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Committee extends Yakima Basin integrated plan deadlines, restores trust interest payments
Summary
Engrossed substitute Senate Bill 53-03, extending Yakima Basin Integrated Plan milestones and related requirements through 2035, was reported out of committee with a due-pass as amended recommendation (11-0). An amendment restored continuing interest payments on a loan from the common school trust.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-0 on April 1 to report engrossed substitute Senate Bill 53-03 out of committee with a due-pass as amended recommendation.
Staff told members the bill would extend certain milestone deadlines and a cost-benefit analysis requirement for the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan until 2035. Representative Reeves moved an amendment (Schmiel 064) that removes a Senate amendment which would have ended interest payments on a loan that funds part of the project; the committee adopted the amendment and later voted to report the bill as amended.
Representative Reeves explained the amendment restores the obligation to continue making interest payments on the loan "until such a time as the principal on the loan has been repaid." Reeves said maintaining the payments fulfills the committee's obligations to trust beneficiaries, including schoolchildren and local taxing authorities.
Representative Dent, speaking in support, described the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan as a longstanding, multi-stakeholder effort and urged the committee to extend the plan's timeline so participants can meet outstanding obligations. Representative Springer also recommended a yes vote, describing the plan as a national model but noting that water storage and allocation are complex and time-consuming.
The motion to adopt the amendment passed by voice vote; subsequent motion to report the bill out of committee with the adopted amendments incorporated passed by voice vote. The clerk recorded 11 ayes, 0 nays, 0 excused or absent.
