Governor’s veto of retail theft funding alarms business owners

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington business owners are sounding the alarm after Gov. Bob Ferguson vetoed $500,000 intended to extend a pilot program helping local authorities combat organized retail theft — a decision retailers fear will embolden thieves at a time when such crimes are already on the rise.

Ferguson signed the latest state budget earlier this month, cutting the half-million-dollar allocation that would have given local law enforcement additional resources to pursue retail criminals. 

His office cited a $2.3 billion budget shortfall as the reason for the veto, with spokesperson Brionna Aho saying the governor redirected those resources to “protect core services for Washingtonians.”

For businesses like Mud Bay, a pet supply retailer, NaTasha Magnuson, Mud Bay’s safety manager, said theft has become an increasingly serious threat.

“Theft has always been a problem, but it’s a much bigger problem now,” Magnuson said.

The store has watched high-demand products disappear from shelves regularly, from dog jackets to cat pheromones. 

Staff have attempted creative loss-prevention measures, stocking only empty display units for some products.

Magnuson said the thieves will just look for other items to take. 

“We’d have an individual who would come in, and he would just take the whole thing in his hands and out the door he goes,” Magnuson said.

The Washington Retail Association reports organized retail theft cases have been on a steady rise statewide, affecting both family-owned businesses and major retailers. 

Governor Ferguson’s office defended the veto and the governor’s record on combatting retail theft. 

As Attorney General in 2023 Ferguson created Washington’s first Organized Retail Crime Task Force, a dedicated prosecution unit that has filed 29 cases and secured convictions, including a sentence of more than 13 years in a case involving over $750,000 in thefts.

The task force remains in place.