Deputy City Manager Richees Sedel introduced a review of the City of Pasco's draft 2026 legislative priorities, followed by a presentation from Brianna Murray, a state lobbyist with Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Relations. Murray told the council the 2026 session is the second year of the state's biennium and is a 60-day short session that typically produces modest policy changes and limited new funding.

Murray said the state is facing a mid-biennial revenue shortfall and advised Pasco to keep a concise agenda. "I strongly encourage a very focused legislative agenda," she said, noting that the legislature will be focused on budget shortfalls and will be cautious ahead of many members' re-election campaigns. Murray summarized Association of Washington Cities priorities and recommended Pasco limit requests to five to eight items aligned with likely funding opportunities.

The draft funding requests Murray reviewed include a $972,000 request for the Regional Police Training Academy (a regional facility serving multiple legislative districts), a $30,000,000 construction request for the Road 76 Overpass, a $3,000,000 request to analyze the US 12 and A Street interchange, an advocacy strategy to secure an estimated $80,000,000 in loans/grants for Butterfield Water Treatment Plant improvements, and a request that the legislature restore water-banking grant funds cut in 2025. Murray cautioned that the operating budget is difficult to access in a short session, that transportation funding will be constrained until 2027, and that the capital budget is the most likely place to find supplemental allocations.

Council members asked clarifying questions about the level of outside support for individual requests. Mayor Pro Tem Paul Timmer Grama asked whether private-sector partners are prepared to contribute to the US 12 work; Murray said Amazon had added the project to its priority list and would lend advocacy support in Olympia but was not providing direct project funds. Grama said he supported keeping the Road 76 Overpass on the list despite low near-term odds of funding. Several council members praised the focus on local decision-making and asked staff to return a final agenda for adoption before the council's scheduled December 8 meeting with state legislators.

Staff said they would bring the draft back for formal adoption at a subsequent meeting and use the December 8 briefing with legislators to press the finalized priorities.