Outlook Bright For Local Legislation Coroner Replacement Bill Expected To Get Ok In Olympia
The legislative purse strings are tight, but most proposed bills affecting Spokane city and county are faring well.
The proposals range from allowing county voters the right of initiative and referendum, to subsidizing Playfair Race Course so the ponies can run this year.
Here’s a look at bills important to Spokane:
A proposal allowing Spokane County to replace its coroner with a medical examiner looks destined to pass. Separate coroner bills have passed the House and Senate, and small differences are expected to be hammered out in conference committee.
The proposal would let county voters decide whether to replace the office of coroner with a trained medical examiner appointed by county commissioners. The county commission could fire the medical examiner for misconduct, while the elected coroner must be recalled.
A pilot program testing so-called photo-cop machines that take pictures of speeding vehicles so tickets can be mailed to owners failed in the Senate by the thinnest of margins.
The 24-25 vote almost assures it will resurface next year. Spokane GOP Sens. Jim West and Bob McCaslin led the charge against the bill, saying tickets should be issued personally by police.
A proposal giving county voters the right of initiative and referendum passed the House unanimously and is now before the Senate Government Operations Committee.
Initiatives allow people to place proposed laws before voters if enough signatures are gathered. Referendums let voters second-guess measures approved by county commissioners in an “up or down” vote at the ballot box.
A bill subsidizing Playfair Race Course with gambling tax money passed the House and is now before the Senate. Playfair operators said they need the break to help make up for $1 million in operating losses last year.
Dan Hillyard, track general manager, has said that without financial help, there will be no horse racing in Spokane this year and beyond. The subsidy would provide $350,000 a year through the year 2000.
The House supplemental transportation budget isn’t expected to face much opposition in the Senate. The proposed budget includes:
$1 million for design work to widen and improve Interstate 90 from Sprague Avenue to Argonne Road. Cost of the three-stage project is estimated at $42 million. The rest of the money must be allocated later.
$400,000 to redesign roads around the Riverpoint Higher Educational Park. The facility houses classes for Eastern Washington University and Washington State University.
Nearly $3.6 million for a new Department of Licensing service center in west Spokane.
$5 million statewide to repair road damage caused by winter storms and flooding.
$400,000 for sidewalks and a left turn lane on 29th Avenue between Crestline and Ray streets.
$331,200 to widen Magnesium Road between Division and Dakota streets.
, DataTimes