HomeMy WebLinkAboutHandout - Doug Levy 2017 Session—Last Week of Regular Session
Report to Renton City Council
By Doug Levy—Monday,April 17,2017
This is the last week of the 2017 Regular Session,which almost certainly will spill into at least one
Special Session for the Legislature to complete Operating and Capital Budget negotiations and find
common ground on a K-12 funding proposal to comply with the McCleary decision.
Here is an outline of where we stand as lawmakers finish one Regular Session and head into another:
Areas of bi��est concern
• 2017-19 Operating Budgets—LEOFF 2, Fire Insurance Premium Tax distributions, marijuana
revenue: The 2017-19 Operating Budget(ESSB 5048)approved by the Senate would shift all
state obligations for LEOFF 2 pension responsibilities onto local governments—an impact of
about$420,000 a year for Renton. The Senate budget also puts at risk the continued funding for
Fire Insurance Premium Tax Distributions that are a $148,000 a year source of revenue. Lastly,
the House-passed budget(Striking Amendment to ESSB 5048) conditions the $15 million a year
in marijuana revenue going to cities and counties in 2017-19, and expresses legislative intent to
lower it to $6 million in 2019-21. We will be workin�to remove all of these dama�in� provisions
from the final 2017-19 bud�et.
• "5G"Legislation—56 5711: During Session,telecommunications firms such as Verizon,
Comcast,AT&T, and others sought this legislation, sponsored by Senate Energy, Environment,
and Telecommunications Committee Chair poug Ericksen (R-Ferndale/42"d Dist.)with the stated
intention of"streamlining" the deployment of the new 5G `micro-cell' technology. However,
initial versions of the bill would have significantly undermined local right-of-way authority and
fee recovery authority, leading cities to adamantly oppose the bill. At the request of Sen.
Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle/36th Dist.),the AWC and individual cities spent many hours crafting a
Model Policy that cities would have to adopt by Jan. 1, 2018 or July 1, 2018 (depending on
population). 5711 ended up 'dying' on the Senate Floor Calendar—but in the name of bundling
this idea with advancements in rural broadband service,the Governor's Office has been
convening stakeholder meetings for weeks to see if compromise would be possible. To date, it
has not. AWC�Cities have made clear that anvthin� bevond a Model Policv is unacceptable.
• 56 5864,ending homelessness: This bill contained pre-emptive language that,for example,
would have precluded cities from regulating homelessness encampments. While 5864 itself did
not clear the Senate Floor by last Tuesday, it may still be "alive" by virtue of'ending
homelessness'funds being factored into the Senate-passed budget.
Breathin�a si�h of relief:
• We feel very good about beating back nearly all the "bad bills" (from a cities perspective)
proposed during the 2017 Session. The latest of the "dead bills" we had concerns over was SSB
5038 regarding the incentivized use of criminal informants—it died on the House Calendar.
Si�nificant`value-added;fundin�items, policv bills,etc:
• Sunset Area Park—Renton Priority: We have funding in both the Senate-passed and House-
passed Capital Budgets so a final budget with dollars in it is virtually assured. We greatly prefer
the Senate's$3.05M level to the House's$1M and will work to hold onto that in the end.
• Basic Law Enforcement Academy Funds—Renton priority: Both the Senate-passed and House-
passed Operating budgets provides new funding for"BLEA" training classes—with the Senate
budget doing more (eight(8) new classes per year vs.six(6)). The House is the only budget with
supplemental operating funds of$2.4 million to get new classes on the ground now, before the
next biennium kicks in. We are workin�to keep the supplemental dollars and the Senate's
2017-19 funding level in the final deal.
• 405 Corridor Funding Proviso—Renton priority: With both the Senate and House now having
passed 2017-19 Transportation Budgets,we are assured of having a proviso included that
directs 405 corridor savings be plowed back into the corridor. There mav be more precise
lan�ua�e added on "Connectin�Washington before all is said and done.
• Public Records Act Modernization bills—Renton priority: It's now extremely likely that at least
one and probably two bills will head to the Governor's desk. Needing just a final House
concurrence is EHB 1595 by Rep.Terry Nealey(R-Dayton/16th),giving us the first authorization
ever to recover fees from electronic records requests,to reject requests for"any and all"
records, and to reject requests that have been consistently "bots-generated." Needing final
concurrence, and perhaps some negotiation over'metrics,' is ESHB 1594, providing explicit
statutory authority for local agencies to ask for clarification of complex/voluminous requests.
• Infrastructure Funding: While the final Capital Budgets need to be negotiated,we are virtually
assured of seeing a Public Works Loan list($97M)funded, at least$40M in stormwater project
investments, and$80 million in what is known as the Washington Wildlife, Recreation, and
Parks(WWRP) program.
• Streamlined business licensing: The Legislature will pass EHB 2005, ultimately moving all cities
to either the "FileLocal" or the state's"BLS" system for business licensing. We successfullv
fou�ht for a provision�ivin� us a three-vear window to choose on Filelocal.
Jurv Still Out on Exactiv How these will be resolved:
• Housing, Homelessness Bills—Renton priority--SSB 5254,SHB 1570,SHB 1797
• "Main Street"Tax Credit legislation—Renton supported—2SS6 5135
• Notices to non-English-speaking populations—SSB 5046
• Liquor revenue restoration—Renton priority—SHB 1113;
• 1 percent property tax modification—Renton priority—HB 1764
• "Tax fairness"/new revenue bill—SHB 2186
� 4�h DUI as felony—Renton-supported --SB 5037