The City of Tacoma announced yesterday they will lay-off 56 police officers, 47 firefighters and close four fire stations in an effort to trim $30 million from their budget. Read the full story here.
In March of this year, Tacoma received a $1,566,699 million SAFER grant. At the time, Sen. Patty Murray had this to say, “Firefighters across Washington State put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities and families safe. I am very glad that the City of Tacoma received this grant to put 10 new firefighters on the job. I am going to keep working with local communities to make sure they have the resources they need to protect their families.” So what is the plan now Senator Murray? Washington State is facing budget cuts so deep that talk of eliminating school buses and legalizing and taxing marijuana are on the table. Should government have a minimum public safety requirement for its citizens? If the local and state jurisdictions cannot pay for the minimum safety requirement, should the federal government step in?
