Southwest Washington lawmakers honed their skills tackling big topics — a carbon cap proposal, the Interstate 5 Bridge, school funding — in a short period of time during a legislative preview breakfast Friday morning at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.
It’s an ability they will need during the upcoming abbreviated legislative session, which starts Jan. 11 and lasts 60 days.
The previous legislative session was the longest ever in a single year, with lawmakers going into several overtime sessions.
“I really do want business to be done in a timely manner,” Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, told the room packed full of politicians and business leaders.
The 2016 legislative outlook breakfast was hosted by the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Identity Clark County and the Columbia River Economic Development Council. The Southwest Washington lawmakers who sat on the panel were: Sens. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, Ann Rivers, R-La Center, Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, and Reps. Liz Pike, R-Camas, Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, and Harris.
One of the first questions lawmakers faced from the audience on Friday morning is what they will do to replace the aging Interstate 5 Bridge.
Pike said it’s one of her top priorities to find an “affordable option” that does not include light rail.
“Design constraints for a light-rail crossing are vastly different than the design constraints for a freight mobility and traffic congestion relief bridge,” Pike said, adding “they have to be separated.”
Wylie said she’s working across party lines to find a solution “in a shorter amount of time.”
“I’m not listening to people who are telling me it’s too toxic to touch,” Wylie said.
Lawmakers also addressed the governor’s decision to use his executive authority to put a cap on emissions in Washington. The state Department of Ecology is expected to unveil details of the emission cap later this month.
Pike called it a “dangerous policy.”
“I have three big companies just in the 18th Legislative District that will be extremely harmed by Gov. (Jay) Inslee’s extreme carbon policies,” Pike said.
Cleveland countered by saying Washington is the only West Coast state that doesn’t have a carbon policy aimed at reducing the carbon footprint.
“For each one of us in this room, our quality of life and environment matters,” Cleveland said. “It’s a hard discussion. … I applaud Inslee for stepping forward and beginning the discussion.”
One of the most pressing issues facing lawmakers is how to adequately fund the state’s public school system. The Legislature will once again begin the session under the cloud of contempt for not complying with the so-called McCleary decision, which ordered the Legislature to fully fund K-12 education. The state’s top court has also slapped lawmakers with a $100,000-a-day fine for not complying.
Rivers sits on the governor’s McCleary task force. Solving the inequity in school districts across the state is a complex issue, she said.
She heard from a teacher in Everett who made good money, $105,000 a year, Rivers told the audience.
“But (the students) are still under the impression Bill Clinton is the president, because that’s what the textbook says,” Rivers said.
