WA Legislature sets aside $19 million to support future Ukrainian refugees

Washington state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle offered support to the people of Ukraine and have earmarked nearly $20 million to help resettle refugees in the Evergreen state in wake of Russia’s invasion.

Over the weekend, Washington Senate lawmakers voted to approve a nearly $20 million amendment to their proposed budget.

The measure would provide counties with more than $5.5 million in grants to stabilize the expected influx of people escaping the current conflict in Ukraine. It also makes available over $13.4 million of onetime funding for necessary support services such as housing, employment training, school integration, physical and mental health care and legal services for Ukrainian refugees.

According to the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Gildon (R-Puyallup), the funds are contingent on Ukrainians arriving in Washington.

“We don’t know for certain if we’re going to have refugees, but, you know, it’s certainly best to plan and be ready,” said Gildon. “We just wanted to be very proactive.”

Funding for Ukrainian refugees is based on the same model the state used to finance aid for Afghan refugees last year, with minor changes related to military visas.

According to a Saturday Facebook post by Ukraine’s Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, the current conflict has already caused over 198 Ukrainian casualties, though experts estimate this figure to be a large undercount.

Washington lawmakers expect the war to create over 1 million refugees, many of whom are flooding out of the country and into neighboring nations like Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

“I don’t think anyone here is afraid to take a side. We’re on the side of the Ukrainians, and you see a tremendous amount of concern in our caucuses for what’s going on,” said House Minority Leader JT Wilcox, R-Yelm.

Washington has a long history of welcoming refugees.

In 1975, the state was the first in the country to establish a resettlement program for Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon, and Washington welcomed hundreds of Afghan refugees in 2021 alone.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce, the department would work with counties and refugee-support nonprofits to help distribute more than $5.5 million in grants, though the office has not yet begun to plan its implementation process yet.

The Department of Social and Health Services, which contains the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, is set to receive more than $13.4 million, though the office was not immediately available for comment.

“It’s hard not to watch the news and not be so inspired by the Ukrainians. We want to stand with them, and that’s part of why that amendment was offered and had so much support,” said Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane. “It’s one small way that we can tell the people of Ukraine that we care, and that we are standing with them.”