Skamania County Commissioners met with Senator Curtis King and Representative Gina Mosbrucker this week to present WSAC’s legislative agenda, Skamania County’s priorities and to discuss the upcoming 2020 Session that starts January 13th. Both Senator King and Representative Mosbrucker asked several questions about WSAC’s priority for establishing a standardized fee schedule and a dedicated funding source to pay for the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) committals.
In addition, funding priorities for public defense and fish barrier replacements were also discussed. Senator King, as a long-standing member of the Senate Transportation Committee, including servings as Chairman and currently as the Ranking Member, offered unique insights into some of the struggles the state is wrestling with in replacing fish barriers. He also spoke about some of the strategies being considered to address the transportation funding shortfalls that are expected as a result of the passage of Initiative 976.
Skamania County Commissioners Richard Mahar, Bob Hamlin, and Tom Lannen also presented information to the legislators regarding their county’s priorities for the upcoming session. Discussion included concerns about the Department of Natural Resources’ sustainable harvest calculation and how it impacts revenues for services.
Skamania County, along with Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties have been receiving payments for the last several years from the state to offset lost revenue from a decrease in timber harvest and the Commissioners expressed a need for those payments to continue, at least for now. As a long-term solution, the three counties have been pursuing funding to purchase additional forest lands that can be managed for commercial harvest to offset those losses but have not been successful.
The meeting concluded with Senator King and Representative Mosbrucker expressing support for WSAC’s and Skamania County’s priorities and offering to assist in any way they could.
