In first vote of the special session, Senate approves Hirst-fix legislation again

Vote gives Democrat-controlled House second chance to help rural families without water  While work on education-funding reform and a new state operating budget continues during the Legislature’s special session, the Senate today took up and passed Senate Bill 5239, known as the Hirst fix, to bring needed access to water for rural households. Sponsored by […]

Warnick urges action on Hirst in letter to governor

Billions in damage to state economy without Hirst fix new study shows On the heels of the release of a new study that details the negative economic impact of the flawed Hirst water-rights decision, Senator Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, issued a letter to the governor calling for action toward a permanent solution. Earlier in the […]

Warnick blasts House Democrats’ failure to fix Hirst ruling as Legislature prepares to adjourn

As the 2017 regular legislative session winds down, the chair of the Senate committee that covers water issues said she is appalled that House Democrats have chosen to continue to allow rural families, workers and communities to suffer under the state Supreme Court’s Hirst decision by failing to join the Senate in approving Senate Bill […]

Senators welcome House Democrats’ reengagement on Hirst

Senators Judy Warnick and Jim Honeyford welcomed news that House Democrats have planned a work session Dec. 12 to discuss the Hirst water rights court decision. “I have remained hopeful since the Legislature adjourned that we can deliver a Hirst fix for rural Washington,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who sponsored Senate Bill 5239, the only […]

Hard-fought Hirst compromise reached for rural Washington

Capital budget approved; provides unprecedented support for education   After nearly a year of negotiations, Sen. Judy Warnick, former chair of the Senate’s water-related committee and lead negotiator on the bill to fix the flawed Hirst court decision, believes the compromise deal reached this week by Senate and House negotiators will finally bring needed relief […]

Warnick legislation to fix flawed Hirst water decision clears Senate

  Sen. Judy Warnick’s legislation to fix the Hirst decision was approved Tuesday evening by the state Senate, despite efforts by some opposition Democrats to delay a legislative response that would aid rural homeowners. The decision, issued by the state Supreme Court in late 2016, effectively prevents the drilling of small, household wells without costly […]

Senate sends Hirst-fix legislation to House for third time

The chair of the Senate’s water-related committee, Sen. Judy Warnick, has been working to fix the fallout caused by the Hirst decision issued by the state Supreme Court in late 2016. Senate Bill 5239, which has received bipartisan support in the upper chamber but stalled in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, would provide a needed […]

Update from Olympia

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