Legislative Commentary

Last week was the busiest week of our session so far. We spent each day in the Senate chamber, with all 49 members present and voting on legislation that has come forward from the Senate policy and budget committees.

While voting all day and into the evening allowed us to move many good policy changes over to the House of Representatives, it unfortunately left little time for visitors this week.

I was unable to follow up with Latino Civic Alliance members Monday afternoon, after offering brief remarks in the Capitol Rotunda, but we did have a break today that allowed me to have time with officials from the Mexican consulate.

I appreciate meeting Latino leaders when time permits because I find they and Republicans have many shared interests, particularly access to education and the state’s business climate.

Progress in Senate for agriculture

Growers and ranchers have had fewer worries since our Majority Coalition Caucus began leading the Senate in 2013, and this week brought more proof. For example:

Senate Bill 5010, approved by a mostly party-line 27-22 vote Tuesday evening, would protect irrigators’ water rights from relinquishment under the current system that takes a ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ approach. This legislation would reward agricultural water users for their conservation efforts rather than promote unnecessary use of valuable water resources.

Raising cattle can be a dusty business, but the dust settles eventually – meaning the effect on air quality is temporary.

Senate Bill 5196 would acknowledge this by extending to feedlots the same exemptions from state clean-air rules that are available to other agricultural operations.

Cattle operations would still have to comply with state Department of Ecology rules regarding dust control, but the bar for what constitutes a violation would be set higher – and clear documentation of environmentally detrimental activities would be required.

This proposed protection passed 30-19, also on Tuesday.

Last year the Department of Natural Resources had, with little if any warning, informed a group of Benton County wheat farmers that their leases in the Horse Heaven Hills were being terminated early.

This prompted a debate about the serious effect of sudden DNR decisions on the lives of farmers.

Senate Bill 5051, a bill I sponsored that passed unanimously last Monday, would require DNR to provide at least 180 days’ written notice and include documentation regarding the termination in any early-termination provision included in an agricultural or grazing state-land lease.

This is all on top of the Senate’s passage this week of Senate Bill 5239, the “fix” for the late-2016 Supreme Court’s Hirst decision.

Hirst effectively halts development in many of Washington’s 39 counties, especially in rural areas, by greatly complicating the process for obtaining building permits that rely on household water wells.

I am a sponsor of SB 5239, which would allow counties to once again rely on state Department of Ecology data when making permit decisions instead of requiring a hydrogeologist’s opinion. It passed 28-21.

There’s no telling how these ag-friendly bills will fare in the House. We also don’t know whether the Democrat-controlled House will follow the lead of Governor Inslee and pursue a “carbon tax,” which is really a tax on energy.

This would be bad news throughout Washington but especially for operations like food-processing plants. Of course, the House majority may also trot out other revenue schemes that would be hard on agriculture – such as repealing the voter-approved tax exemption on trade-in allowances.

The other day I was looking through a farm magazine when this quote jumped out, reminding me that agriculture used to be held in higher regard on both sides of the political aisle.

“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.”

The person who made such an astute observation? President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat.

Help for cities, counties looking
to reform electoral systems

On Thursday the Senate approved a measure that would allow more cities and counties to switch from at-large elections to district-based elections.

The idea is to help cities such as Pasco and Wenatchee to create voting districts that are more fair and inclusive – without turning the districting process over to lawyers and the courts.

I’m co-sponsoring Senate Bill 5068 for two reasons.

First, we need to come up with a way for non-charter counties, code cities, second-class cities and towns to change their voting systems on their own, without need for legal action.

Second, that approach needs to align Washington’s voter representation laws with the federal Voting Rights Act in a way that discourages “gerrymandering” of new electoral districts and reduces the threat of lawsuits from special interests that could end up costing taxpayers.

Considering how the Senate’s minority Democrats have promoted similar legislation in recent years, their opposition to SB 5608 was disappointing.

As I mentioned when speaking in favor of the bill before, I trust our local governments to handle the districting process, but they can’t get started until we get them the tools. The vote was a party-line 25-24.

Residents with developmental disabilities 
still benefiting from Andy Hill’s work

During the 2014 session the late state Sen. Andy Hill introduced Senate Bill 6387, which he called the Vulnerable Individuals Priority (“VIP”) Act.

It was his goal to eliminate the backlog of Washington residents with developmental disabilities who had requested but weren’t receiving state services. He estimated that if his bill became law – and it did – the waiting list could be gone by June 2017.

When Andy proposed the reform in 2014, an estimated 4,500 Washingtonians with disabilities were waiting for services. Without needing new revenue, the VIP Act expanded available funding for 4,000 families in need of respite care and 1,000 people in need of employment or employment services.

Last week, four months after Andy died at age 54, we learned from the Department of Social and Health Services that the list of unserved individuals now stands at just 185 people. At the rate the list is shrinking, Andy’s goal will almost certainly be achieved by June, just as he hoped.

The success of the VIP Act is such great news for families all around our state. Of all the things Andy Hill accomplished in less than six full years as a legislator, this has to stand as one of the best.