A bipartisan bill prime-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, to increase public safety by boosting the number of law-enforcement officers in Washington communities will receive a public hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Senate Bill 5060 would have the state Criminal Justice Training Commission develop and implement a grant program to help local and tribal governments hire law-enforcement officers. A $100 million appropriation from the state general fund would support the grant program.

The Law and Justice Committee meeting on Tuesday will be held in Senate Hearing Room 4 in the John A. Cherberg Building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.

The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, chair of the Law and Justice Committee, and 11 other senators, Republicans and Democrats alike.

Gov. Bob Ferguson has publicly expressed support for the proposal introduced by Holy, who is the ranking Republican on the Law and Justice Committee.