Rep. Warnick’s Update from Olympia: April 4, 2013

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

With less than a month to go in this 105-day session, there’s a lot that remains to be accomplished. The operating, capital and transportation budgets must be passed before the Legislature can adjourn April 28. I have been working with my Democrat counterpart on the capital budget. While there are many requests, more than $3 billion from state agencies alone, we have a limited debt capacity of $1.8 billion. Although I would love to fund every worthwhile project, including those in our own 13th District, we must be prudent with the debt capacity for this two-year budget. The governor has proposed using nearly all of our debt capacity this year, but I disagree. We must ensure we save some funding for next year’s supplemental budget for emergencies and additional schools that pass bonds.

I’m pleased to share with you that it appears the abortion mandate bill is dead for the year. Thanks to those of you who wrote to me about this bill.

Telephone town hall a success

I want to thank everyone who joined us for the telephone town hall with me and Matt Manweller last week. We had more than 2,000 people on the call at one point during the hour-long conversation. We talked directly with 25 different people from Cle Elum to Odessa and Mattawa to Quincy. Some of the concerns I heard repeatedly were about access to public lands, taxes, wolves and health care. Here are the results of our poll questions:

1. Would you support a proposal to change the current Achievement Index on schools from labeling them with qualitative words such as “good” to a new grading system of A through F?

Yes – 75%

No – 25%

(133 people voted)

2. Would you support a transportation package that would increase gas taxes by 8 to 10 cents per gallon in order to fund road maintenance and new transportation projects?

Yes, if it’s tied to transportation spending reforms – 4%

Yes, we need better road and rail infrastructure for economic growth – 11%

No, I do not support a gas tax increase at this time – 85%

We are still working on returning calls from people who left voicemails. Thanks again to those who participated, it was great talking with you!

Governor’s budget and tax outline

Last week, the governor introduced his first budget proposal. I’m disappointed that Governor Inslee so quickly broke his promise to not increase taxes, and proposed $1.2 billion in tax increases. He wants to increase taxes on everything from vehicle trade-ins to bottled water to farm auctions and much more! The governor also proposed making “temporary” taxes on beer and small businesses permanent. These small businesses include beauty shop owners, dentists, veterinarians, real estate agents and many more. On top of these tax increases, Governor Inslee also wants to increase tuition at four-year universities by 5 percent! You can read more about his budget proposals here. Increasing taxes is not the right approach when the economy is struggling to stabilize, and college students can’t afford tuition to go up at all.

Wolf management in the Legislature

Many in Eastern Washington are aware and concerned about the expanding wolf population. In Teanaway, there is a known pack and many are concerned about the wolves’ aggressive behavior and threat to not only property and livestock, but public safety as well. The Legislature has considered several bills to address wolves, including:

House Bill 1501 to set up a wolf interaction conflict account to reimburse people whose livestock is injured or killed by a wolf. This passed the House (I voted “yes”), and received a hearing in the Senate. It awaits a vote in the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee.
Senate Bill 5187 would allow people to defend their pets and livestock during a wolf attack on their private property. This bill was supported by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and passed the Senate. It received a hearing in the House March 20. Read more about the hearing here, and an injured dog named Shelby who was attacked by a wolf on the owner’s porch. The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee (on which I serve) needs to pass this bill to move it forward. I support it.
Senate Bill 5193 would create a mechanism for livestock owners to be reimbursed for livestock injured or killed by a wolf. It passed the Senate 28-21 and had a hearing in the House March 20 but did not move out of committee in time for the deadline.

Economic growth

I was pleased to come home early last Friday for the ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome Aviation Technical Services to Moses Lake. The company’s expansion means 50 jobs now, and 100 more in the future. Read this story in the Columbia Basin Herald about the event. I am so pleased to see continued economic growth in our district!

Speaking of economic growth, I have been meeting with several groups to discuss how we can maintain and improve the rail system that is so vital to our area and moving agriculture products to market. Rail also keeps trucks off the road which eases congestion for commuters and travelers over the pass.

Yakima Basin Water Management Plan

I have written you previously about House Bill 1414 to implement the integrated water management plan for the Yakima Basin. Though the bill has not moved forward, I expect the plan to be funded in the capital budget. This will help leverage federal dollars to ensure we have adequate water storage during drought years.

As always, please feel free to contact my office anytime. I appreciate hearing from you and I’m honored to serve you.

Sincerely,