OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers have reached broad agreement on a capital budget that earmarks millions of dollars for renovations at minor league baseball stadiums across the state.
But the state Senate's budget proposal would pay for those improvements by tapping into a $42 million account dedicated to youth athletic fields — a fund created as a part of the 1997 voter-approved deal to build a new Seahawks stadium.
The proposed diversion has surprised and angered some advocates who have been working for more than a year to advise the state on how to spend the money in a way that benefits underserved communities.
Upgrades to minor league ballparks — needed to meet demands from Major League Baseball — were not a part of their plans.
"I was very disappointed that they would do this ... they shouldn't be touching it," said Wendy Armour, a member of a citizen panel that has been advising the state's Recreation and Conservation Office on how to divvy up the money.
The sprucing up of minor league facilities has not proven controversial in the Legislature.
Both the state Senate and House 2023-25 capital budget proposals — which stand at around $8 billion each — set aside $24 million for 11 baseball stadium and ball field projects, spread out across the state for maximal political buy-in.
The biggest chunk — $7.4 million — would go to the city of Everett, which is working on a new stadium for the Everett AquaSox, the High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox now play at Funko Field, owned by the Everett School District.
Another $5.8 million would pay for improvements at Spokane County's Avista Stadium, home to the Spokane Indians, the Colorado Rockies' High-A affiliate co-owned by state Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, D-Spokane.
The list also includes $3 million for Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers, the AAA affiliate for the Seattle Mariners. Another $3 million would go to Gesa Stadium in Pasco, home to the Tri-City Dust Devils, the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
Smaller amounts would go for upgrades at publicly owned stadiums and fields in Bellingham; Port Angeles; Ridgefield, Clark County; Walla Walla; Longview; Wenatchee; and Yakima.
At the minor league parks, stadium upgrades are being driven by demands from MLB, which has set minimum standards for clubhouses, dugouts and player dining spaces, among other amenities. Clubs that don't comply by 2025 stand to lose their MLB affiliations.
At Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, state money would pay chiefly to demolish and rebuild the visiting team's clubhouse, which dates back to 1960, said Aaron Artman, a spokesperson for the Rainiers. "That has to be completely redone to meet MLB standards," he said.
The House budget proposal would pay for the projects without tapping the youth athletics fund.
State Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, the lead Senate capital budget writer, defended the plan to divert some cash from the fund, saying lawmakers are dealing with competing demands for public construction projects across the state.
He said a final budget agreement, to be released as early as Friday, will include funding for future youth athletic field projects through the Recreation and Conservation Office, with $25 million allocated this session and more to be allocated in future years.
"I think I split the baby," Mullet said. "These are publicly owned stadiums that do get used. The communities use these stadiums as well," he added, calling the minor league stadium renovations "more time sensitive."
But advocates who have been anticipating helping to allocate grants paid for by the leftover Seahawks stadium money have been alarmed by any diversion of the funds, and said they fear the Legislature is reneging on a promise.
"For the Legislature to strip away a voter-approved opportunity to increase access for kids to play sports is a disappointment and a slap in the face to these community members who have worked so hard to develop a program to address this important issue," said Julie McCleery, a research director at the University of Washington's Center for Leadership in Athletics.
McCleery, who has been consulting with the RCO advisory group, pointed to a 2022 task force report showing a lack of access to athletic fields — especially among communities of color — as one key barrier to kids getting enough exercise.
In a politely worded letter earlier this month, representatives of the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders also asked lawmakers not to raid the youth athletics money.
"Our organizations have committed decades of time and millions of dollars toward youth athletics in Washington State, so we know well the challenges local communities face to meet the demand for playable surfaces for a variety of sports and ages," wrote Drew Johnston, government affairs director for the Seahawks, and Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, chief operating officer for the Sounders. They praised the House budget for remaining "true to the original purpose of these funds."
At stake is how to spend a nearly $42 million pot of money deposited into a special state fund that was a promised public side benefit in the 1997 pact to build a new stadium for the Seattle Seahawks by issuing $300 million in public bonds.
As part of the deal, required to ensure billionaire Paul Allen's purchase of the team, the public was promised that once the stadium debt was retired, leftover money would be deposited into a dedicated fund to build and maintain youth-athletic facilities.
Allen deposited an initial $10 million to kick-start that fund. Additional state money has trickled through the state recreation office over the years to keep grants flowing. In 2020, for example, RCO grants helped pay for renovations at Seattle's West Queen Anne Playfield, an ice rink in Winthrop, Okanogan County, and Wenatchee's city pool, among dozens of others.
But the big windfall came in 2021, when nearly $42 million in leftover stadium bond proceeds was finally deposited into the account. That's the money that advocates for youth athletics have been working toward spending in the coming years.
The Senate capital budget bill, on Page 396, amends the stadium law to allow the youth athletics money to be spent over the next two years on a "Public Facility Improvement Fund" that specifically lists the minor league stadium projects.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on final capital and operating budget plans before the current legislative session ends on Sunday.
Billig, meanwhile, did not vote when the Senate voted 44-0 to approve its capital budget bill last month. In an interview Wednesday in the Senate chamber wings, Billig said he has purposely recused himself from the capital budget due to his ownership stake in the Spokane team, even though ethics attorneys cleared him to vote.
"I have decided to take an extra step back greater than is required by the ethics law ... I am not voting. I have not been lobbying on this internally or working on it internally at all," Billig said.
He reported income last year of between $60,000 and $100,000 from the club, according to a financial disclosure form filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
The Avista Stadium project is expected to cost $23 million, with costs split between Spokane County, the team and the state, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
Mullet predicted that when the legislative session dust settles, most will be happy with the outcome.
"Overall both sides get what they wanted. The public facilities get money quickly and the new program the RCO created is moving forward as well," he said.
But advocates for the youth athletic funds remain skeptical.
"I think this is now a power play to stomp on the voices of the people. The very people that you wanted to uplift you are now suppressing," said Bookie Gates, a leader of the King County Play Equity Coalition.
A former minor league baseball player who runs a program seeking to revive baseball in inner cities, Gates said he doesn't oppose money for the ballparks. But he said lawmakers are risking running roughshod over volunteers who have worked on the youth athletic field grant program.
"Our time should be spent elsewhere as a community and an organization as opposed to fighting an uphill battle with legislative bodies," he said.
