Legislators Report to the County

Regional Reps describe work on education, ferries, mental health, tax reform, oil spills and tourism

— by Diane Martindale —

Washington State Representatives Kristine Lytton and Jeff Morris gave wrap-up reviews of the 60-day legislative session to a packed public audience in County Council Chambers on Thursday, April 3.

Lytton serves on the Agriculture, Finance, Appropriations, Education and Rules Committees.  Representative Morris serves on the Environmental, Transportation, Economic Development and Technology and Energy committees.

Opening the comments from the audience, County Council member, Rick Hughes complimented both legislators on their efforts for the county and reinforced the need for more help on ferry issues and a second terminal for San Juan Island. Hughes asked for support on funding new infrastructure for broadband technology, which is particularly needed in Cape San Juan on the south end of San Juan Island and Lopez Village.

Hughes also emphasized the need to restrict shipping traffic of oil, coal and other natural resources and to increase oil spill protection. In terms of the shipping of coal and oil, Hughes said “our county receives all the threats and none of the benefits” of such industry.”

Lytton said that public education is her priority and that the McCleary State Supreme Court decision and the legislature’s lack of complete funding mean “real dollars” are lost to school districts. This year the Senate added tax exemptions that made education funding even more difficult by eroding the financial base. “Collaboration is necessary to solve these problems and we can’t get the Senate to show up,” she said.

Lytton reported that while the House was disappointed in not finding all the money to fund public education, they did budget $60 million for books and supplies, “ a small step toward what we need to be doing.”

Representative Lytton also spent time this session analyzing various taxes, asking questions such as, ”Are the taxes we collect enough to do what we want done in the state?” “Are tax loopholes producing the intended economic benefit, or are they becoming entitlement programs?”  Both legislators feel that it is time to weigh each tax break against the services needed in the state.

Morris received high praise from the audience and the County Council for his work funding  a new ferry for the islands.(He noted that this was the first time in many, many years that the legislature did not pass a supplemental capital budget, which is necessary to fund additional ferries.

As they could not get the bills out of the Senate, bills for infrastructure projects translating into up to 50,000 jobs failed.

“We funded one ferry but need four to seven more,” Morris said. After all the difficulties this year, (this winter we had no backup ferry even with the reduced schedule), he feels that San Juan County is the “poster-child for ferry transportation issues.”

Morris committed to attend the Ferry Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for April 30.

There was discussion of the ferry reservation system and the use of LNG (liquid natural gas) to reduce air pollution and energy costs on the ferries.

Morris also worked to reauthorize tax credits for solar and wind energy; and to set up rules for use of drones, (aka “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement”); and to ensure safeguards for individual rights.

Comments from the audience included federal jurisdiction over shipping of fuels in our waterways and enforcement of current regulations in that industry. Morris emphasized that increased rail traffic requires better inspection of hauling practices. “We do what we can” but many areas of transportation fall under Federal, not State jurisdiction.

Audience member Lovel Pratt asked that the true costs of an oil spill in the county be studied. She cited that one source estimates oil spill damages would cost $10.8 billion and 165,000 jobs. Representatives Lytton and Morris agreed that that best way to deal with an oil spill is to prevent one from occurring.

Both Morris and Lytton spoke of the state of mental health services that had been cut by more than 40% during the recession. The Legislature was successful in getting more treatment beds and 5,000 more slots for treatment of the developmentally disabled in the state.

Lytton fielded questions abut the use of income from the sale of marijuana to fill the budget gaps. She said her constituents feel strongly that they can’t allocate money they don’t have. When there is income from marijuana, she hopes that they can alleviate some of the burden on the county for mental health and law enforcement services, among other issues.

The Washington State Office of Tourism was de-funded during the recession impacting the function of the San Juan Islands Visitors’ Bureau.  By comparison Oregon spends about $22 million on promoting tourism and Victoria, B.C spends about $15-16 million.

Both received high marks from the audience for their attention to San Juan County issues and constituent responsiveness. In the audience were representatives of EMS services, Ferry Advisory Board, Visitors’ Bureau, school district, the County Attorney,mental health professionals, retired state workers, League of Women Voters of the San Juans, San Juan Byways, San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce, vessel traffic and coal terminal activists, economic development, council members and interested citizens.

The session was also broadcast streaming live from the chambers and made available at Orcas and Lopez Public Libraries.

Diane Martindale lives on San Juan Island and serves as the President of the League of Women Voters San Juan Islands.