To overcome a projected multibillion-dollar deficit in the 2025-27 biennium and pass a budget, Washington state lawmakers worked the angles in 2025, from new revenue streams to sweeping spending cuts.
Included in the budget signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson was a deep slash to juvenile court funding. According to Spokane County Juvenile Court Director Tori Peterson, in fiscal 2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), the Spokane court received $1.3 million from the state, but for fiscal 2026 that funding dropped to $425,000.
That cut has largely impacted the court’s ability to handle truancy petitions, which state law requires districts to file if a student has seven unexcused absences in a month or 15 in a year…