Spokane County lobbyist briefs commissioners on fast‑moving session; GMA, aviation, waste‑to‑energy and behavioral health bills highlighted

Mike Burgess, Spokane County’s lobbyist, briefed commissioners on Feb. 18 about the state legislative session as it approached the first policy‑committee cutoff and the second, fiscal cutoff two weeks later.

Burgess and county planning counsel Scott told commissioners two bills — Senate and House measures numbered in the transcript as 1135 and 5197 — would change how prior nonconforming uses are treated under local codes and called those bills “problematic” for counties. “They turn sort of on its ear the well established tradition in planning and zoning of a prior nonconforming use,” Scott said, warning that the language could penalize jurisdictions that try to correct a nonconforming situation.

Burgess reviewed other bills on Spokane County’s legislative agenda. He said House Bill 1969, creating a law enforcement aviation support program, would establish state grant funding and could place Spokane as an eastern‑Washington recipient for one of four statewide grant awards. Burgess characterized the bill as a potential alternative to the county’s capital request for a county helicopter and said local law‑enforcement agencies are largely supportive.

On waste‑to‑energy, Burgess and Commissioner Jordan discussed Senate Bill 5703, which would exempt the county’s municipal waste‑to‑energy facility from coverage under the Climate Commitment Act beginning in a later year. Commissioner Jordan described the exemption as aligned with the county’s legislative agenda and said the plant’s economic viability could be threatened by carbon‑pricing compliance costs if relief is not granted. “Without some relief, the waste to energy plant is really threatened economically and may need to be closed ultimately,” Jordan said. Opponents around the state have argued that exemptions could encourage other incineration projects.

On behavioral health, Justin (identified as speaking for WASAC priorities) summarized House Bill 1813 as a carve‑out and reprocurement measure intended to ensure crisis services funding flows directly to behavioral‑health administrative service organizations (BHASOs) rather than through managed‑care organizations. “This bill carves it out and will allow the BHA to determine not only the payment rate for all Medicaid and non‑Medicaid services, but be able to act, quickly and responsibly to those individuals,” Justin said.

Burgess and staff also updated commissioners on a series of other bills the county tracks: a regional 9‑1‑1 funding measure remaining in the House Finance Committee; law‑enforcement hiring bills with companion measures moving in one chamber; a comp‑plan timeline extension measure (House 1700 / Senate 5558) that has moved from committee; and a public‑defense fiscal bill in the senate. Burgess cautioned commissioners that many proposals with fiscal impacts face a difficult budget environment this session.

Commissioners directed lobbyists and staff to continue working with the county’s delegation on the GMA‑related language and other bills as needed. There were no votes taken on legislative positions at the briefing; staff said they will follow up as committee action develops.

Ending: Burgess asked commissioners for direction to continue advocacy and to coordinate with regional partners; staff said they would return with specific bill language and suggested fixes where possible.