Interim Update
Following the adjournment of the 2019 Legislature in April, attention
has focused primarily on Governor Inslee’s presidential campaign, as well as
the House Democrats’ decision on who would succeed Frank Chopp (D-43, Seattle)
as Speaker of the House. A handful of
other changes at the Legislature have also occurred.
Governor & Statewide Elected Office News
The first major domino has fallen as Governor Inslee has given up his
presidential campaign and will be running for Governor a third time. With the decision, many top-level Democrats
will remain in their current positions rather than challenging the incumbent
Governor. State Attorney General Bob
Ferguson has pivoted to running for re-election as AG. Likewise, Hilary Franz will be running for a
second term as Commissioner of Public Lands.
King County Executive Dow Constantine has similarly announced a
re-election bid for his current position.
Each of these three had well-known candidates lining up to run as
potential replacement, but each will instead be staying put: Rep. Drew Hansen (D-23, Bainbridge Island)
will run for re-election to the House instead of AG; Solicitor General Noah
Purcell will remain on Bob Ferguson’s staff rather than challenge for AG; Seattle City
Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez will remain in Seattle rather than running for
AG; and Senator Christine Rolfes (D-23, Bainbridge Island) will run for
re-election to the State Senate rather than challenge for an open seat as
Public Lands Commissioner. At present,
only Rep. Mike Pellicciotti (D-30, Federal Way) will for certain be vacating
his House seat to run for statewide office, challenging incumbent Republican Duane
Davidson for State Treasurer.
On the Republican side, Senator Phil Fortunato (R-31, Auburn/Enumclaw)
has announced he will be running for Governor in 2020. Sen. Fortunato is not up for re-election in
the Senate until 2022, and thus will not need to vacate his seat to run for
Governor. Also announcing a bid for
Governor as a Republican is Sheriff Loren Culp from the City of Republic. Former US Representative and King County
Sheriff, Dave Riechart, who had been mentioned as a possible candidate, has
announced he will not be challenging the Governor in 2020.
Legislative News
House Democrats, at a full caucus meeting on July 31, selected Rep.
Laurie Jinkins (D-27, Tacoma) to fill the role of Speaker of the House. Rep. Jinkins has served in the Legislature
since 2011 and has most recently served as Chair of the House Civil Rights
& Judiciary Committee along with serving on the House Appropriations and
Health Care & Wellness Committees.
She is expected to take the reins officially when the Legislature
reconvenes in January 2020.
Other legislative movement has also occurred:
·
Rep.
Derek Stanford (D-1, Bothel) has been appointed to the Senate to fill the seat
vacated by Guy Palumbo (D-1, Maltby), who resigned in May;
·
Bothell
City Counncilmember Davina Duerr was appointed to fill Rep. Stanford’s seat;
·
Senator
Barbara Bailey (R-10, Oak Harbor) has announced her resignation from the
Senate, effective September 30;
·
Senator
Hans Zeiger (R-25, Puyallup) has announced he will not seek re-election to the
Senate but will instead vie for the Pierce Council seat being vacated by the
retirement of former Senator Pam Roach;
·
Rep.
Chris Gildon (R-25, Puyallup) has announced he will be running for the Senate
seat held by Sen. Zeiger, thus opening up his House seat in the 2020 election;
In campaign news, Senator Liz Lovelett (D-40, Anacortes) made it
through the primary and is a safe bet to retain the seat to which she was
appointed in February, replacing Sen. Kevin Ranker, who resigned early in the legislative
session. Similarly, Rep. Alex Ybarra
(R-13, Quincy) is a safe bet to win election to finish the term originally won
by Rep. Matt Manweller, who resigned prior to session. The 2019 General Election will be held on
November 5.
Committee Assembly
Days
The Legislature will briefly convene for Committee Assembly Days on
various days this fall. Committee work
sessions and interim updates will be heard by a number of committees during
this time. The Senate will meet on
November 20-21, while the House will meet on September 12-13, and again on
November 21-22. The 2020 Legislature
will convene Monday, January 13, 2020, and will run for 60 consecutive days.
2020 Legislative
Agenda
The WFC Legislative Committee, after survey results and input from WFC
membership, has offered the following as the 2020 Top 5 Legislative Issues:
·
Funding/Revenue
o
Cost recovery (HB
1169)
o
Permanent authority
for fire benefit charge
o
Restructuring 1%
property tax growth limit
o
EMS levy cap
increase to $0.75
o
Constitutional
change to move fire outside the $10 property tax limit
·
Wildland Policy
o
Pre-positioning of
mobilization
o
Increased funding
for wildland fire prevention and suppression (SB 5996)
o Full reimbursement to jurisdictions for mobilization
personnel & equipment costs
·
Volunteer FF Pension
Increase (HB 1912/SB 5829)
·
JATC Funding &
Sustainability
·
WSAFM Issues
o
Food truck safety
(HB 1134)
o
Townhome fire safety
o
Adult Family Home
(AFH) fire safety (HB 1023)
Several bills are alive on these issues heading into 2020, and several
more will be crafted in advance of the session:
HB 1169
(Peterson/Griffey), Cost Recovery for Auto Accidents – Entitles fire protection districts,
regional fire protection service authorities, and municipal fire departments to
recover the actual costs associated with the cleanup or removal of hazardous
waste and other hazardous materials from insurers.
·
Passed
the House and passed from the Senate Financial Institutions Committee, but
failed to pass the full Senate prior to cutoff; the bill is alive for action in
2020.
SB 5996 (Van De Wege),
Funding Wildland Fire Prevention & Suppression – Creates a surcharge on
property and casualty insurance premiums to fund the newly-created Wildfire
Prevention and Suppression Account, to be used for emergency firefighting,
preparedness, fire suppression activities fire prevention, and forest health
activities.
·
Passed
from the Senate Ways & Means Committee but failed to pass full Senate prior
to cutoff; alive in 2020.
HB 1912 (Blake)/ SB 5829 (Mullet),
Volunteer FF Pension Increase – Increases the annual disability relief fees for members and
employers of volunteer firefighters, emergency medical workers, and law enforcement
reserve officers. Increases the pension paid to volunteers from a maximum of
$300, to a maximum of $350 plus $10 per month for each year the retirement fee
is paid beyond 25 years.
·
Passed
the House but failed to pass the Senate prior to cutoff; alive for 2020.
HB 1134 (Peterson), Food Truck
Inspections – Requires
the State Building Code Council to establish and adopt rules relating to fire
permits for food trucks. Requires all food trucks to: (1) be annually inspected
by a local fire district; (2) obtain a valid state fire permit sticker upon
successful compliance with the state fire permit requirements; and (3) affix
and display a current valid state fire permit. Establishes a check list of
requirements that food truck vendors must comply with in order to obtain a
valid statewide fire permit. Requires the Department of Licensing to create
state fire permit stickers and distribute them to local fire districts
throughout the state. Makes it a civil infraction for any person to remove,
replicate, or otherwise interfere with the display of a state fire permit.
·
Passed
from the Local Gov Committee, but failed to pass Appropriations prior to
cutoff; alive again in 2020. A different
bill regarding health inspections of food trucks did pass.
HB 1023 (Macri), Adult-Family Homes 6-8
Bed Increase – Allows
adult family homes to increase their bed capacity from six to seven or eight
beds if they meet specified licensing standards, including that the home is in
compliance with DSHS rules regarding emergency evacuation and that the home has
a residential sprinkler system in place for residents who require assistance
during an evacuation.
- Passed both chambers, but failed to receive a concurrence vote by
the House; alive again in 2020.
Other Bills
of Interest – Wildland
HB 1188 (Dent), Rangeland Fire
Protection Associations
– Authorizes the creation of Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs).
Establishes criteria for the formation, operation, and membership of RFPAs.
Requires the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide certain
information to RFPAs concerning the DNR's wildfire detection, prevention, and
suppression activities. Authorizes both the DNR and fire protection service
agencies to enter into agreements with RFPAs for the detection, prevention, or
suppression of wildfires. Directs the DNR to assist RFPAs, to the extent
practicable, in procuring funding, equipment, and training. Authorizes the DNR
to develop recommendations concerning the formation, management, operation, and
training for RFPAs. Requires the Department of Labor and Industries to adopt an
exterior firefighting training and certification standard that is appropriate
for rangeland firefighting.
·
Failed
to pass from House Appropriations prior to cutoff; alive for 2020
SB 5996 (Van De Wege), Wildfire
Prevention & Suppression Funding – Creates a surcharge on property and casualty insurance premiums of
0.52 percent. Allocates the revenue raised to the new Wildfire Prevention and
Suppression Account. Prioritizes expenditures from the Wildfire Prevention and
Suppression account in the following order: (1) emergency firefighting, (2)
preparedness, (3) fire suppression activities of agencies other than DNR, (4)
fire prevention, and (5) forest health activities.
- Failed to pass prior to adjournment; alive again in 2020.
Other Bills
of Interest – WSAFM
HB 1754 (Santos), Hosting of Homeless
by Religious Organizations – Places new limitations on the ability of counties, cities or towns,
and code cities to regulate outdoor encampments, safe parking efforts, indoor
overnight shelters, and temporary small houses on property owned or controlled
by a religious organization. Allows a county, city or town, or code city to
require a religious organization hosting the homeless and the agency managing
the hosting to enter into a memorandum of understanding to protect the public
health and safety of residents. Requires religious organizations hosting the
homeless to comply with certain regulations relating to sex offender checks,
vehicle and driver laws, and the homeless client management information system.
·
Failed
to pass the House prior to cutoff; alive again in 2020.
HB 1337 (Barkis), Code Enforcement
Officers – Expands the
list of aggravating circumstances that may support imposition of an exceptional
sentence above the standard sentencing range to include assault of a code
enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity.
·
Failed
to pass the House prior to cutoff; alive again in 2020.
Other Bills
of Interest – General
HB 1553 (Riccelli)/SB 5517 (Cleveland),
Ambulance Quality Assurance Fee – Establishes a quality assurance fee to be paid by all
ambulance transport providers.
·
Both
bills received hearings but failed to advance prior to cutoff; alive again in
2020.