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The Lobbyist's Report
Week 8 of 2014 Session: The Beginning of the End
The Legislature is beginning to wind things down as the session is scheduled to end on Thursday, March 13. Both chambers have unveiled their supplemental budget proposals, and the negotiations that will allow them to end on time are starting in earnest.
When session started, there was some hope that the transportation revenue negotiations would get a jump start, but that has not occurred. The Majority Coalition Caucus (MCC) did introduce a new proposal over the weekend: SB 6577 (raises revenue), SB 6578 (allocates revenue), and SB 6579 (bonds the revenue). Yet, there are only two signatures on each of the bills: Senate Transportation Co-Chair, Senator Curtis King, and MCC leader, Senator Rodney Tom.
The supplemental transportation and capital budget proposals from both chambers can best be described as bare-bones; neither of these budgets had much funding capacity to work with. In either case, it should not take much negotiation to reach agreement on a final proposal.
Concerning bills that impact planning, there are not many still in play. Many bills perished over the last several weeks including bills regarding vesting, school siting outside of the UGA, and impact fees.
Listed below is what's left, and it is a short list. Two of the bills, HB 1224 and
SB 6194, are essentially the same, and only one of them will reach the Governor's desk. The vote totals from the chamber of origin are included because it highlights that only bills with overwhelming support had a chance this session.
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Bill #
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Summary
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Status
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Vote
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1224
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Opting out of Voluntary GMA planning: Impacts counties of Ferry, Columbia, Pend Oreille, and Garfield. If in compliance, then may opt out of GMA.
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S Rules
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H: 75-19
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6194
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Process for county to withdraw from voluntary planning under GMA:
Similar to HB 1224, except the authority expires on 12/31/15.
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H Rules
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S: 47-0
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6330
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Housing/urban growth areas: Allows rural counties to offer a property tax exemption for multi-family housing projects within unincorporated urban growth areas. Requires the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to assess the performance of the tax preference with reference to the intent and public policy objective.
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H Rules
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S: 44-5
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APA Washington Legislative Committee |
