Stand Up Federal Way

FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHAT ARE WE BUILDING IN FEDERAL WAY?

For years, we’ve heard about the millions of dollars our legislators bring home to Federal Way.

So we decided to look at the receipts.

We reviewed state capital investments physically located in Federal Way, Kent and Bellevue from FY2017–FY2026, excluding transportation.

Here’s what we found:

Federal Way — $61.7 million
Kent — $68.4 million
Bellevue — $87.4 million

But the amount of money is only part of the story.

What really caught our attention was what each community’s money is building.

Federal Way’s largest category is housing — $28.8 million.

Overall, about 42% of the Federal Way investment we identified went toward community/nonprofit-owned projects, while only about 4.2% went toward City of Federal Way-owned assets.

That doesn’t mean Federal Way received no major public investment. We did. The $8.6 million Washington State Patrol facility is one example, and Federal Way Public Schools received nearly $4 million in projects captured in our audit.

But look at the contrast.

Kent received substantial community and social-service investment too, but it also received millions for parks, land acquisition, flood protection, environmental projects and other City-owned assets. About 21.5% of Kent’s total went toward City of Kent assets.

Bellevue looks different again. Its largest investment was education — $45.8 million, overwhelmingly at publicly owned Bellevue College. Bellevue also received $26.7 million in housing, along with investments in parks and civic infrastructure.

So this isn’t simply a story about one city getting housing and another getting infrastructure.

It’s about the balance.

And when we looked specifically at Local & Community Projects (LCP), Federal Way’s pattern became even more interesting.

LCP is just one portion of the state capital budget, used for individually named local projects.

Federal Way received $13.3 million in LCP funding — 21.6% of all the state capital investment we identified here.

Among those projects:

$1.25M — Pattison Property / El Centro de la Raza
$1M — FUSION
$1M — Camp Kilworth / YMCA
$750K — Boys & Girls Club
$500K — Pacific Bonsai Museum

Our full LCP audit shows substantial investment in nonprofit/community-owned projects, with considerably less going toward assets owned by the City of Federal Way.

Many of these organizations do good work and strengthen Federal Way. The concern isn’t nonprofit funding—it’s whether state investment and political access are becoming concentrated within the same interconnected circle, while other community and City priorities struggle for attention. That doesn’t prove favoritism, but it deserves transparency.

And that’s where we think Federal Way residents should start asking a bigger question.

Are we measuring success by how many dollars come home — or by what those dollars actually build for Federal Way?

Nonprofits, housing, behavioral health and community services can be important pieces of a healthy city.

But so are parks, public safety, infrastructure, economic development, education, public spaces and City-owned assets that remain part of the community for generations.

Federal Way needs the whole ecosystem.

When our legislators go to Olympia to advocate for our community, we want to see Federal Way competing not simply for more funding, but for a balanced portfolio of investment that helps build a strong, safe and economically sustainable city.

That’s why we’re sharing the receipts.

Don’t just follow the dollar amount.

Follow what we built. Follow who owns it. And ask whether the overall investment matches the future Federal Way is trying to build.

— Stand Up Federal Way

FY2017–FY2026 state capital investment audit. Transportation excluded. LCP represents one portion of the state capital budget, not the entire capital budget.

🚨 BAD POLICY OF THE DAY — PART 3

DIVERSION IS A PATHWAY. IT ISN’T THE OUTCOME.

Washington and King County have spent years trying to reduce disproportionate discipline and juvenile-justice involvement, particularly among BIPOC youth.

That’s an important goal.

But keeping a young person out of court or detention doesn’t tell us whether the underlying problem was solved.

Our 30th District legislators helped shape these reforms:

SB 5290 (2019) — moved certain youth away from detention for noncriminal behavior and toward community alternatives. Claire Wilson co-sponsored it.

HB 1054 (2021) — part of Washington’s broader policing reforms. Jamila Taylor sponsored it.

HB 1391 (2025) — expanded community-based juvenile diversion. Taylor co-sponsored it, Wilson was prime sponsor of companion SB 5426, and Wilson, Taylor and Kristine Reeves all voted YES on the legislation that became law.

HB 1391 passed the House 91–2, showing very broad support.

But it also required something important:

BETTER DATA.

Washington now requires reporting on successful diversions, offenses referred to diversion, refused diversions, law-enforcement referrals by agency—and school referrals by school district.

Why does that matter?

WHAT IF THE REFERRALS ARE CONCENTRATED?

If one school district or community has disproportionately more youth referrals, that community can also carry a disproportionate share of the impact—interventions, behavioral challenges, victims and pressure on schools.

More money to manage that concentration isn’t enough.

We should also ask why it exists and whether our policies are reducing it.

Then comes the next question:

DO THE PROGRAMS ACTUALLY WORK?

HB 1248 (2025–26) proposed ongoing evaluations of juvenile-justice programs, including recidivism and benefit-cost analysis.

It didn’t pass.

Lawmakers also proposed HB 1536, calling for earlier intervention and greater accountability for juvenile fi***rm possession.

It didn’t pass either.

Here’s the interesting 30th District distinction:

Wilson, Taylor and Reeves were directly involved in legislation expanding or reshaping diversion. None of the three sponsored HB 1248 or HB 1536—the proposals focused on stronger outcome evaluation and earlier intervention for juvenile fi***rm possession.

Neither proposal reached final passage, so there isn't a final floor vote to compare.

That leaves four questions every reform should answer:

🔵 EQUITY & DIVERSION: Are we reducing disparities while getting youth appropriate help?

🟢 INTERVENTION: Did they actually receive services—and did they work?

🟠 ACCOUNTABILITY & SAFETY: Did offending and reoffending decrease? Are victims, students and staff safer?

🟣 FOLLOW THE MONEY: If fewer youth are going through expensive courts and detention, where do those resources go—and what results are taxpayers getting?

And there needs to be a next step when intervention fails.

One mistake isn’t the same as a persistent pattern of serious or violent behavior.

Give young people meaningful opportunities to change. But if serious violence, repeat gun offenses or other dangerous behavior continues, the system needs a clear escalation path.

We shouldn’t have to choose between giving youth another chance and protecting the community.
A good system should do both.

SUCCESS ISN’T JUST FEWER YOUTH ENTERING COURT OR DETENTION.

Success is less disproportionate discipline, less offending and reoffending, effective intervention, supported victims, safer schools—and less concentration of crisis in particular communities.

MEASURE WHETHER REFORM WORKS. AND HAVE A PLAN FOR WHEN IT DOESN’T.

🚨 BAD POLICY OF THE DAY — PART 2

ARE WE FIXING INEQUITY — OR JUST FUNDING AROUND IT?

Yesterday we showed how Washington has continued adding requirements to schools since McCleary.

Now Olympia is looking at another part of the problem:

How should we distribute school funding?

In 2025, Washington passed HB 2049, creating a K–12 Funding Equity Work Group to examine whether school funding should better account for differences in student needs, economic conditions, demographics, geography and local resources.

It is even studying “student weights” that could direct additional money toward students with greater needs. The bill doesn't create those weights—it asks the work group to study them.

Our 30th District legislators were directly involved.

Kristine Reeves was an original sponsor of HB 2049, Claire Wilson sponsored the Senate companion SB 5812, and Reeves, Wilson and Jamila Taylor all voted YES on the final HB 2049.

On the surface, the idea makes sense.

STUDENTS WITH GREATER NEEDS OFTEN REQUIRE GREATER RESOURCES.

Federal Way knows that better than most.

But here's the question we shouldn't ignore:

WHY IS NEED BECOMING SO CONCENTRATED IN CERTAIN COMMUNITIES?

If we build a funding formula that sends increasingly more money to communities after poverty and high needs become concentrated there, we may help schools manage the consequences.

But have we fixed the inequity?

Or have we simply created a funding system around it?

Education policy doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Housing and human-services policy, economic development, community investment and the strength of the local tax base matter too.

Federal Way should absolutely receive the resources necessary to educate the students who are here today.

But we should also look upstream.

Why shouldn't Federal Way have economically diverse neighborhoods, a strong tax base, thriving businesses and the opportunities enjoyed by wealthier communities?

Why should the long-term solution to concentrated need simply be more money for concentrated need?

A FUNDING FORMULA CAN COMPENSATE FOR INEQUITY.

IT CAN'T, BY ITSELF, FIX WHAT'S CAUSING IT.

Fund students according to their needs today.

But also examine the policies and conditions that may be concentrating tomorrow's needs in the same communities.

Because the goal shouldn't be to make concentrated poverty more affordable to manage.

THE GOAL SHOULD BE TO REDUCE THE CONCENTRATION ITSELF.

Statement from Michael Rutland:

Politics is about ideas and vision for our community, not violence—even a piñata violence. We all deserve better than this, regardless of party.

Our family believes in respectful debate and treating each other with dignity. That's the kind of leadership we need at every level—showing that we can disagree without demeaning each other.

As we head into these 50 days of the election, we're focused on solutions that bring our community together. That's what the 30th deserves. 🇺🇸
Rutland for Senate 30LD

🚨 BAD BILL OF THE DAY: SB 5462

101 MORE SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS SINCE McCLEARY — AND TAXPAYERS KEEP GETTING THE BILL

Remember McCleary?

Washington was ordered to meet its constitutional obligation to amply fund basic education. The Legislature responded with a major school-funding overhaul beginning in 2017.

But since then, the Washington School Funding Coalition has identified 101 additional state requirements and mandates placed on schools.

Here are just four that our own 30th District legislators helped sponsor:

🔹 SB 5395 — comprehensive sexual-health education
Prime sponsor: Sen. Claire Wilson

🔹 SB 5044 — equity, cultural competency and related professional-learning requirements
Co-sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson

🔹 HB 1238 — expanded free-school-meal requirements
Co-sponsored by Reps. Kristine Reeves and Jamila Taylor

🔹 SB 5462 — inclusive learning standards and instructional-material requirements
Co-sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson

And sponsorship doesn't tell the whole story. Legislators also vote on requirements they didn't sponsor. For example, Reeves and Taylor both voted YES on SB 5462.

Some of these policies may be worthwhile. Some received state funding. Others are underfunded or create ongoing staffing, administrative or operating costs.

That's the point: they accumulate.

Meanwhile, Federal Way Public Schools says it is already dealing with:

➡️ More than $7 million in underfunded special-education costs

➡️ Nearly $6 million in underfunded transportation costs for students experiencing homelessness

➡️ Insurance premiums that have more than doubled in five years

➡️ Rising utilities and other day-to-day operating costs

➡️ A $10 million budget gap going into the 2025–26 school year

Staffing is also the district's largest expense, and Federal Way's local levy helps pay for teachers, paraeducators, special-education specialists, nurses, counselors, mental-health staff, custodians, security and technology staff—as well as transportation, utilities, maintenance and other operating expenses the state doesn't fully fund.

SO WHEN DOES OLYMPIA STOP ADDING REQUIREMENTS AND START LOOKING AT WHAT ALL OF THIS COSTS?

Rep. Kristine Reeves has talked for years about fixing inequities in Washington's school-funding system.
We agree the system needs fixing.

But another McCleary fix shouldn't automatically mean spend more and tax more.

Before asking taxpayers for more:

STOP adding unnecessary mandates.

REVIEW the requirements already added.

ELIMINATE OR SIMPLIFY those that aren't worth the cost.

PRIORITIZE the state's constitutional responsibility to fund basic education.

Our 30th District legislators—Claire Wilson, Kristine Reeves and Jamila Taylor—should be asking what they can take off school districts' plates, not just how much more taxpayers can put in.

Because when Olympia keeps adding costs, taxpayers eventually get the bill.

When state policies change, local communities feel the impact first. We're breaking down what recent legislative decisions mean for Federal Way housing, safety, and local business growth. What local issue would you like us to cover next? Read our full research guide at StandUpFederalWayPAC.com 🗳️

🚆 BAD POLICY OF THE DAY — HB 1491

FEDERAL WAY ALREADY PLANNED FOR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT. WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN OLYMPIA CHANGES THE RULES MIDSTREAM?

Federal Way has spent years planning a real downtown around light rail.

The vision wasn’t just apartments. It included housing across income levels, restaurants, retail, offices, public spaces, walkability and private investment that strengthens our tax base.

Sound Transit described the Federal Way station-area goal as a “compact, mixed-use, mixed-income and walkable urban center.”

Yet major private developments such as TC3 and The Commons remain stalled.

We don’t have evidence establishing HB 1491 as the reason they stalled. What we do know is that HB 1491 now changes the rules and financial incentives affecting what gets built around transit.

WHAT DOES HB 1491 CHANGE?

Around qualifying transit stations, the law:
• Sets state minimum housing-density standards around transit stations
• Generally prevents cities from requiring residential off-street parking
• Creates a new 20-year station-area property-tax exemption framework for qualifying housing improvements
• Cuts certain transportation impact fees by 50% for projects using that exemption
• Categorically exempts qualifying residential and mixed-use station-area projects from SEPA review

The law is very specific about housing. It doesn’t similarly require the private restaurants, retail, offices or employers Federal Way also planned for downtown.

30th District votes:

Jamila Taylor — YES
Kristine Reeves — YES
Claire Wilson — YES

HERE’S THE TIF QUESTION

Federal Way created Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help pay for downtown infrastructure.

In simple terms:
Invest in infrastructure → attract development → increase TAXABLE property value → use some of the new property-tax revenue to help pay for the infrastructure.

Federal Way’s original TIF planning already accounted for its existing property-tax exemption program.

But HB 1491 creates a new 20-year station-area Multifamily Property Tax Exemption (MFTE) framework for qualifying housing and cuts certain transportation impact fees in half for projects using that exemption.

That doesn’t make TIF impossible. But property value that’s exempt doesn’t generate the same property-tax increment during the exemption period.

So it’s reasonable to ask:

Do Federal Way’s original TIF assumptions still match the development and tax structure now being encouraged by state law?

AFFORDABLE HOUSING WAS ALREADY PART OF THE PLAN

This isn’t an argument against affordable housing. It was always part of Sound Transit’s plan.
But the goal was also mixed-income.

For Sites 1 and 2, Sound Transit selected Multi-Service Center and Shelter Resources to negotiate up to 233 affordable apartments serving households at 30%–60% of Area Median Income (AMI), along with a café led by nonprofit Project Feast, a commercial kitchen partnered with nonprofit FUSION, and childcare.

Those can provide valuable housing and services.
The question is whether the rest of the mix comes too.

Sites 3 and 4 still have no developer selected.

WHY THE MIX MATTERS

“Affordable housing” isn’t one financial model. Projects can combine Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, public funding, tax-exempt bonds and property-tax exemptions—sometimes several at once.

Bellevue builds deeply affordable housing too. But it’s adding that housing to an economic base already containing market-rate housing, major employers, restaurants, retail, offices and substantial private investment.

Federal Way is still trying to build that economic base.
And there’s a nearby example of intentionally protecting the mix.

At Sound Transit’s Kent/Des Moines station, affordable housing is being developed alongside plans for market-rate housing—part of creating the mixed-income, walkable urban center envisioned there.

Federal Way’s Sites 3 and 4 are still undecided.
Why not protect that same balance here?

THAT’S THE ISSUE

Our lawmakers aren’t responsible for every stalled development.

But Federal Way already planned for transit-oriented development. While we’re still trying to attract the private investment needed to complete that vision, HB 1491 overlays new statewide TOD standards, less local parking control, a new 20-year property-tax exemption framework and reduced transportation impact fees.

This isn’t about who deserves to live downtown.
It’s about whether Federal Way gets the whole downtown it planned: affordable AND market-rate housing, private restaurants and retail, jobs, employers and taxable investment.

FEDERAL WAY NEEDS THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM.

POLITICAL CANVASSING IS RAMPING UP IN OUR COMMUNITY

No Hate in WA State, a registered statewide ballot-measure PAC, is canvassing in our area. Their own website says:

“We may not always agree…”

We think that’s a good place to start.

If a political canvasser knocks on your door, don’t just take the flyer. Have a conversation.

Ask what they mean by the words they use. Ask what policies they’re advocating. Ask what evidence supports their claims. Ask which concerns from the other side they think are legitimate.

And ask a question all of us should be willing to answer:

“What information or evidence could change your mind?”

If campaign funding comes up, ask about both sides.

No Hate in WA State’s late-July PDC filing reported more than $1.36 million in cash and in-kind contributions during the campaign. There’s nothing wrong with raising money to advocate for a position—but if funding is part of the argument, voters deserve the full picture.

The same standard applies to us. If Stand Up Federal Way comes to your door, ask us questions too.
Ask questions. Listen. Check the evidence. Make up your own mind.

VOTERS DESERVE FACTS, NOT LABELS

Election season is here, and so is the rhetoric.

Words like “unhinged,” “dangerous,” “extreme,” and “fake,” and accusations of “cheating the system to hold on to power” may make for strong campaign messaging.

But labels aren't a record.

If someone is accused of cheating the system, show the evidence. Who cheated? How? What system was manipulated? What power were they trying to hold onto?

That's a particularly important question when the party being accused has not been the dominant governing party in Washington for years.

Meanwhile, those who have exercised governing power have a record voters can examine.

What policies did they pass? What were the results? When policies weren't working, what did it take to get them changed?

Stand-Up Federal Way has endorsed candidates. Our endorsements reflect their values and advocacy and our examination of the records and priorities of those currently representing us. We believe it's time for change.

But don't take our word for it.

Read our voter guide. Examine the record. Make your own decision.

Labels don't tell the story. Records do.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18zc5nCX45/

Bad Bill of The Day

TWO VISIONS FOR FEDERAL WAY

Federal Way had a vision for its future. What did our state lawmakers prioritize?

For decades, Federal Way residents have wanted something our city has never really had:
A true downtown.

A place to live, work, shop and gather — bringing businesses, jobs and private investment while strengthening our tax base.

Then came a huge opportunity:
Light rail was coming downtown.

In February 2022, Federal Way launched Town Center master-development planning around city-owned downtown property and the future Sound Transit station.

The city was asking:
How do we finally build the downtown residents have wanted for decades?

At the same time, Olympia was reshaping Washington's response to drug possession and addiction.

2021 — WASHINGTON CHANGED DRUG POLICY

After the state Supreme Court struck down Washington's felony drug-possession law because it didn't require knowing possession, lawmakers passed SB 5476.

Rather than simply adding that requirement, lawmakers reduced possession from a felony to a misdemeanor and shifted the response toward treatment, referrals and diversion.

Our 30th District lawmakers voted:
Claire Wilson — YES
Jesse Johnson — YES
Jamila Taylor — YES

Taylor described the bill as a “down payment on rebuilding communities.”

But the new system had an accountability problem.
TWO REFERRALS — NO STATEWIDE TRACKING
The law required police to offer referrals for services on at least the first two encounters before referring the case for prosecution.

Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang warned that there was no statewide system for police to track those referrals.

Someone could receive two referrals elsewhere and then receive additional referrals in Federal Way because officers couldn't necessarily see the earlier ones.
Hwang said the approach provided:
“little accountability for the offender.”

Meanwhile, Federal Way residents were seeing increasingly visible open-air drug activity, often intertwined with theft, property crime, trespassing and disorder.

Residents were also asking whether services were being distributed fairly. When the community asked King County Public Health to compare hypodermic-needle distribution in South King County with East King County, Public Health said it didn't have the comparative data.

And local first responders described another problem: when someone was finally ready for intensive treatment, a treatment bed wasn't necessarily available.

Treatment when people are ready. Accountability when crimes continue. Fair regional distribution.

2022 — WILSON PUSHES TO EXPEDITE A MOBILE METHADONE UNIT IN FEDERAL WAY

Just weeks after Federal Way launched its downtown planning effort, Sen. Claire Wilson was working with city officials to help Acadia Healthcare deploy a state-supported mobile opioid-treatment unit in Federal Way.

Wilson wrote that Acadia had a unit “ready to deploy” to provide “immediate care” and emphasized “low barrier access.”

Acadia proposed operating approximately four hours a day, six days a week and sought a more streamlined permitting approach.

During the email discussion, the mammography van operating at The Commons in Federal Way's downtown was raised as a comparison: if that mobile medical service could operate there, why couldn't the mobile opioid-treatment service be handled similarly?

Wilson pressed for speed:
“This is a need that we could be addressing right now.”
“ASAP.”
“more expeditiously.”

At virtually the same time, Federal Way was trying to use light rail and its downtown property to build the economic center residents had wanted for decades.

2023 — LAWMAKERS REVISITED THE BALANCE

An early Senate version of SB 5536 kept treatment options but required jail sanctions in certain circumstances when someone convicted of possession refused treatment, abandoned treatment or repeatedly failed to comply.

Claire Wilson voted NO.

Days later, Wilson described the legislation's goal as:
“emphasizing care over criminalization.”

The final compromise kept treatment and diversion, made knowing possession and public drug use gross misdemeanors, removed the mandatory minimum jail provisions and eliminated the original two-referral requirement.

This time:
Claire Wilson — YES
Kristine Reeves — YES
Jamila Taylor — YES

SO HERE'S THE QUESTION

Our lawmakers have supported some important Federal Way infrastructure projects. Those investments should be acknowledged.

But when Sen. Wilson believed another treatment resource was urgently needed in Federal Way, her own emails show how personally and persistently she pushed:

“immediate care.” “right now.” “ASAP.” “more expeditiously.”

A state lawmaker can't build our downtown or force businesses to come here.

But lawmakers can fight for state money, push state agencies, cut through red tape and make Federal Way's priorities a priority in Olympia. Most importantly our lawmakers should put policies in place AFTER infrastructure has been set up, and in such a way that it creates a downtown that facilitates investment.

Federal Way residents have spent decades asking for:
A downtown. Businesses. Jobs. Private investment. Public safety. A stronger tax base.

So the question is:

Have our lawmakers shown that same sustained urgency in helping Federal Way build the economic future residents have been asking for?

Federal Way needs a safety net and an economic engine. We deserve both.