With the Washington Legislature entering its second week of the 2017 session, Clark County council and staff heard an update on how actions by lawmakers and the governor might affect the county. They also heard a request from the county’s director of public health to back two public health bills currently before lawmakers.
County lobbyist Mike Burgess told councilors during their board time meeting that now much of the “pomp and circumstance” of the first week of the session was over, lawmakers and the governor had gotten down to regular business.
Burgess mentioned that Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed undoing the automatic state sales tax exemption currently given to residents of Oregon, which has no sales tax, when making purchases in Washington. Inslee’s proposal would require Oregonians to instead apply for a rebate of sales tax.
“We might increase revenue marginally,” said County Manager Mark McCauley, who asked if any studies had been conducted on the idea. “But the retail business here might lose sales.”
Although the council didn’t adopt a position on the idea, Burgess encouraged them to consider it.
“This issue is not going to go away this session,” he said.
Burgess mentioned a bill sponsored by Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, and other lawmakers, that would allow Superior Courts to directly review challenges to local government’s growth management planning rather than the Growth Management Hearings Board. Clark County is dealing with a challenge filed against its comprehensive plan that could take years to resolve. The bill is intended to make these challenges less costly and time-consuming.
“I would imagine her getting a hearing for it,” Burgess said. “But I also imagine this being part of a broader discussion as the Legislature looks at the 25-year review of the Growth Management Act.”
Councilor Julie Olson brought up a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, that was intended to address the so-called Hirst decision issued last fall by the Washington Supreme Court. The decision tasked county governments with ensuring that there is adequate water before approving building permits. It has caused concern in Clark County, and elsewhere, that the decision will impede growth.
Burgess said that the bill was likely the most politically feasible solution to address the Hirst decision.
County Public Health Director Dr. Alan Melnick also spoke to the council seeking to gauge their interest in passing resolutions in support of two bills before the Legislature. One would raise the legal age of purchasing tobacco or vaping products from 18 to 21. Melnick said that the measure could save “hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives” by preventing teenagers from starting smoking.
But councilors pushed back on the idea. Jeanne Stewart pointed out that the age to enlist in the military is under 21. Olson also questioned Melnick’s logic that raising the smoking age to 21 would prevent teenagers from picking up the habit. County Chair Marc Boldt finally said it was a “nonstarter” for the council.
However, Melnick found the council more receptive to supporting legislation that would require pharmaceutical companies to fund programs to take back their unused products. Proponents argue that the bill would prevent leftover pharmaceuticals from being abused, accidently ingested or causing water contamination after being flushed.
