‘Throwing money at the right problem’: Seattle council president defends tax-funded treatment bill

The Seattle City Council approved Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson’s Pathways to Recovery plan Tuesday.

Pathways to Recovery will dedicate up to 25% of the revenue from a 0.1% local sales tax increase to behavioral health and public safety programs.

While critics said throwing money at the problem won’t fix anything, Nelson argued, “Throwing money at the right problem is the right thing to do.”

She explained on “The John Curley Show” that the bill is in anticipation of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell implementing the 0.1% increase in sales tax for public safety, which was authorized by the state legislature.

“If the mayor goes ahead and sends that legislation down, I’m taking a claim to 25% of that revenue, and then that’s anticipated to be about $10 million, because it would generate maybe $40 million, for this list of recovery-based services and housing,” Nelson said.

Nelson also noted that while addressing addiction is important, she is not for an increase in sales tax.

“This is an increase in the sales tax — that’s not what is dear to me. What is very important to me is talking about recovery and the importance of addressing addiction in public policy,” Nelson remarked.

“Addiction is a problem that has been unaddressed for so long,” she added.

Seattle City Council president’s bill will go toward addiction treatment

Nelson’s initiative would also go toward expanding the use of treatments to manage opioid dependence, supporting diversion programs, upgrading treatment facilities, working with King County to increase crisis responders who refer people to detox centers, and paying for on-demand treatment.

“Our case workers, if they encounter someone who wants to go to treatment, then they refer them to Lakeside-Milam. Right now, it can be up to five different treatment centers, and then the city just pays the bill. Easy peasy. Pay-As-You-Go. That’s what we need to do to remove barriers for people to get into inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment,” Nelson shared.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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