2018 FILE PHOTO — The capitol building is seen from a dock near Percival Landing Park in Olympia.
With scores of bills still pending in the second half of the legislative session in Olympia, county leaders are closely monitoring a number of key proposals — and bracing for potential financial fallout.
One proposal that does hold some promise for the county is Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to create a state office funded at $25 million to expand broadband access in rural Washington — long a priority for Lewis County leaders.
“From the county’s perspective, anything to fund broadband is great,” said county manager Erik Martin. “We want to see broadband. Obviously the idea and the goal is last-mile broadband, meaning extension into more rural areas, which benefits Lewis County.”
However, there’s concern that the broadband proposal will pull $7.5 million of its funding from the Public Works Assistance Account, which is designated for projects in local communities. Martin, a member of the state’s Public Works Board, said that funding shift could lead to fewer opportunities in other areas for places like Lewis County.
“We definitely want to see broadband expanded, but we have huge infrastructure needs — basic infrastructure, roads, water, sewer, storm drainage, bridges,” he said. “Any funding source we have for those is important too.”
The broadband bill has passed the Senate and awaits a hearing in the House.
Meanwhile, county officials are hoping legislators pass a bill — which has also made its way through the Senate — to permanently pay for ballot postage using state money, instead of letting that burden fall to voters or the county. That’s estimated to cost the state about $5 million over the next biennium.
“I understood it was sailing through the Legislature but when the fiscal note went on, they were like, ‘Whoa, that’s gonna be a lot of money,’” said county commissioner Edna Fund. “That could be a blow for us.”
Fund serves on the legislative steering committee for the Washington State Association of Counties and regularly reports to her fellow commissioners on the latest in the state capitol.
Another potentially pricey bill for the county deals with payment for mental health care for juveniles committed for involuntary treatment.
“If they need mental health services and they are not covered by insurance or family or Medicaid, it would fall to county, and that would be very expensive,” Fund said.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment this session was the failure of legislation to help counties pay for indigent defense, for which Lewis County paid $1.2 million in 2017. It’s chief among the many unfunded mandates — requirements that the state does not fully fund — the county has complained about.
“That has just been a tough one to swallow that we’re not going to get anything this year on that,” Fund said.
Bills to ban plastic bags and straws have also drawn the attention of county leaders. The straw ban, some worry, would need to be enforced by local public health departments, which could put more of a burden on county employees. Fund said the county is also monitoring the measure to ban plastic bags, citing its potential effect on local businesses.
Other issues Fund mentioned to her colleagues included law enforcement funding, public records law, the phaseout of hydrofluorocarbons, changes to the Growth Management Act and a bill to raise the smoking age to 21.
Fund is also pushing for funding for the Office of the Chehalis Basin, which has requested $73 million but only received $50 million in Inslee’s budget proposal. Beyond policy issues, Fund also praised Rep. Ed Orcutt’s, R-Kalama, bill to rename a state Route 507 bridge over the Skookumchuck River after a Regina Clark, a Centralia servicewoman who was killed in Iraq.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said.
