Policy and budget decisions at the state and local level can directly impact your ability to conduct business in the community. On Dec. 8, the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce (GVCC), Identity Clark County (ICC) and the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) offered their Shared Business Priorities for 2018 at the annual Legislative Outlook Breakfast presented by IBEW Local 48. The event was held at Warehouse ’23.
State Legislators who attended the event included Rep. Liz Pike (18th District), Sen. Linda Wilson (17th District), Rep. Paul Harris (17th District), Rep. Vickie Kraft (17th District), Sen. Annette Cleveland (49th District), Sen. Monica Stonier (49th District), Sen. Ann Rivers (18th District) and Rep. Brandon Vick (18th District).
With the upcoming legislative session, this was an excellent opportunity to meet with local legislators, learn about their top priorities and get answers regarding the issues that matter the most to Clark County businesses. In Southwest Washington, which is the fastest growing portion of the second-largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest, there are four major areas of interest to the business community – infrastructure, education and workforce, environmental, and economic development.
*Editor’s Note: The legislators spoke on different issues related to these priorities. Not everything is included in this article due to space restraints.
Sen. Wilson spoke about regulatory reforms and accountability for small businesses. Small businesses don’t have the attorneys that large businesses do. Small businesses have rights but often don’t know what those rights are. Wilson said that with a Labor & Industries claim, the Attorney General’s Office will now identify and delineate the rights small business already have, and before or at the time of a claim, their office will hand you your rights.
Sen. Wilson has also asked for transparencies, for open meetings in collective bargaining. And she is pushing for domestic rights bills that affect developers – such that when they go to get permits, the rules that apply at the time of application will carry through without change.
Rep. Harris stated that the Life Sciences building at WSU will be in the Capital Budget and will most likely be funded. For K-12 education, it’s fully funded, with $6.3 billion (it was $2.4 billion), and that’s 51.2 percent of the budget. There will be a slight increase in property taxes this year and then the tax will go down for the next three years.
Rep. Kraft has been working on the restoration of tools around the Public Works Trust Fund. The Public Works Trust Fund provides low-interest finance loans to cities and counties. This saves taxpayers money and helps provide for community infrastructure projects.
Sen. Cleveland reports that since last year, they’ve made progress on plans to replace the antiquated I-5 bridge. That legislation passed and was signed by the governor. As part of this process, they requested, completed and delivered an inventory of all work that has been done to the bridge. The next step is the Legislative Action Committee to discuss the inventory and the steps needed to move forward on this. The first meeting on this was scheduled for Dec. 14.
Rep. Vick addressed the Main Street tax credit, which was capped at $1.5 million, but that they were able to double to $3 million. Vancouver and Camas have taken advantage of it to improve the downtown areas – creating programs like First Friday and Art Walks that draw people to the downtown area and help entrepreneur businesses there.
Regarding infrastructure, Rep. Vick said the Broadband Bill is a very big bill and has not passed yet. It’s striving for a policy where the Port can put down dark fiber in the ground and companies can then rent that infrastructure. To attract businesses to the community, being able to move data will be key to having any infrastructure upgrade.
Sen. Rivers has focused on careers and public education, including the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). They want to close the opportunity and employment gaps and provided direct funding for skills centers, which were relying on school districts, so about $80 million was added to the Clark County Skills Center.
Rep. Stonier sponsored the Bill 1201, for public facilities to refinance at better rates. This bill passed.
Addressing education, Rep. Stonier stated that research illustrates that current graduating requirements narrow the scope of the curriculum and take away time for things that train students for jobs – and courses that can teach them how to think through things, to collaborate and so on. While the basics are good, she’s working on a bill that gives students time to learn, to prepare all students for all pathways to the workplace, not just a few, and from elementary to middle school and through to high school.
Capital Budget
Sen. Cleveland stated that the Capital Budget is their No. 1 priority, that they will see the Legislature take action on this very early on in the session. There is a connection to water rights and the Hearst decision (the latter won’t affect Clark County this time). She expects to see both issues dealt with in the first weeks of the new session.
Sen. Vick, said that the Capital Budget is about $4 billion, half cash and half bonds. And funding schools is something they need to do right out the gate.
Access to higher education and costs
Rep. Wilson said that the state needs to offer more grants and scholarships, so that students don’t have to go into debt so much that it hinders them later in life. She cited that there is $1.3 trillion in student debt, and Washington students average $24,000.
Rep. Wilson also stated that for what jobs there are, the information about those jobs and their requirements need to be relayed to the students and the schools. She said if we keep kids here in Clark County, it benefits business here.
Sen. Rivers stated that this is very much an issue that impacts the local economy if young people have access to education and the funds for it.
Rep. Vick stated that with the great colleges in this town, we’re not in a position where we have to fix education, but instead should concentrate on workforce development. There are all of these industries out there that more than provide for families and the workforce. The conversation should be rethinking what a college education is. Not everyone is a doctor or engineer, and those jobs need to be filled.
