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County legislative consultant briefs commissioners on multiple bills as cutoff approaches
Summary
Mike Burgess gave an update from Olympia on March 11, telling Spokane County commissioners which bills his team is tracking ahead of a Wednesday cutoff and flagging several items of concern, including a waste-to-energy bill and proposed changes to the Growth Management Act planning language.
Mike Burgess, staff member presenting the Olympia update, told Spokane County commissioners on March 11 that the legislative session had entered a phase in which most measures were “out on the house and senate floors” and that his team would be monitoring a number of bills through the Wednesday cutoff.
Burgess said the local government planning bill related to the Growth Management Act had been amended after House consideration and “we should be neutral on that bill.” He asked staff to monitor the Senate hearing scheduled for March 13 and said he planned to change the county’s prior oppose position to neutral if the amended language remained intact.
Burgess listed several other bills the county has tracked: a competency evaluation bill the county remains opposed to because of potential cost impacts; a 9-1-1 funding bill that had been advanced to the House floor calendar and could be voted on imminently; a companion pair of bills to delay comprehensive plans (one on the Senate second-reading calendar and a House companion); a behavioral-health reprocurement bill that had moved out of House rules and could give counties “additional flexibility”; and multiple public-safety bills, including a law-enforcement aviation bill and a personnel grant proposal to hire new law-enforcement officers.
On environmental and energy legislation, Burgess said the environmental-crimes bill had passed the Senate and had a House hearing scheduled March 13; he said the county would register opposition and reiterated concerns about workforce impacts for wastewater plant hiring. Burgess also flagged a timeline bill that had passed the Senate and a waste-to-energy bill that “has not moved out of rules” and needed to clear the Senate before the 5 p.m. deadline on Wednesday; he said he would dig into why it remained in rules.
Commissioners and staff discussed whether there were alternate vehicles to secure a delay in implementing any policy the county opposed. Kyle (staff member) said there has been discussion of a more holistic review of elements of the Climate Commitment Act, and Burgess and other county staff said they would follow up with legislative contacts, including Senator Richelli, and with city colleagues.
Why it matters: several of the bills Burgess named could affect county operations, local revenues and workforce planning if they move, and the March 12–13 window is a critical cutoff for many measures.
What’s next: Burgess said his team will monitor the bills through the Wednesday cutoff and report back to the commissioners; staff and commissioners also planned to check possible alternate vehicles for specific relief if one bill fails to advance.
