Rep. Skyler Rude weighs in on I-976

DAYTON–Washington State Representative Skyler Rude, R-16, appeared before a small crowd attending the County Commissioners scheduled work session for October 14, 2019. The purpose of his visit was to determine issues important to Columbia County and how he could be helpful in the State Legislature.

David Ocampo, Columbia County Public Transportation General Manager; and Steve Mertens, Columbia County Public Transportation Finance Officer, requested Rep. Rude’s thoughts on I-976, which is an Initiative that will appear on the November 5, 2016 ballot for all voters in Washington State.

Initiative 976, which is a Tim Eyman Initiative seeks to limit annual license fees for vehicles weighing under 10,000 pounds at $30 except voter-approved charges; base vehicle taxes on the Kelley Blue Book value rather than 85% of the manufacturer’s base suggested retail price; and repeal authorization for certain regional transit authorities to impose motor vehicle excise taxes (voter pamphlet). Currently, the base cost for a car tab is $30, but a myriad of other fees, to include a weight fee, tacked on by the State and counties cause the car tabs to cost much more than $30. The $30 car tab cost, which was initially approved by voters in 2002 under Tim Eyman Initiative 776 was later found to be unconstitutional because Eyman violated the “single subject rule” on Initiatives by attempting to achieve two unrelated purposes in that specific Initiative. The weight-based surcharge went into effect in 2006 based on State Legislative action. Rude stated he is against I-976, although he feels it will pass. He stated that if [voters looked at] a breakdown of where the revenue goes, voters would have a different view.

A portion of the car tab fee goes to fund State Patrol activities and there would be safety issues if this initiative passes and the state loses the revenue. Rude stated there would be a shift in funding. It would put the State Legislature in the position of having to cut State Patrol funding in areas that should not be cut. Passing this Initiative would put the State Legislature in a position of having to find other revenues to fill in the gaps.

Commissioner Michael Talbot stated that losing this revenue could, essentially, shut down Columbia County Transportation. Ocampo from Columbia County stated that if I-976 passes, Columbia County Transportation would lose about 40% of their budget. The big concern was if State Patrol and other programs were priorities, where does Columbia County Transportation fall in those priorities and how can they effectively plan?

Rude strongly advised that voters read the Voters Pamphlet carefully on this before deciding how to vote. He further emphasized that although he values the Initiative process, it was important to note that voters get very upset if the State Legislature bypasses the Committee process, but yet the Initiative process does bypass the Committee process. It’s a totally different pathway to making State law versus a representative democracy. Under the Initiative process, it’s “take it or leave it.” There is no refining, as is done in the Committee process.

There was a citizen question regarding if I-976 were to pass, would there be more pressure for the State to implement the Road Usage Charge (RUC). Rude stated there are privacy concerns with RUC and that he does not support it. The gas tax will be problematic down the road but he is not sure there is a good solution yet. He does not feel that passing I-976 will affect RUC as it is a more long-term issue while I-976 will be an emergency situation if the voters pass this.

Commissioner Talbot mentioned prevailing wage. If there aren’t enough people in the immediate area for obtaining bids for projects then the County is forced to pay Seattle’s prevailing wage for contracts. It is hoped that legislation could be enacted for exemptions to Seattle’s prevailing wage rates for counties with small populations (less than 5,000, for example).

Sheriff Joe Helm requested anything that could be done to bring funds to support law enforcement. Being a small county, it is critical that the law enforcement budget not be shrunk. Sheriff Helm reiterated that his budget does not receive a lot of money from car tab revenue. It was mentioned that most of the money goes to the State Patrol and smaller counties, who rely on Sheriffs, do not receive as much funding.

Rude stated that there have been issues with funding the Basic Law Enforcement Academy, which is a 720-hour requirement for entry level Washington State Peace Officers. Helm mentioned it is difficult to get into Academy training due to funding issues and because larger agencies get more priority than smaller agencies for spaces available in the training. Helm would like to see smaller agencies get more priority for Academy training and possibly more classes. If someone were hired at the Sheriff’s Office today (October 2019), that person would not be able to attend Academy until possibly March 2020 because current classes are already full.

Commissioner Charles Amerein asked about the Sales Tax exemption on the purchase and installation of solar energy systems that generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity. This has been expanded to include other forms of renewable energy. This exemption was effective July 1, 2019. The current Sales Tax rate is 8.4% for Dayton, and 8.2% for the rest of the County. Of this percentage, 1.9% is collected for the County from inside Dayton, and 1.7% is collected for the County from outside of Dayton.

According to the Columbia County Treasurers Office, this exemption impacted the county overall by about $600,000. Columbia County Sales Tax increased by one tenth of one percent on April 1, 2018. This increase (8.3% to 8.4% for Dayton, 8.1% to 8.2% for the rest of the county) was voter approved to fund emergency communications systems and facilities. The money cannot be used for anything else. After the sales tax increase went into effect in April, funds were distributed to Emergency Management for those communication systems and facilities that were badly needed to replace outdated equipment.

The Solar Energy exemption that went into effect in July then required the County to return a significant amount of money back to the state after it had been distributed. Columbia County Emergency Management Director Ashley Strickland reported that even after receiving the one tenth of one percent, from the State, he cannot spend it because the State has an extended period of time for filing for that exemption and collecting the money back.

The voter approved tax increase was hampered by the Solar Energy exemption. The Treasurer’s Office reported that Emergency Management lost $55,000 so far. Commissioner Ryan Rundell asked Rude if it is possible to amend the Solar Energy Sales Tax exemption to exempt the State portion of the sales tax (6.5%) but allow counties to keep their part of the sales tax revenue (the 1.9% for Dayton, 1.7% for rest of County). Helm added that this issue affected his job.

Port of Columbia Economic Development Coordinator Kathryn Witherington reported on Education and how the McCleary decision impacted the County in a very negative way. The McCleary decision was a lawsuit alleging that the State Legislature had failed to meet the state constitutional duty “to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders.” Significant cuts had to be made to staff and services for Education.

Rude mentioned he is assisting with the High Poverty Learning Assistance Program bill (HB-1384), which was originally sponsored by Representative Bill Jenkins, R-16. This bill would provide additional funding for schools with more than 50% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunches.

As the law stands now, if your school is at 50% you get the additional funding, if you are less than 50%, you get no additional funding. It is hoped that partial funding can be given for 45%, maybe a little more at 47.5%, and full funding at 50%.

The funding goes by school building, not by district. If a school district has more than one school building, such as separate elementary, middle, and high schools, each building qualifies separately. The current bill has some issues, and it may ultimately end up that a new bill is drafted.

The proposed Touchet Trail was discussed. There is a concern about having adequate staff for maintenance and safety issues. The Commissioners responded that Rude is a State legislator and this would not meet his level of concern. Rude agreed, stating there are other capital projects that are priorities.

Rude expanded on capital projects. He stated that capital projects are often abused and political, used for campaign purposes and a catch all for construction projects. His objective is to reduce how the capital budget is used or abused.

Talbot mentioned the HVAC project funded by a grant from the Historic Courthouse Program, a program within the Washington State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation. After the grant was earmarked, the project costs went up from around $280 million to almost half a million, due to prevailing contract labor wage increases.

Is there a way to get more money because of this unexpected cost increase? Rude stated that he could request money for a project like this, especially since it is a courthouse. There may not be any money this year, but it might be possible next year. Talbot emphasized that the existing money has to be spent this year, is it possible to get an extension? It has previously been extended, so not certain it can be extended again.

Amerein mentioned that the Washington State’s “Red Flag Law” (RCW 7.94, enacted in November of 2016) was recently used to disarm a Sheriff in Benton County. The Red Flag Law is designed to temporarily prevent individuals who are at high risk of harming themselves or others from accessing firearms by allowing family, household members, and police to obtain a court order when there is demonstrated evidence that the person poses a significant danger, including danger as a result of threatening or violent behavior. The incident, which happened in October 2019, (Source: https://q13fox.com/2019/10/07/benton-county-sheriff-ordered-to-surrender-guns-after-estranged-wife-files-for-protective-order/) caused a Benton County Sheriff to be stripped of their rank and weapons without due process because of a domestic violence issue. Amerein is concerned about the lack of due process that this law creates.

Rude responded by saying that he met with Walla Walla Progressives, which is an Action network in Walla Walla that promotes progressive ideas, and that group has concerns about guns. Rude feels that if constitutional rights are to be removed from a person, a jury should be involved. He is also troubled by the fact that filing a complaint can remove someone’s constitutional rights. He mentioned that the current legislature is not gun friendly.

Helm mentioned that the Washington State Sheriff’s Association would like to see legislation to establish standards for qualifications for candidates running for County Sheriff.

There was some discussion on unfunded mandates for indigent defense.