate considered cutting RNP altogether last year, but the chamber compromised with the House of Representatives on a more modest cut. While Ferguson’s proposal takes some more off the top of what’s left, the reduction is far less than what he proposed ahead of the last legislative session.
If approved, it would diminish diversion resources, as Ferguson proposes filling a $2.3 billion deficit by tapping about half of the state’s rainy-day fund, on top of additional cuts. He also signaled support last month for a state income tax, which the state constitution prohibits, and voters have already rejected.
“We’re still just kind of in a wait-and-see mode to see what is going to transpire,” O’Neill said Monday.
