IN THIS ISSUE:

• SBA’s response to the Supreme Court’s Prop 1 decision
• Confronting Spokane’s downtown drug marketplace
• SBA supports Ban the Address proposed city ordinance

SBA Issues Statement on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Prop 1

Official Press Release Below

April 17, 2025 | Spokane, WA — The Spokane Business Association (SBA) strongly disagrees with the Washington State Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate Proposition 1, the voter-approved initiative that prohibited homeless encampments near schools, parks, and childcare facilities.

Passed with nearly 75% support, Prop 1 was a clear and urgent demand from the people of Spokane to protect children, restore safety, and uphold community standards in addressing chronic street homelessness. The Court’s expansive ruling—that the measure was “administrative” rather than legislative—effectively strips voters of their right to set policy on one of the city’s most urgent crises.

The decision also flies in the face of the recent Grants Pass ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which confirmed that cities may enforce camping bans to protect health, safety, and public spaces.

“Letting people suffer and die on our sidewalks isn’t compassion—it’s abdication,” said SBA President Brad Barnett. “Prop 1 was designed to restore safety and create pressure for real solutions.”

“Instead of helping, this ruling enables the status quo—one where Spokane has one of the nation’s highest rates of overdose deaths and homelessness,” added Board Chair Larry Stone.

The Spokane Business Association calls on city leaders to take real action. We cannot continue allowing our streets to become places of last resort. True compassion means doing the hard work: enforcing standards and giving people a path forward. At the same time, our businesses, our workers, and the future of our city all rely on a Spokane that is safe, clean, and functional for everyone.

By Gavin Cooley

Spokane, like many cities across the West Coast, has become a visible hub for public drug use and unchecked street disorder. This is not simply a law enforcement issue—it’s a public health, addiction, and human crisis unfolding in full view. It’s also a growing economic emergency, threatening the vitality of our downtown, the safety of our neighborhoods, and the stability of the businesses and jobs that hold our community together.

We are not alone in facing this challenge. Cities like San Francisco, Boston, Portland, Seattle, and Philadelphia have shown that there are practical, proven strategies to address this kind of crisis. One key insight: you don’t need to arrest your way out of it, but you do need to disrupt the conditions that allow it to thrive.

When cities enforce basic public conduct laws—prohibiting public drug use, sidewalk obstruction, and other visible street-level disorder—they interrupt the drug-use ecosystem that’s taken root in public spaces. These aren’t draconian measures. They’re simply about restoring expectations for how public space is used.

Experience shows that when permissiveness ends, behavior shifts. Individuals who are only in a city because of its leniency often leave for other places that remain more tolerant of open use. Meanwhile, those with a desire to change can begin to seek help—but only if it’s available.

That’s why any serious effort to address Spokane’s addiction crisis must be paired with accessible, humane alternatives. One strong example is Spokane County’s funding of expanded access to voluntary sobering beds, both at its Crisis Stabilization Center and at STARS—Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services. These facilities give individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol a place to stabilize, rest, and begin connecting with longer-term recovery services instead of landing in jail or the ER.

New data shows that over 80% of people who recently entered sobering voluntarily chose to move on to longer-term services—a powerful result, and a bright spot in Spokane’s fight against fentanyl and methamphetamine that we must build on.

We can restore Spokane without criminalizing addiction. But we can’t do it by allowing our public spaces to become zones of tolerated dysfunction. The first steps are clear:

• Reclaim our public spaces so that families, businesses, and residents can feel safe—by enforcing existing laws against public drug use and disorder already on the books;

• Offer immediate and long-term alternatives to those struggling with addiction.

These steps are heavy lifts, but other cities have already demonstrated that—with deep collaboration and coordination across jurisdictions, the homeless response system, and business—they can be accomplished.

And every day we wait, the problem grows larger.

Now is the time to act—with clarity, courage, and a commitment to a recovery-oriented, orderly future for our city.

By Gavin Cooley

The Spokane Business Association supports the City’s proposed “Ban the Address” ordinance—a simple but meaningful change that would prohibit employers from requesting a job applicant’s address until after a conditional job offer is made. This reform helps remove a common barrier faced by individuals experiencing homelessness, ensuring applicants are evaluated on their skills and experience—not where they sleep at night.

SBA also applauds the bipartisanship behind this effort, with conservative Councilmember Michael Cathcart joining liberal Councilmembers Paul Dillon and Lili Navarrete as co-sponsors. That kind of cooperation should be celebrated.

This ordinance deserves broad support. It’s not just good policy—it’s a practical step toward workforce inclusion and a healthier community.

Spokane Business Association Leadership

Spokane Business Board of Directors