Rural lawmakers rack up successes

OLYMPIA – The changes stopped far short of the broad farming-and-ranching help that they’d wanted, but lawmakers from some of the most remote communities in the state had a pretty effective session in Olympia.

“Considering we’re in the minority, I think we’ve been pretty successful,” said Sen Bob Morton, R-Orient.

Morton and Sen. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, sponsored a combined 30 bills, most involving natural resources: water rights, hunting, grazing on public lands, mining and forestry. Most failed, but the two Republicans still eked out several wins in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

The district’s third lawmaker, Rep. Bob Sump, R-Republic, takes a different tack. Sump has long said that one of his key goals in Olympia is to not add more laws to the books. True to form, Sump this year introduced just two bills, neither of which passed. He said he tends to focus more on stopping ideas that would hurt his area.

“I’m not interested in fanfare,” he said. “I’m interested in getting results.”

One surprisingly bright spot for all three lawmakers was the two-year state construction budget approved Saturday. It includes $4 million for renovations and refurbishing the “Okanogan Equestrian and Heritage Center,” widely known now as the Omak Stampede arena.

“Any time you’re asking for 4 million bucks, it’s a selling job,” Morton said. Many local groups, including the city, county, rodeo association and civic groups, are willing to contribute cash to the project, he said.

“That helped immensely,” Morton said.

Also, the state set aside $100,000 for a salmon-viewing platform in Tonasket, $1 million for more construction at the Chewelah Peak Environmental Learning Center, and $1 million for work on the Pine Grove Water system near Republic.

“They treated us right,” Sump said of legislative budget writers.

There was one key disappointment. Farmers and ranchers pushed hard last year for exemptions from land-use restrictions for agricultural land. Their Initiative 933 failed, but proponents hoped to wring some of those protections from a sympathetic Legislature this year.

In the end, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5248, which would prevent cities and counties from amending or adopting critical areas ordinances for agricultural land until mid-2010. But Kretz and others said such a reprieve helps little, since farmers and ranchers have to deal with long-term financing and debt. Proponents are also calling for a study of the conflicts between agriculture and such land-use ordinances, with an eye to longer-term solutions.

Here’s how 7th District lawmakers did:

Kretz

“HB 1756: Allowing one more season of cougar hunting with dogs, as part of a pilot program. Passed Legislature.

“HB 1598: Requiring groups or firms that get state salmon recovery dollars to agree to disclose information about that funding publicly. Passed Legislature.

“HB 1305: Repealing a 60-year-old law regulating refrigerated food lockers that rent space to the public. Passed, and signed into law by the governor.

“HB 2328: Requiring the state to do an economic analysis and hold a hearing before transferring state land that is currently being leased for grazing. Failed.

“HB 1147: Would have allowed the state to compensate commercial livestock owners when animals are injured by bears, wolves, cougars or other predators. Such a system already exists for farmers with crops damaged by deer or elk. Failed.

Morton

“SB 5972: Allowing state officials to issue cease-work orders, fines and other penalties to stop surface mining without a permit. Passed and signed into law by the governor.

“SB 5461: Continuing state contract harvests of diseased or damaged trees. (Kretz had a similar bill.) Passed and signed into law by the governor.

“SB 5457: Spurred by a local fire district’s practice of holding secret meetings, Morton said, this would have required governing bodies in rural areas to give notice of any special meetings to anyone who files a standing request for it. Failed.

“SB 5455: Aimed particularly at Ferry County, this would have created a pilot program for economic revitalization in distressed communities, with state money able to go toward building affordable housing, creating jobs, and a wide variety of other programs. Failed.

“SB 6007: Giving $25,000 in state money to the federal government for predator control during calving season. The money would help support a federal program to shoot coyotes or other predators from aircraft. Failed.

Sump

“HB 1081: Would have exempted heating oil and kerosene from sales and use taxes. Failed.

“HB 1080: Like SB 5455, this would have created an economic revitalization program for distressed communities. Failed.