By: Dylan Doty, WFC Lobbyist
Stakeholder Involvement
One of the key elements of success in 2015 was the significant amount of stakeholder involvement. For each and every bill that received a hearing during the 2015 session, the WFC was able to call upon those Chiefs that were most invested in the issue to either testify themselves or send someone from their agency to testify on their behalf. For the all-risk fire mobilization funding legislation, we were able to coordinate testimony from experts such as Fire Chief Dave LaFave and members of the Fire Defense Committee, as well as from individuals with a personal story to tell about the impact or potential impact of the legislation such as Assistant Chief Brad Reading and Fire Chief Eric Andrews, both of whom were intimately involved in the SR 530 landslide and who could have seen increased and expedited resources had this legislation been enacted in previous years. Similarly, on the legislation to enable Washington’s Ground Emergency Medical Transportation (GEMT) reimbursement program, direct testimony from Fire Chief Keith Wright of our sponsoring department of Central Pierce Fire & Rescue helped show the legislators that this was important to actual stakeholders and could mean a great deal to districts across our state.
Even on more straightforward issues that did not require panels with complex testimony, the ability to get a chief officer or a representative from an impacted department was critical. Simple and uncomplicated bills with no opposition can oftentimes slip between the cracks during a legislative session and fail to pass, as legislators may not see the significance of a “good little bill” that does not have a massive groundswell of support behind it. Our efforts to see the passage of HB 1222 concerning fire apparatus weight and length limits, as well as HB 1313 concerning biennial budget authority are prime examples of this, as without compelling testimony from Deputy Chief Mike Remington and other Bellevue staff (HB 1222) and Fire Chief Keith Wright and his staff (HB 1313) about the need and positive impacts of the proposals, those bills ran the risk of getting lost in the shuffle of more controversial issues that tend to bring out more vocal involvement from stakeholders.
Lastly, it never hurts to be able to get representatives from the Committee Chair’s legislative district to come testify on a bill before his/her committee. We saw success on this front on multiple proposals this session, as Deputy Chief Bud Backer’s testimony on the fire mobilization bill before Senator Andy Hill’s Ways & Means Committee, and Valley Regional Fire Authority Administrator Eric Robertson’s testimony on the RFA proposals before his local Senator Pam Roach’s Government Operations Committee helped put a vital local spin on the efforts and showed that those committee chairs had reason to support the measures based on constituent interest. Being able to recreate this type of involvement from our members will be key moving forward.
Sponsorship
Another key to legislative success is having invested sponsors on the House and Senate sides to help push the bill. A bill sponsor can come in many forms – it may be a key chair or member of a committee to which we know a bill will be referred; it may be a caucus leader on a particular issue; or it may be a seemingly
random member who does not serve on key committees but who has received a compelling constituent request to help move a particular issue forward. This year, we saw success from all of these types of champions. On the fire mobilization bill, our House sponsor, Representative Roger Goodman, is the Chair of the House Public Safety Committee to which the bill was referred. The Senate companion was sponsored by Senator Kirk Pearson, who had a personal connection to the bill’s subject matter as a Senator who represents the Oso area impacted by the devastating landslide in 2014. These two legislative champions worked together from opposite chambers to help ensure passage of this critical bill.
On the GEMT legislation, conversely, we were aided tremendously by the legislators from the sponsoring agency’s district – Central Pierce Fire & Rescue’s Puyallup-based legislators of Senator Bruce Dammeier and Representative Hans Zeiger. The constituent support angle proved critical, as both members were invested in moving the bill forward not just because of the subject matter and public policy aspects, but because it was of personal interest to a major constituent. This same element was at play on the aforementioned fire apparatus bill where Representative Joan McBride and Senator Steve Litzow prime sponsored companion bills that were pushed primarily by the City of Bellevue Fire Department. Similarly, the biennial budget bills were aided by the same constituent involvement of Central Pierce with Representative Zeiger and Senator Dammeier helping move them forward despite not sitting on the policy committees to which the bills were referred.
Timing
One element of legislative success that is sometimes more difficult to predict is the importance of timing. It is often said that there is no rhyme or reason for when a bill may ultimately pass the legislature. While this is true in many cases, there are certain instances when a bill may be riper for action than other times.
One example of this is the fire mobilization bill, which had been pushed for several years but had failed to gain traction. This year, however, in the aftermath of a clear incident in which the exact policy being pushed would have been utilized (the tragic landslide on SR 530), the legislature reacted by unanimously passing a bill that had languished under concerns (real or perceived) for two sessions.
Similarly, the GEMT legislation was a partial recipient of good timing. The legislation, while complicated and somewhat difficult to explain in a short, concise manner, saw very limited opposition in its first year of discussion, and ultimately passed with strong bi-partisan support. This was the case, in part, because of good timing. The State is currently faced with the need to increase spending from the general fund budget to help pay for a court-mandated increase in funding for K-12 education. The GEMT proposal benefited this year by being one of the few proposals that could realistically be seen to actually increase general fund revenues rather than reduce them. In 2015, any proposal that cost money would have been difficult to pass; conversely, any proposal that even potentially raised general fund revenue, was looked upon quite favorably, as every penny counted this year.
Legwork & Relationships
Last but not least in the equation for legislative success is doing the legwork up front, before session begins, and building and maintaining the key relationships with both legislators and staff that will help keep a bill moving even when political or other pressures threaten to derail the efforts. One of the primary components of the WFC’s success in 2015 was our efforts during the interim and over the years to engage legislators and cultivate friends on both sides of the political aisle – Democrat and Republican alike. In the case of each of our pieces of legislation in 2015, discussions with potential sponsors, key committee members, and caucus leadership, as well as with the staff who would ultimately have to help explain the bill and any potential amendments, began well before the start of session in January. This is true every year, as these interim meetings afford the opportunity to sit down with a legislator and walk through an issue in more complex detail – something that cannot be accomplished once session has begun. These types of occasions, which often take place over a cup of coffee or a meal in the legislator’s home district, allow for us to get to know the Representatives and Senators who will be making our laws, and also allow for more time than the typical 10 or 15-minute meetings we get once session begins. It is here that friendships and common interests can grow, which makes the legislative process that much smoother once session is underway. While it is difficult to quantify exactly how much impact this element has on the success or failure of a given issue, the successes we enjoyed in 2015 were due in large part to the relationships we have cultivated both inside the legislature and outside with other stakeholders. As we look to build on these successes moving forward, we need to ensure that our relationships remain strong.
Conclusion
As the WFC looks forward to its next set of legislative goals, some of which have been on the table for many years already, it is important to remember the elements that help lead to successful passage of a bill. Each year, thousands of bills are introduced, and only a small percentage of them become law. And even when all the above-mentioned factors work together, there is still no guarantee of getting a bill passed, as there are simply too many stops along the road where a bill can get hung up for any number of reasons. At the end of the day, though, we are fortunate to have seen a number of our efforts result in success in 2015, and if we can continue to see strong stakeholder involvement and invested sponsors, a little bit of good timing coupled with strong relationships and advance leg work will hopefully result in even more successes in the coming years.