Author Archives: Laudan
With thousands of jobs and billions of dollars on the line for Washington state, lawmakers representing the 13th District say the time for the president to act is now.
The three lawmakers signed a letter to President Obama this week, asking him to intervene in the West Coast port labor dispute. In the letter, Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg and Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, cite the “devastating effect” the slowdown is having on Washington state employers, employees and the state’s economic stability.
The slowdown is currently costing U.S. agriculture millions of dollars, as representatives from the Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union have not come to an agreement on a new contract for dockworkers.
“If a resolution is not reached quickly, not only will the national economy suffer, [but] our state’s operating budget could be well short of the tax collections expected from our trade and manufacturing sectors,” wrote the lawmakers.
Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the nation, and exports $15.1 billion annually in food and agriculture products through Puget Sound ports.
“We need immediate action if we are to salvage what remains of our market share for trade around the globe and to ensure our manufacturers can continue to produce high-demand products.”
To read the lawmakers’ complete letter, click here.
Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, has introduced three pieces of legislation aimed at preserving and clarifying the use of agricultural lands in the context of the state’s shoreline-management and growth-management laws. All three received public hearings Tuesday before the Senate Agriculture, Water and Rural Economic Development Committee.
“Agricultural land cannot be created. It can be developed but it’s hard to get it back,” Warnick told the committee, which she chairs. “I wanted to start a discussion about how land use affects our farmers and looking at options to preserve these vital lands.”
Under the Growth Management Act of 1990 and Shoreline Management Act of 1971, local jurisdictions are required to adopt master plans relating to land use and development. Although preservation of agricultural land is a goal of the GMA much land designated as agricultural land is subject to conflicting rules.
Warnick’s bills are:
- Senate Bill 5168, which would clarify the definition of “agricultural land” and protect current and future agricultural use from wetland conversion, fish habitat creation or inundation.
- Senate Bill 5169, which would focus on preventing the conversion of agricultural land to wetland or fish habitat or making it subject to tidal inundation.
- Senate Bill 5170 – Clarifies the definition of “agricultural land” under the SMA and protects agricultural land.
“Conservation of our state’s natural resources is important and no one knows that more than our farmers,” Warnick said. “The GMA and SMA take into account the importance of preserving agricultural land but there are still challenges. We need a healthy debate on this issue but we also need to ensure a valuable resource like agricultural land is preserved.”
January 27, 2015
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By Ruby de Luna
This week a state senate committee will hear a proposal that would make it illegal to sell e-cigarettes and vapes to minors.
Last fall Sen. Judy Warnick got a tip from a police officer from her district in Moses Lake. He noted that students were buying e-cigarettes easily. “They were modifying them so they could use marijuana in those cigarettes,” Warnick said.
Warnick said there wasn’t much the officer could do about it. There are no rules that prohibit selling e-cigarettes to minors. “He had no recourse,” she said, “he could not charge the store owner for selling.”
Selling cigarettes to minors is illegal. Warnick’s bill would put e-cigarettes and vapes in the same category.
She worries that kids starting with these products will wind up with a bigger habit. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in 2013 more than a quarter million students in middle and high school who had never smoked cigarettes used e-cigarettes. They’re almost twice as likely to switch to conventional cigarettes, the report said.
In Seattle’s University District Marina Westendorf manages E-Cig and Vape on Northeast 45th Street. She says she has no problem with Warnick’s proposed regulation. There’s a sign at the entrance that says no one under 18 is allowed. And she cards people before she even lets them try samples.
“I wouldn’t sell alcohol to someone under 21,” Westendorf said. “I wouldn’t sell cigarettes to someone under 18. Nicotine is addictive, regardless of what form you get it in.”
Other stores like Westendorf’s do self-regulate. But Warnick said her bill would make that practice consistent — no matter where kids try to buy e-cigarettes.
https://kuow.org/post/washington-lawmaker-seeks-ban-e-cigarette-sales-minors
The 2015 legislative session began Monday, Jan. 12, and welcomed new faces to the Senate majority’s committee leadership. Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, begins her Senate career as chair of the state Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development Committee which considers issues relating to agricultural land, products, food safety and water policies affecting economic development in rural parts of the state.
“I am excited to get to work for the people of the 13th District in this new role. I am looking forward to being a strong voice for our district’s priorities in the state Senate,” said Warnick. “I will be working to promote small business growth, protect our residents from the governor’s proposed tax increases, and highlight the work our district is doing on water issues.”
In addition to securing this chairmanship role vital to the 13th Legislative District, Warnick will also serve on three other committees: the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee and the Senate budget committee, Ways and Means.
“This legislative session will be challenging but I am ready to govern and ensure we find collaborative solutions to the problems facing our state and district.”