Legislators from the 8th and 9th Legislative Districts will be holding virtual townhall meetings coming up in the next two weeks.
Sen. Matt Boehnke, Rep. Stephanie Barnard, and Rep. April Connors invite the public to attend the virtual event. Residents in the 8th Legislative District will have an opportunity to engage with their state lawmakers. The 8th Legislative District lawmakers will hold their town hall on
These townhall meetings are great opportunities to learn about what is happening in Olympia during this legislative session. Lawmakers are eager to hear from their constituents and rely on them in order to make decisions that relevant to our area. If you aren't sure what Legislative District you are in check out the District Finder.
1 Comment
Senators from the Tri-City Region have been busy during the 2024 Legislative Session. We’ve already highlighted a few bills that may emerge from the House of Representative, now we’ll look at a few from the Senate side. The 8th Legislative District is represented by Senator Matt Boehnke. Senator Boehnke recognizes that tourism is a huge part of the Tri-Cities Regional economy. Sen. Boehnke and Sen Dozier have teamed up to put forth SB 6080 that would make it easier for State tourism funds to automatically be deposited into the State Tourism account. Senator Mark Schoesler, from the 9th, has been working for the last two years to get a bill passed out of the Senate. SB 5344 would establish a Public-School Revolving fund to issue low-interest or interest-free loans to qualifying school districts for capital projects. Organized Retail theft is the target of a bill sponsored by Senator Nikki Torres of the 15th Legislative District. Sen. Boehnke and Schoesler have also joined the fight. After two years SB 5160 has made it through the committee gauntlet and is on the Floor Calendar. The bill adds an additional way to commit organized retail theft in the 2nd degree. Rounding out the Tri-City Regional delegation is Senator Perry Dozier from the 16th Legislative District introduced SB 6238 which would increase assistance amounts for the property tax assistance program for widows and widowers of veterans. Each of these bills have made it out of their committees and are waiting to get placed on the Senate Floor Calendar.
Local lawmaker bills are making progress. Tri-City Regional lawmakers have introduced bills into the 2024 Legislative Session that began on January 8, 2024. Each year hundreds of bills get introduced and many fail to make it past the first gate. The first half of the legislative session is almost over, and local Legislative Representatives are making progress. Here are a few examples. Representative Stephanie Barnard from the 8th Legislative District recently had success moving HB 2120 out of the House Finance Committee. Her bill would make it possible to allow cities to extend certain tax exemptions for nuclear facilities, to continue research and development in Clean Energy. Another 8th Legislative District Representative, April Connors, has managed to usher HB 2464 out of the House Committee on Housing. The bill would open additional land within an Urban Growth Area for new manufactured home communities. This bill could assist in alleviating the housing crunch across the state. Expanding training programs at our state corrections center was the target of Representative Mary Dye, from the 9th Legislative District. A feasibility study authorized by HB 2210 would help determine if a wild horse training, holding and farrier program would fit into the Washington State Correction system. Representative Mark Klicker from the 16th Legislative District has HB 2428 a bill that would alter the way Cities and Counties can share certain tax revenues. The bill would allow interlocal agreements between local governments or other public agencies to cooperatively conduct government activities. Fifty five representatives signed on to support Representative Skyler Rude’s HB 1915. Representative Rude’s bill was passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Education. The bill would make financial education instruction a graduation requirement. The bill has strong bipartisan support. Each of these bills will still needs to be passed on the floor of the House before February 13th and go through the Senate process before they will become law. Dave Mastin, VP of Governmental Affairs for Association of Washington Business, kicked off the Chamber’s first Leader Luncheon with exclusive insight into the state legislative process. A veteran legislator serving Washington’s 16th district from 1993 to 2005, Mastin made note of the incredible bipartisan wins made by a slate of mostly first-term legislators from the Tri-Cities. Our transformational members joined us for this deep dive into the coalition building and negotiations that must occur to have our interests represented.
Leader Luncheons are an exclusive feature for Regional Chamber members at the Leader level and above. For more information on joining the Chamber or upgrading your membership, contact Elisabeth Holt, Vice President, at 509.491.3237 or elisabeth.holt@tricityregionalchamber.com. Sen. Matt Boehnke, Rep. April Connors, and Rep. Stephanie Barnard, will host a town hall meeting at The Arc of the Tri-Cities (1455 SE Fowler St. Richland, WA 99352) on Saturday, March 11, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
The 8th District legislative team will answer questions and provide constituents with an update on the 2023 legislative session. Recent Action of Note • HB 1258: Proposed to raise cap on allocation of sales tax dedicated to tourism reinvestment and reduce non-state match to fund utilization. Click here for more information on the bill Last week, Representative Ryu spoke on House Bill 1258 – which focuses on remedying impacts to the tourism industry over the last few years and the merits of raising the cap for retail sales tax dedicated to reinvestment in state tourism activities. In addition to raising the cap allocated from sales tax on tourism activities to the state tourism marketing agency, it would also reduce the 2-to-1 non state fund match on expenditures to 1-to-1. Notable testimony included the quoted $9.5B in economic impact to state and local economies from Washington Wine, and its contributions to tourism. This bill heads to executive session on Wednesday February 8th. Click here to submit public comment Bills to Watch
• HB 1584: Proposed to add ‘Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology’ to State Energy Strategy considerations for cleaner energy sources. Click here for more information on the bill Testimony will be heard this afternoon (2/7) at 4 p.m. on HB 1584, sponsored by 8th district Representative Stephanie Barnard, regarding the addition of advanced nuclear reactor technology to the State Energy Strategy. 2/7/23 Scheduled for Public Hearing in House Energy and Environment at 4 p.m.; opportunity to comment - Click here to submit public comment • HB 1505: Proposed to create a state alternative jet fuels working group to assess feasibility of manufacturing in Washington and proposing a tax credit for manufacturing meeting certain thresholds. Click here for more information on the bill HB 1505 will also be heard this afternoon (2/7) at 4 p.m. by the House Committee on Environment and Energy regarding the formation of an alternative jet fuels workgroup, and consideration on an Occupation Tax and Public Utility District Tax credit for producers manufacturing minimum quantities of alternative jet fuel and encouraging location of said facilities in counties with populations less than 650,000. 2/7/23 Scheduled for Public Hearing in House Energy and Environment at 4 p.m.; opportunity to comment - Click here to submit public comment The 2023 Tri-Cities Day at the Capitol event was a huge success! Thank you to all of the participants - it was great seeing you in Olympia. Support the Tri-Cities community at the first “Day at the Capitol” since 2020! Your organization can sponsor the Tri-Cities reception and help highlight the community to state legislators and government officials.
Sponsorship levels: Gold Sponsor $2,000 (no longer available)
Silver Sponsor $1,000 (4 available)
Bronze Sponsor $500 (5 available)
Send sponsorship expressions of interest to Staci West, TCLC co-chair, at sawest@bechtel.com. On March 11th, the Washington Building Code Council will meet to consider several proposals to the state commercial energy code (WSEC-C). These proposals will ban natural gas for use in space heating and water heating new and retrofit commercial buildings. For background and information on the proposals, go here.
While these policies are currently restricted to the commercial energy code, we expect similar policies to be proposed for the residential code later this year. This is just the first move in a wider effort to limit customer choice in the energy sector. Because the additional regulations and increased costs will have an adverse impact on the economic vitality and development of our region, the Chamber is opposed to the proposed code changes. The public will have the opportunity to provide comment on March 11th at 10am. If you would like to make a comment, sign up using the form on this webpage. A public hearing has been scheduled in the House Environment and Energy Committee for Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 10:00 a.m. for House Bill 1871 concerning the siting of alternative energy facilities. TCRCC Supports this bill and calls on members to participate in the legislative process by testifying at the hearing, submitting written comments, or having your position noted for the record.
Bill sponsor Mark Klicker, 16th Legislative District Representative, introduced the bill after recognizing the need for equity in the siting process of the clean energy movement. Klicker introduced House Bill 1871 on Friday in the House Environment and Energy Committee. However, due to a shortage of time, public testimony on the bill was postponed till Tuesday, Jan. 25. HB 1871 includes a short-term moratorium on the siting of alternative energy facilities (including the Horse Heaven Wind Farm) until December 2023, to establish a legislative task force that would:
HB 1871 would not impact the development or siting of small modular nuclear reactors. "Too many rural counties are being forced to house alternative energy facilities but are seeing nothing in return. It's time to revisit the process to determine where these sites are located and who is benefitting from them," said Klicker. "We need to create a plan that works for our rural counties and the people that live there, and not just the counties that use the energy." Those wishing to submit written comments, testify remotely on the bill, or let their position be noted for the legislative record, may go to: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House. Select "Environment and Energy Committee" with the meeting schedule of 01/25/22 8:00 am, and then select "HB 1871 Alt. energy facility siting." |
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|