Sen. Ann Rivers (left) and Rep. Brandon Vick address constituents during a town hall at the Clark County Fire and Rescue administrative building April 14.
By the last day of the 2018 legislative session, Washington State Rep. Brandon Vick, R-Felida, was feeling tired.
“That was an exhausting 60 days,” Vick remarked. He touched on the shift in political majority this session which made some of the Republican caucus’ policy impossible to get through.
“On the other hand we won some battles we wanted to win because of the relationships that we have developed over the last several years,” Vick added, tempering disappointment with optimism as he spoke to those gathered for a town hall at the Clark County Fire and Rescue administrative building in Ridgefield April 14.
Both Vick and fellow 18th District lawmaker Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, had a mixed view on how the session went. Both had concerns with the supplemental budget, specifically withholding money from the rainy day fund.
“The budget’s a problem for me,” Vick said, mentioning a $1.8 billion budget surplus he said ended up being spent out entirely with only some going into the state’s rainy day fund. Putting more of that surplus in the rainy day fund, he said, would be a better place for those funds given the inevitability of a future recession.
“Sales tax revenues are going to go down … and that billion dollars is not going to be waiting for us,” Vick said. Apart from putting it in the rainy day fund Vick also mentioned the possibility of giving it back to taxpayers.
Vick brought up legislation forcing home-care workers to pay union dues or fees, calling it a victory for the Service Employees International Union who will represent those workers in the state, but not for individuals providing care to family.
“If you’re an independent provider; if you take care of your mentally ill child or a sick parent … you’ve got to be an SEIU member now,” Vick said.
Rivers also took issue with House Bill 3003, legislation modifying the conditions of a citizen Initiative 940 before a vote of the people could be taken, calling it “extraordinarily bad policy,” “Constitutionally unsound and illegal.” The legislation and initiative center around police policy, requiring certain kinds of de-escalation and mental health training while applying a “good faith” standard to use of force.
Rivers reasoned some of the shoddy policy had to do with the “sea change” of the Senate having a shift to Democrat majority this year.
“There was an exuberance to get a lot of things done even though not necessarily according to the rule of law,” Rivers said.
The lawmakers also touched on general concerns of those gathered. They discussed the possibility of tolling along interstates 5 and 205, brought on by recent legislation passed in Oregon providing for “value pricing” along those interstates in the Portland metropolitan area in hopes of easing congestion.
Rivers said she happened to be in Washington, D.C. when Congress voted to remove language U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, had put in preventing proposed tolling. Though that was a defeat, locally she had hopes representation in the Senate would help fight against tolling.
“The sense that I get is that our federal leaders are concerned about our proposed plan,” Rivers said. She added she was hopeful that Sen. Patty Murray could provide help on a national stage.
“If we can get our federal delegation pulling together, then we are going to be in good shape,” Rivers remarked.
Vick touched on the possibility of replacement of the aging Interstate 5 bridge as well as additional crossings, saying that much of the work toward those ends isn’t legislative at this point, but rather building relationships with Oregon lawmakers to garner support on both sides of the river.
Vick mentioned that a bill passed last year to form a committee looking at I-5 bridge replacement options has yet to receive Oregon appointees as interest hasn’t been there from those legislators.
“I think this tolling discussion has really hurt those other discussions,” Vick remarked, commenting how any work toward consensus was undermined by the “sideshow” of possible tolls.
Property tax increases also drove the conversation, with worries about supposed decreases for next year not happening dispelled. As a result of the legislature’s McCleary “fix,” in 2017 this year property taxes have increased statewide, sometimes by startling amounts. Rivers herself said she was “aghast” when seeing how much her own family’s increase was.
The decrease for 2019 would be a result of capping local school district levies to balance out the increase in state funding that happened this year. Places that were paying comparatively high local levy rates would likely see a net decrease from 2017 taxes, though places like the Seattle area would have higher taxes.
“Seattle constituents are the least happy, and they are the ones that typically like tax increases,” Vick remarked. Rivers added that voter-improved levy raises for other local services like public safety could also result in a higher tax bill this year.
