On Monday, Gov. Jay Inslee hosted a roundtable with experts at Evergreen Recovery Center in Everett to discuss the fentanyl crisis and to preview his proposals for the upcoming legislative session. The governor’s budget adds over $50 million in new funding to take down opioids for the 2023–25 biennium.
The new funding would augment investments from the state’s $82 million opioid settlements with drug manufacturers and pharmacies responsible in part for the opioid crisis, and general fund investments within the 2023–25 biennial budget. The biennial budget allocated over $200 million for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facility operations, rental subsidies for people with SUD, treatment subsidies, criminal diversion programs, peer support services, Tribal SUD grants, and more.