Your weekly news from Olympia

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From the legislative director
Revenue forecast brings a glimmer of hope to some, but cities still at big risk for losing state-shared revenues. Call your legislators now. Ask them to minimize the cuts and match them with savings. Take a look at the $100 million in state-shared revenues where cities remain vulnerable. Read more

Municipal finance
Court vacates order in Sprint Spectrum decision case after negotiations with DOR and Sprint. Extension of Lodging tax expansion considered dead. Junior taxing districts to undergo committee review. Read more on enhanced fire protection district benefit charges, EMS voting levies.

Personnel & labor relations
Pension proposals part of the budget mix. LEOFF merger plan heard in Senate. Read more on city disability boards, employment status.

Transportation
Local transportation revenue bill moving, House transportation budget released. Transportation benefit district modifications added to local transportation revenue bill. Read more on traffic safety cameras, highway stormwater cost recovery, transit overlay zones.

Environment & land use
Stormwater brought into regulatory reform hearing. SEPA reform passes out of House, ready for Senate, containing immediate and long-term savings, and new economic development tools. Read more for pre-empting local permitting for small alternative energy facilities and contaminated sites redevelopment.

Law & justice
Medical marijuana bill did not advance and cities must continue to operate under existing law. Gang prevention and intervention funding part of state budget discussion. Read more about driving with suspended license, shifting liability to government from private design professionals.

Infrastructure
Update on Jobs Proposal. If you submitted a proposal, call your legislator now (especially in the House) to ask for their support.

General government
Public records relief and Washington Voting Rights Act fail to advance. Read more about potential changes to special meeting notice requirements.

Legislative Bulletin updates
AWC’s Legislative Bulletin is emailed to you every Friday afternoon during legislative session and once a month during the interim. Our new format allows you to view a history of postings on each specific topic, providing you with some background and context for the ongoing discussion. If you’d like to delve even further into a particular topic, check out the "Etc." box in the bottom right column for links to related materials.

If you notice a BillTracker logo embedded in an article, click on it to find out details on the related bill. The new BillTracker tool allows you to follow the progress of the bill through the legislative process with the visual tracking graphic; quickly determine AWC’s position through icons at the top of the page; review a summary of the legislation; and identify the bill’s sponsors – all on one web page.

We’d appreciate hearing from you on how you like the new format and ideas for improving our legislative information even further. Please send your comments to: communicationsteam@awcnet.org.

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www.awcnet.org/LegislativeAdvocacy.aspx | Web links for session
"AWC’s mission is to serve our members through advocacy, education and services."
Mike McCarty, AWC CEO | President Nancy McLaughlin, Councilwoman, Spokane

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