Less Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom - 2014 Legislative Session Day 22

In the Local Government Committee today, we’re hearing two bills and may take Executive Action on twenty bills. House Bill 2681 extends the date by which an annexation must commence in order to impose an annexation sales and use tax by two years to January 1, 2017; allows proceeds from an annexation sales and use tax to be used for a city's cost to prepare for annexation and modifies definitions related to the annexation sales and use tax provision.

House Bill 2682 increases the estimated cost threshold, above which all work ordered by a water-sewer district must be let by contract and competitive bidding, from $20,000 to $90,000.

The twenty bills that may receive Executive Action are House Bills 2187, 2218, 2234, 2245, 2278, 2288, 2298, 2311, 2401, 2433, 2442, 2481, 2499, 2547, 2593, 2618, 2637, 2677, 2681, and 2682.

With Policy Cut-off coming on Wednesday, expect to see more lists like this.

Less Govenment, Lower Taxes and More Freedom - 2014 Legislative Session Day 16

In the Appropriations Committee today, we’re hearing testimony on two bills and may take Executive Action on one bill. House Bill 2474 creates the Start Retirement Savings Plan (Start Plan) permitting private employers and employees to participate in retirement plans administered by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS); empowers the Washington State Investment Board to invest the funds contributed by
participating employers and employees to the Start Plan; requires the Director of DRS to seek IRS approval to operate the Start Plan on a tax deferred basis; and provides for the termination of the plan if it does not reach a sufficient size to be self-supporting based on reasonable administrative fees.

House Bill 2577 permits members of Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Retirement System Plan 2 (LEOFF 2) to purchase actuarially equivalent life annuity benefits from the LEOFF 2 retirement fund and requires annuity purchases to be for a minimum of $25,000, and funds used for the purchase must be from a tax qualified plan offered by a governmental employer.

Executive Action may occur on House Bill 1574.

Less Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom - 2014 Legislative Session Day 15

In the Local Government Committee today, we’re hearing testimony on four bills and may take Executive Action on seven bills. House Bill 2298 expands the list of capital projects upon which specific real estate excise tax proceeds can be used to include technology infrastructure, including hardware and software.

House Bill 2442 authorizes counties, if they are disbursing employee salaries and wages electronically in accordance with written requests from 25 or more employees, to use an electronic payment method for all county employees and specifies that the use of an electronic payment method for all county employees must be approved, by ordinance, by the county legislative authority.

House Bill 2481 requires the State Building Code Council (Council) to adopt rules by December 1, 2014, that require space to be provided at new apartment houses, assisted living facilities, dormitories, and fraternities and sororities, for the collection and periodic transfer off-site of food and yard waste and requires the Council to exempt from the adopted rules new buildings located in areas that do not receive curbside collection service of food and yard wastes in accordance with a solid waste management plan.

House Bill 2547 authorizes, until December 31, 2020, the creation of less than countywide port districts in counties without port districts and specifies election provisions for the initial port district commissioners of the newly created district

The seven bills that may receive Executive Action are House Bills 1040, 2186, 2187, 2214, 2218, 2249, and 2301.

Less Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom - 2014 Legislative Session Day 10

In the Government Operations and Elections Committee we’re accepting testimony on five bills and may take Executive Action on six bills.

House Bill 1278 requires counties to include prepaid postage for ballot return envelopes for primary and general elections in even-numbered years and for special elections to fill unexpired terms of statewide elected officials and state legislators and requires the state to reimburse counties for the cost of return postage on ballot return envelopes for certain elections.

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1290 requires county auditors to place at least one ballot drop box at each public college, university, community college, and technical college, and at certain branch campuses; authorizes county auditors to install additional ballot drop boxes if the college's administration or a student body association agrees to jointly fund the installation; requires each county auditor to establish a ballot drop box advisory committee with student representatives and representatives from the college administration; requires reporting to the Secretary of State and the Legislature of ballot drop box placement and methods used to inform voters; requires consideration of Indian reservations in the placement of ballot drop boxes; and establishes a civil penalty of $5,000 for tampering or destroying a ballot drop box, in addition to any other penalties authorized by law.

House Bill 1510 requires write-in candidates to file a declaration of candidacy 18 days before a primary or election.

House Bill 2215 makes technical corrections to laws related to elections.

House Bill 2263 requires the state committee and county central committees to elect at least one female for the chair or vice chair positions.

The six bills that may be considered for Executive Action include House Bills 1290, 1449, 2105, 2215, 2374, and 2473.

Less Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom - 2014 Legislative Session Day 5

My first meeting of the morning is in Government Operations and Elections Committee where we’re hearing testimony on two bills. House Bill 1102 requires county auditors to process ballots on the day of the primary or general election until midnight or until all ballots received up to and on that day have been processed and counted, whichever occurs first.

House Bill 2106 adds a provision to election law that if no more than one candidate files for any single county partisan office to fill an unexpired term, a primary for that office may not be held.

We’ll be on the House Floor later today and may take action on a handful of bills. Stay tuned for an update.

Less Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom -

In typical fashion, the House broke for lunch at 11:45 and we are now waiting to begin Floor Action. The Senate passed both their bills earlier today and are now waiting on the House to take action. Stay tuned …

April 10th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 87

We spent the morning getting briefed on the proposed striking amendment to the Senate Operating Budget (ESSB 5034), which amounts to the House Democrat Majority’s proposed budget. We were also briefed on the latest draft of the Capital Budget, most of which remains unclear given the recent Federal District Court dealing with fish passage.

I’m now in the House Appropriations Committee meeting hearing the Democrat’s proposed Operating Budget, embodied in a striking amendment. The Democrat’s proposed budget totals $34,845.7 Billion for Fiscal Year 13-15, which is approximately $3,554.7 Billion more than the Fiscal Year 2011-13 budget or an 11% increase to the state General Fund. The Democrat’s proposed budget was released to the public at 12:30 PM this afternoon and three hours later we’re receiving testimony on it.

We’ve been told the Democrats plan on taking Executive Action to move the bill out of committee tomorrow (Thursday) with the plan being to pass the Operating Budget off the House Floor sometime on Friday. That means from the time the proposed budget was released to the public and subsequently passed on the House Floor, the total amount of time the public was provided to review and comment was less than 60 hours.

April 8th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 85

Monday morning and we’re in the Appropriations Committee considering six bills for Executive Action. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5176, Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5237, Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5244, Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5329, Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5405, and Second Substitute Senate Bill 5732. It could be a short day in Appropriations, but we’ll see how many new amendments pop up.

I spent the weekend in Olympia, while Molly and Tiffany were in Pullman for a volleyball tournament. I was able to get one budget read and a few errands ran, but I would have rather spent the weekend with my girls. With 21 days left in the 2013 Regular Legislative Session, we’re likely going to get pretty busy and we’re starting to hear rumors of a Special Session.

April 5th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 82

The six bills we will be considering for Executive Action in the Appropriations Committee are House Bill 2016, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5176, Substitute Senate Bill 5195, Senate Bill 5337, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5480, and Second Substitute Senate Bill 5732.

March 19th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 65

My 1:30 PM meeting is in the Local Government Committee where we’re hearing three bills and considering Executive Action on six bills. Substitute Senate Bill 5332 allows fire protection districts to continue imposing benefit charges with a ballot measure approved by a majority, rather than 60 percent, of the voters voting on the measure.

Engrossed Senate Bill 5378 requires that substantial amendments to the State Building Code are not adopted more frequently than every six years.

Senate Bill 5606 establishes the authority of water purveyors to supply fire suppression water facilities and services for cities, towns, and counties, and to recover the costs of providing those facilities and services and provides liability protections for purveyors supplying fire suppression water facilities and services.

February 20th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 38

I started my day on 1280/99.5 KIT with"Dave and Lance in the morning”. We discussed House Bill 1588 and some of the problems associated with it. We also spoke briefly on Senate Bill 5737. It’s always good speaking with those guys.

We’re scheduled to be on the House Floor at 10:00 AM today and then I have two committee meetings this afternoon. Friday is the cutoff for Policy Committees, which means we’ll be considering a lot of bills over the next three days.

#KIT #99.3 #1280 #House #Senate #Bill #1588 #5737 #Floor #Executive #Action #Rep #David #Taylor #15th #District
https://chumly.com/n/1a52562

February 14th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 32

In the Government Operations and Elections Committee today we’re only hearing one bill, but may take Executive Action on five bills. The hearing is on House Bill 1321 requires all agencies to adopt, and begin implementation of, a food and beverage service policy (policy). The minimum standard shall be based on the General Services Administration document, the Guidelines. Each agency's policy must be fully implemented no later than December 13, 2014. The policy must apply to food and beverages: (1) provided by state agencies for their employees and guests at meetings; (2) made available to employees of state agencies and guests in vending machines or through on-site vendors in all buildings, facilities, and properties owned or leased by the state; (3) prepared on-site by private operators and state-operated cafeterias and cafes sold to state employees and the public; and (4) provided to custodial populations, including clients, inmates, and patients.

Welcome to the nanny state.

#Government #Operations #Elections #committee #House #Bill #1321 #Executive #Action #Rep #David #taylor #15th #District
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February 12th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 30

It’s going to be a busy day here in Olympia. My day started with public hearing in the Government Operations and Elections committee. The Regulatory Freedom and Accountability Act from the Freedom Agenda, House Bill 1163, was heard this morning. We received great testimony in support of the bill, so let’s see if the bill moves out of committee. Call the Chairman of the Government Operation and Elections Committee, Rep Hunt, and ask him to move the bill out of committee.

The Government Operations and Elections Committee is hearing four other bills this morning as well. House Bill 1400 amends the Washington Administrative Procedure Act to provide that administrative hearing notices and orders may be served electronically upon the parties to administrative hearings.

House Bill 1418 requires cities, towns, and special purpose districts that do not maintain office hours for a minimum of thirty hours per week to post directions on how to contact the agency personnel and to respond to requests to inspect or copy records at the next regularly scheduled agency meeting.

House Bill 1449 exempts victim impact statements from disclosure under the Public Records Act and exempts documents and other materials provided by the defense to the prosecution.

House Bill 1456 authorizes pretax payroll deductions for qualified transit and parking benefits.

There are also eight bills scheduled for possible Executive Action.

#Regulatory #Freedom #Accountability #Agenda #House #Bill #Executive #Action #Rep #David #Taylor #15th #District
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February 8th - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 26

In the Local Government Committee meeting today, we’re hearing three bills. House Bill 1224 allows a county that elected to fully plan under the Growth Management Act (GMA), to remove itself and its cities from the obligation to fully plan under the GMA if the county has 20,000 or fewer inhabitants and other requirements are satisfied; expires the removal authority (opt-out) on December 31, 2014; bars a county that has adopted a removal resolution from re-electing to plan under the GMA for at least 10 years from the date of adoption of the removal resolution; and requires a county that has adopted a removal resolution to adopt development regulations to assure the conservation of designation agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands. This is a good bill and a first step in providing other jurisdictions the opportunity to end their planning under the GMA. Of course, Futurewise is already messing with the bill and has sent us language for an amendment that completely undermines the intent of the bill. Please contact your Representatives and ask them to oppose the proposed amendment to HB 1224 and move the bill out of committee without an amendment.

House Bill 1368 deletes requirements obligating the State Treasurer to make quarterly transfers of $2.5 million from the Liquor Excise Tax Fund to the State General Fund, thus resulting in additional moneys being transferred to counties, cities, and towns and establishes a new distribution formula for moneys in the Liquor Revolving Fund.

House Bill 1512 establishes and clarifies the authority of water purveyors to supply fire suppression water facilities and services for cities, towns, and counties, and to recover the costs of providing those facilities and services and provides liability protections for purveyors supplying fire suppression water facilities and services.

We may consider several bills for Executive Action on several bills today as well.

#Local #Government #Committee #House #Bill #1224 #1368 #1512 #Executive #Action #Growth #Management #liquor #tax #Rep #David #Taylor #15th #District
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February 1st - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 19

I’m in a Local Government Committee meeting where we’re hearing five bills and will take Executive Action on several bills later in the meeting. The five bills we’re hearing are …

HB 1264 disallows proceeding with a partial merger of a fire protection district when the board of fire district commissioners in either the merging district or the merger district does not approve the partial merger petition. It also modifies provisions governing when an election on the question of a partial merger of a fire protection district is not necessary and the method of naming merged districts with area located in different counties.

HB 1269 amends voting provisions for diking and related districts by modifying the definition of "qualified voter of a special district” and requires legal and governmental entities with voting rights in diking and related districts to register with a diking district in advance of the district's general election.

HB 1274 removes requirements obligating cities and towns to transmit certain adopted budget documents to the Association of Washington Cities and the State Auditor. It authorizes cities and towns to accept credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and other forms of electronic payment for payments of any kind. It also repeals duplicate receipt production and related filing and penalty provisions for county sheriffs.

HB 1360 extends the termination date that qualifying counties have to designate industrial land banks for major industrial activity and to adopt conforming regulations.

HB 1367 authorizes cities and towns to declare by ordinance what is deemed a nuisance within the city or town, which may include "litter" and "potentially dangerous litter" as defined by statute, to abate the nuisance and to recover reimbursement costs for the abatement. It also authorizes cities and towns to have a lien against property to recover costs for abating a nuisance.

Once the Committee Meeting ends, I have to call the Seattle Times regarding HB 1371, WA Firearms Freedom Act, and then heading home for the weekend.

#Local #Government #Committee #Rep #David #Taylor #HB #1264 #1269 #1274 #1360 #1367 #Executive #Action #15th #District #Seattle #Times
https://chumly.com/n/19dcdb5

January 31st - 2013 Regular Legislative Session Day 18

I started the day with a Local Government Committee meeting where we took executive action (voted to move bills out of committee) on nine bills. The nine bills were:

House Bill 1049 concerning the administration and operation of flood control districts.

House Bill 1090 increasing the dollar amount for construction of a dock that does not qualify as a substantial development under the Shoreline Management Act.

House Bill 1158 related to the annexation of property owned by the state for military purposes. The title of this bill is a little deceiving, as it only allows the Adjunct General to sign annexation petitions and still requires the normal annexation process be followed.

House Bill 1179 which revises the lien for collection of sewer charges by counties.

House Bill 1185 concerns the equitable allocation of auditor costs.

House Bill 1207 related to the formation requirements for cemetery districts.

House Bill 1217 strengthening the integrity, fairness and equity in Washington’s property assessment system. This is another bill in which the title is misleading. The bill requires appellants challenging the assessed value of commercial property to provide a county assessor with income and expense statements for the three years prior to the assessment date. The statements must be provided to the assessor within 60 days from the appellant filing his or her petition.

House Bill 1239 related to the powers of water-sewer districts. The original bill was very broadly written, but an amendment which passed in committee, narrows the bill considerably.

House Bill 1241 which authorizes water-sewer districts, in addition to cities and towns, to fix and determine the amount of a public works contractor's surety bond and to whom the bond shall run.

I’m in the Government Operations and Elections Committee now where we’re hearing three bills today. House Bill 1162, which is a bill introduced by Rep. Jason Overstreet, enacts the Regulatory Fairness Act of 2013. The bill specifically requires agencies to consider economic impacts when doing rule-making. Amazingly, only State Agencies are here to testify against the bill.

We’re also hearing House Bill 1197 concerning open public meetings and requiring government bodies to accept public testimony before taking action. I agree with the intent of the bill, but when asked for examples of actions that can be taken without public testimony the prime sponsor was able to provide one.

The final bill we’re hearing today is House Joint Resolution 4204 which proposes an amendment to the state's Constitution requiring legislative approval of certain agency rules.

#Local #Govenment #Operations #Elections #Hosue #Bills #Executive #Action #Regulatory #Fairness #Rep #David #Taylor #15th #District
https://chumly.com/n/19d27d3

2012 First Special Session Day 1

I got news today that there will be no Floor Action this week and I don't need to go back to Olympia yet. Could be good news or bad ... we'll see. I'm sure glad to be home. There a lot to do and a lot to work on, but with God as my co-pilot, anything is possible. :-)

My Aunt Paula's Memorial Service is this Thursday at 11:00 AM in Ellensburg at St. Andrews Church. I missing that lady something fierce.

#Olympia #special #session #floor #action #Aunt #Paula #Romeo #Rep #David #Taylor #15th #District
http://chumly.com/n/1198947

2012 Regular Legislative Session Day 29

It’s been an interesting couple of days here in Olympia. I had an opportunity to meet with a couple of landowners have trouble with the Department of Ecology. Really no surprise there, but the depth of the problems are troubling and need to be dealt with. Hey DOE, here we come.

I have a fairly easy day today and am looking forward to seeing all of our Farm Bureau folks tonight at their reception. Tomorrow begins 4 or 5 days of floor action on a long list of bills. Right now we’re scheduled to be on the House Floor Saturday and Sunday. Looks like another weekend on the"wet” side of the state.

We have several bad bills on the sheet for possible action this week, so stay tuned for updates throughout the week.

#Rep #David #Taylor #Farm #Bureau #Floor #Action #15th #District
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2011 Legislative Session

Days 12-14: On Friday my 1:30 Committee meeting was canceled so I was able to leave early and surprise Molly. Spent the weekend working around the place. We attempted to get some hay hauled ... I say attempted because it never goes the way it's supposed to. This time, the mud sucked a tire off the rim. I got back to Olympia around 4:30 on Sunday. Today (Day 15), is going to be a big day on the House Floor. The "Not so Early, Bad Action" bill will be debated. We've got a striker that protects K-4 Enhancement funding and cuts an additional $30 million from the General Fund. It should be a wild one.

 #2011  #Rep  #David  #Taylor  #15th  #District  #Early  #Action
http://chum.ly/n/611227

2011 Legislative Session

Day 10: Today held more of the same ... committee, caucus and committee, with a few other meetings sprinkled in for good measure. A bunch of our local Realtors are in town today and tomorrow ... it's nice to see some folks from back home. We received word we'll be debating the Temporary Cuts Bill (aka Early Action Bill) on Monday. By the looks of things, the Democrats will propose a retroactive cut to K-4 Enhancement funding. I'll get more information on Friday.

 #15th  #District  #Rep  #David  #Taylor  #Early  #Action  #Temporary  #Cuts
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