Legal assistants Analesa Mason, left, and Alondra Maqueda, right, work in their shared office at The Way to Justice in Spokane. (Photo by Erick Doxey/InvestigateWest)
An unexpected slash to a small corner of Washington’s state budget has civil legal aid organizations scrambling to plan for a future without financial support.
Both the House and Senate biannual budgets put forth by state lawmakers this year included around $5 million to support the legal aid organizations that are critical in helping to vacate unconstitutional drug convictions across the state. But after the two budgets were reconciled in the final days of the legislative session, the funding had disappeared. State lawmakers put forth a balanced $77.8 billion budget on April 27 after months of debate and amid an anticipated $16 billion budget shortfall. The final budget is now awaiting Gov. Bob Ferguson’s approval…