 Dec. 21, 2018 |
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Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with any concerns or ideas you may have. I look forward to connecting with you around the district. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Sincerely,
Judy Warnick, Your 13th District State Senator |
Tag Archives: Water
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 Hirst–related bill to receive a bipartisan vote during the 2017 legislative session.
“While serving as chair of the Senate’s water committee, I knew early on how important this court ruling was and the negative impact it would have on rural Washington. We needed a fix then, and need one now. If we had not kept the pressure up, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. I’m pleased the House is finally taking this seriously and look forward to seeing what the committee comes up with,” Warnick added.
This year Senate Republicans refused to move forward with final passage of a capital budget, after months of negotiations ended with House Democrats refusing to vote on any solution to address the issue of water rights and rural development in response to the state Supreme Court ruling known as the Hirst decision.
“It was clear to Senate Republicans coming into the 2017 session that fixing Hirst was a priority,” said Honeyford, R-Sunnyside and a member of the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee. “Unfortunately, what also became clear is that House Democrats were more than willing to ignore what they viewed as solely a rural issue.
“Some criticized us for tying the Hirst fix to the capital budget, but we needed to get their attention, and spur them to some action,” Honeyford added. “I am pleased that our colleagues in the House have now acknowledged that addressing water rights and rural development should be a priority of the session, and I look forward to working with them to find a solution that works for all of Washington.”
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 summer, in response to the idea of the Democrats’ temporary solution to Hirst, local lenders indicated that because of the uncertainty and instability of such a solution they had decided not to lend on properties without legal water.
Now, a new study put out by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) places a financial cost on legislative inaction.
Some of the details include:
- $6.9 billion lost in economic activity each year in Washington, predominantly in rural communities
- $452.3 million in lost employee wages due to the impacts of Hirst, annually
- Nearly 9,300 lost jobs (FTEs) in rural Washington, annually
- $392.7 million in lost taxes to state and local governments, annually
- $4.59 billion in losses to the construction industry, annually
- $37 billion in lost property values in areas impacted by Hirst
- $346 million in property taxes shifted to other properties in Washington
“I have spent the interim working with stakeholders and colleagues across the aisle to find a solution that works,” said Warnick. “However, I am not getting the sense that legislators who represent areas that aren’t reliant on wells for water have the same sense of urgency on this issue.”
Warnick, who chairs the Senate’s water-related committee, sponsored the only legislation to fix Hirst, Senate Bill 5239. The Senate approved the proposal four times over the course of the 2017 legislative sessions with strong bipartisan approval. The Democrat-controlled House however, failed to bring the measure to a vote or even introduce or pass their own proposals.
Warnick’s letter, signed by 21 members of the Senate Majority Coalition, urges action by Governor Inslee and outlines the merits of the Senate’s proposal to avoid the predicted annual $6.9 billion loss in economic activity, near $350 million in property tax shift, and $37 billion loss in property values in areas of Washington affected by Hirst.
“We need leadership from the governor and for legislators to take this issue seriously,” Warnick said. “This is not just a rural issue. Not fixing Hirst will hurt the entire state and this new study demonstrates the impacts will be significant.
“We spent all session hearing how our state needed more money. It is unwise to make those claims while saying our state can afford to lose billions on the backs of rural families.”
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 Sen. Judy Warnick, chair of the Senate committee on water, the legislation was approved with a bipartisan Senate vote during the 2017 regular session. However, the Democrat-controlled House failed to hold a vote on its own legislation to address the Hirst problem, nor did it approve SB 5239 despite support from rural property owners, associations and local governments for the Senate legislation.
“I stated repeatedly throughout the regular session that the Hirst issue needed to be addressed,” said Warnick, R-Moses Lake. “The House failed and now that we are in a special session we must approve this bill. The situation around our state is getting worse and time is running out. I recently heard from a farmer who cannot build housing for farmworkers because of this ruling. No good reason has been articulated by the House majority as to why this bill won’t go forward. If it were brought to the House floor for a vote, I am confident it would pass with bipartisan support.”
The Washington Supreme Court’s Hirst decision determined that counties are now required to conduct their own tests for water availability — independent of the Department of Ecology — before issuing building permits. Before the October 2016 ruling, counties could rely on Ecology water data when making such decisions.
Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, and a co-sponsor of the Hirst-fix bill, said the ruling amounts to a war on rural Washington, and that is far past time for the House to help provide a solution.
“Most counties don’t have the resources to do the extensive testing mandated by the Hirst ruling, and the testing required is too expensive for the average homeowner,” said Honeyford. “This has effectively brought all forms of building and development across Washington to a screeching halt, and families are suffering as a result.”
Honeyford pointed to Zach Nutting, a Whatcom County resident who testified before the Senate water committee that his dream of building a home for his family was destroyed by the Hirst decision. Domestic water use at issue represents less than 1 percent of water usage in Washington State.
“After the ruling, Whatcom County rescinded the permission for Mr. Nutting to drill his private well, and he has been stuck in developmental limbo ever since,” said Honeyford. “This has left him and his family technically homeless as he tries to navigate the tangle of red tape brought on by the ruling. The House must act now to provide families like the Nuttings with a lifeline.”
Warnick echoed that sentiment.
“The House is stalling meanwhile people’s lives are being turned upside down,” said Warnick. “It’s incredible. The governor apparently doesn’t know what the problem is, the House leadership won’t let the Senate’s reasonable solution come to the floor for a vote, and the pleas of rural communities continue to be ignored. We need a Hirst fix and we need it now.”
Honeyford, the Senate’s capital-budget chair, said he will use his role as a chief architect of the capital spending plan to encourage House Democrats to take action on Hirst.
“Before we can negotiate a final capital budget, we need a Hirst fix,” said Honeyford. “If approved by the House, our bill would effectively reverse the disastrous impacts Hirst has had on rural development. I want to see families continue to make their homes in the countryside of our beautiful state, and to do that, they must have access to reliable sources of water.”
The Senate approved SB 5239 again with a bipartisan vote of 28 to 18. The bill now heads back to the House for its consideration.
“I hope the House does the right thing for our struggling rural communities around the state,” Warnick added.
Sen. Judy Warnick’s legislation to promote agricultural conservation, Senate Bill 5010, was approved by the Senate Tuesday evening. The bill would protect irrigators’ water rights from relinquishment if the water allotment was not fully used due to conservation or efficiency efforts. The Senate approved the legislation 27 to 22 through a mainly party-line vote.
“The current system favors a ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ approach that could lead to wasting our valuable water resources,” said Warnick, who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Water, Trade and Economic Development Committee. “This legislation would reward agricultural water users for their conservation efforts without the risk of losing their unused water rights.”
There are other exemptions for water-rights relinquishment, but none aimed at conservation or efficiency.
“Our agricultural producers are good stewards of our state’s natural resources, and this would give them another tool to be a leader in those efforts,” added Warnick
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 studies that must be done before a building permit is issued. Senate Bill 5239, The bill was approved 28 to 21 and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.
On the Senate floor, Warnick, who chairs the Senate’s water-related committee, read from the high court’s dissenting opinion: “The practical result of this holding is to stop counties from granting building permits that rely on permit-exempt wells. Not only is this contrary to the clear legislative purpose of RCW 19.27.097, it potentially puts counties at odds with the Department of Ecology and imposes impossible burdens on landowners.”
The Hirst decision effectively halts development in many of Washington’s 39 counties, hitting rural areas the hardest. It would have a chilling effect on rural economic development by requiring local governments to make legal determinations of water availability – work already done by the state Department of Ecology – and sets up a situation where local jurisdictions and the state could be at odds issuing permits for small, household wells.
“During the committee hearing, we had everyday people pleading with us to fix this issue,” Warnick said. “I am confident that this is the right path forward. We have worked with stakeholders, reviewed our state’s water-law history and brought forth this legislation as a good-faith solution for the people in our state who are suffering because of this court decision.”
“Not fixing this flawed decision means hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of lost economic activity for our state and potentially the loss of a person’s life savings,” said Warnick. “Local jurisdictions are looking to us for clarity and guidance and this bill provides that.”
“This bill is not just about wells or water law. It is about people and the significant and negative impact this decision has had on their property and future,” Warnick added.
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Managing our state’s livestock
Protecting our state’s vulnerable
Rural Economic Development
