The legislative session is now officially over (both the short session and the special session). We sent out a report last month on all the bills we worked to pass this session, and those we also worked to defeat. With the successful passage of SB 6846 (E-911 bill)…we felt it appropriate to send this out one more time with all the bills we were pleased to see pass. In addition, this serves as a reminder to send us your Top 5 legislative goals for 2011!!!! Your legislative committee is excited about next year’s 105 day “long” session, and we want to be ready to go with a new list of Washington Fire Chief’s goals. That being said, here is a final recap of the 2010 short session:
House and Senate Bills
· CBRNE (Regional Hazardous materials and explosives teams): HB 1039 (sponsored by Representatives Driscoll, Ericks, Haler, Seaquist, Simpson, Conway, Hurst, Haigh, Goodman and O’Brien) and SB 5010 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Kline, Fairley, McCaslin, and Kauffman):
These bills died…but…………The goal of these bills was to establish the statewide CBRNE response program (chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and explosives incidents). While these bills died in committee, we continue to work this behind the scenes with our efforts redirected at obtaining $2,000,000 via Federal Grant funding to assist with our study and initial implementation of CBRNE statewide.
· Impact fees for Fire Districts and Regional Fire Authorities: HB 1080 (sponsored by Representatives Simpson and Williams)
This bill….PASSED!!!!! This was our number one goal heading into the 2010 session, and after many years of effort we were able to successfully get this bill passed and signed by the Governor into law on March 17th, 2010. This bill will now allow impact fees to be used for all fire protection facilities (e.g. fire districts and regional fire authorities). The corresponding city or county will have to collect the impact fees imposed by the fire district or regional fire authority, after adoption at the local legislative level (i.e. Board of Fire Commissioners or RFA Governance Board). The specifics will soon be worked out by the Washington Fire Chiefs and our partners as we try to establish a consistent level of impact fees for use throughout the fire service.
· Emergency cardiac care and stroke care: HB 2396 (sponsored by Representatives Morrell, Hinkle, Driscoll, Campbell, Cody, Van DeWege, Carlyle, Johnson, Simpson, Hurst, O’Brien, Clibborn, Nelson, Maxwell, Conway, McCoy, and Moeller):
This bill passed. This law directs the Department of Health to address the needs in cardiovascular care as found in the 2008 emergency cardiac and stroke work group's report through a coordinated system of emergency cardiac and stroke care. It further requests hospitals to voluntarily self-identify cardiac and stroke capabilities, indicating which level of cardiac and stroke service the hospital provides. It also established certain hospitals as primary stroke care centers.
· Concerning emergency response zones: HB 2464 (sponsored by Representatives Liias, Johnson, O’Brien, Morrell, Maxwell, Sullivan, Simpson, Van DeWege, Kenney, Ericks and Sells) and SB 6231 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Marr, King, Eide, Delvin, Zarelli, Shin and Tom):
This bill (the House version, HB 2464) passed. This law defines an "emergency zone" as the area 200 feet before and after a stationary emergency vehicle, a tow truck, an emergency assistance vehicle, or a police vehicle utilizing its respective signal lights or sirens. Requires motorists to observe the speed limit in an emergency zone, and doubles the normal fine for motorists that do not. Creates the crime of reckless endangerment of emergency zone workers, a violation of which is a gross misdemeanor and also subjects an individual to an automatic 60-day driver's license suspension.
· Shared leave provisions: HB 2492 (sponsored by Representatives Simpson, Green, White, Conway, Ericks and Morrell) and SB 6453 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Hobbs, Delvin, Shin and Roach):
This bill (the Senate version, SB 6453) passed. This law allows employer-authorized shared leave received by a LEOFF Plan 2 member to be allowable with respect to service credit and FAS (final average salary) that the member would normally receive if using accrued annual leave or sick leave. This applies
to directly and indirectly transferred leave, such as through a shared leave pool, and includes leave transferred prior to the effective date of the act providing that retirement contributions were made on the shared leave.
· Duty related death benefits: HB 2519 (sponsored by Representatives Green, Hope and Ericks) and SB 6407 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Eide, Brandland, Hobbs, Kline, Shin, Kilmer, Parlette and Marr):
This bill (the House version, HB 2519) passed. This law addresses duty-related death benefits for public safety employees. Removes the 10-year service requirement in Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighters’ Retirement Plan 2 (LEOFF 2) and the Washington State Patrol Retirement System Plan 2 (WSPRS 2) for survivors of duty-related deaths to qualify for a survivor annuity. Removes the actuarial reduction for a joint and 100 percent survivor option applied to survivor annuities in LEOFF 2 and WSPRS 2 for survivors of duty related death. Provides a minimum survivor annuity in LEOFF 2 and WSPRS 2 of 10 percent of final average salary for survivors of duty-related deaths. Increases the lump-sum, duty-related death benefit in all plans of LEOFF and WSPRS to $214,000 and annually increases the lump sum by up to 3 percent per year. Provides LEOFF and WSPRS duty-related death survivors an optional 36 months, rather than 24 months, lump-sum benefit in the provision that halt workers’ compensation pension benefits upon remarriage. Requires (rather than permits as in current law) state higher education institutions to waive payment of all tuition, services, and activity fees for both the children and surviving spouses of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, or Washington State Patrol Officer that died or became totally disabled in the line of duty.
· Annexation cleanup bill: HB 2611 (sponsored by Representatives Williams and Hunt) and SB 6287 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Fraser and Fairley):
This bill (the Senate version, SB 6287) passed. This law provides that all property located within the boundaries of a city, partial, or town annexing into a fire protection district which is subject to an excess levy (e.g. bond issue) by the city or town for the repayment of debt incurred for fire protection related capital improvements that incurred prior to the annexation is exempt from voter-approved property taxes levied by the annexing fire protection district for the repayment of indebtedness issued prior to the effective date of the annexation. It is basically a law designed to help cities such as Lacey, which is looking to annex into Thurston County Fire District #3, and in this scenario both Lacy and District #3 have bond issues (excess levies) designed to purchase capital fire equipment. In annexations under current law, the debt of the district is uniformly spread over the entire district, including the annexed area. This problem could negatively impact the upcoming Lacey election. This bill corrects the problem and allows fire districts to determine whether to spread the debt to the annexed area or to have the city debt remain with the city residents and the fire district debt remain with the district residents.
· Cities annexing into fire districts: HB 2843 (sponsored by Representatives Ormsby and Driscoll) and SB 6418 (companion bill sponsored by Senators Marr and Brown):
This bill (the Senate version, SB 6418) passed. This law will allow a city or town adjacent to a fire district to annex into such a district provided the population of the city or town does not exceed 300,000 (instead of the historical 100,000 population limit).
· State Fire Marshal pension: HB 2862 (sponsored by Representatives Van DeWege, Conway, Ericks, Simpson, and Kessler) and SB 6546 (companion bill sponsored by Senator Pridemore):
This bill (the Senate version, SB 6546) passed…and it was another one of our top issues for 2010. This law will allow the person employed as the state director of fire protection under RCW 43.43.938 (i.e. the State Fire Marshal) who was previously a member of the law enforcement officers' and firefighters' retirement system plan 2 (LEOFF 2) under chapter 41.26 RCW to continue as a member of LEOFF 2 if so desired, as opposed to automatically becoming a PERS member.
· E-911 funding bill: SB 6846 (sponsored by Senators Brandland, Regala, and Fraser):
This bill passed…and it was one of our top issues for 2010. This law will allow fees to be collected for switched access lines, radio access lines, and interconnected VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service line, in the amount not exceeding 25 cents per month. These funds will be allowed to be used for efforts to modernize existing 911 systems, and enhancing E-911 operational costs. This sets the stage for next generation E-911 upgrades to keep up with current and future technology. This is a HUGE victory for emergency services!!!!
Bills we worked on, but were not successful with…THIS year:
We also worked very hard this year to pass a number of bills which, for one reason or another, did not make it through the legislative process. Remember, it is much easier to kill a bill than it is to pass one. Therefore, many of these bills will undoubtedly be a focus in 2011:
o HB 2224 and SB 6451, related to removing barriers which may impede the voluntary installation of residential sprinkler systems (it was killed on a last minute political technicality, a legislative maneuver which we were not pleased to see play out…but we WILL BE BACK in 2011).
o HB 1039 and SB 5010, our CBRNE bills. We didn’t get a hearing this year, but kept this issue in front of the legislature.
o SB 6545 which would have adopted the international wildland urban interface code (our WUI bill).
o HB 2788 regarding the posting of notices in aid cars and ambulances regarding transport rates. We will work this issue in the off session to try and change the application of the law.
o HB 3041 and SB 5432, the bills which would provide simple majority elections for EMS levies. We did not make any headway this year, but this will remain a TOP ISSUE as we head into 2011.
o And we also worked a number of bills (including HB 2549) related to fires on “no man’s land” with a goal of providing voluntary responses, a mechanism to entice homeowners to join a fire district, a fee schedule for agencies who decide to respond to no man’s land incidents, and a host of other issues related to the plethora of bills dropped on this issue in 2010.
Bills we worked on with the goal of killing them and were successful in doing just that
In addition, the Washington Fire Chiefs legislative team fought off several bills, many of which I cannot list here. However, some of the key bills we worked to kill include the following:
o HB 2702 which would have imposed additional wording on ballot measures as proposed by the State Assessors Association which would totally confuse voters deciding on lid lifts or other economic election issues.
o HB 2499 regarding black powder regulations. We worked this bill to the point that we accepted the final changes proposed for the bill via substitute language, but the bill ended up dying in the end.
o We also worked to kill several “no man’s land” bills, as explained previously, which would have mandated neighboring fire agencies to provide uncompensated service to areas which are not within a fire district or municipality. Some of these included SB 6462, SB 6463, and others which we felt should be joined together in one bill covering the needs of the fire service and our citizens.
o SB 6880, which would have mandated fees for EMT’s and First responders (as well as paramedics) to assist with the State’s budget shortfall.
o A plethora of bills which were a holdover from 2009 and would have limited future growth of property taxes collected by fire districts and RFA’s. These included SJR 8200, SB 5000, and SB 5057.
All-in-all, this short session provided the Washington Fire Chiefs with the opportunity to work with key legislators, our fire service partners, and the Governor’s Office to continue our efforts of developing relationships with the needs of the fire service as our paramount goal. On behalf of the Washington Fire Chief’s Legislative Team, Lobbyists Gordon Walgren and Dylan Doty, Executive Director and Lobbyist Mike Brown, and Legislative Chair/Fire Chief Al Church, thank you all for your support and for your assistance in Olympia…and here’s looking forward to 2011…after we look back on 2010 and say: “Job Well Done!!!!”
Now….for NEXT YEAR!!!!!!
The Washington Fire Chief’s legislative Committee wants to hear from YOU!!! It is time for you to let us know what you deem important legislatively in 2011.
So…..please email …..or you’re your TOP Five (5) legislative desires for 2011 (note…the author of this newsletter prefers you send it to Lauri…sorry Lauri…..). Please send this to us by April 30th, 2010.
These items can be things such as:
§ Residential sprinkler barrier bill (HB 2224 which failed this year, and will need to be reintroduced as a new bill in 2011).
§ No Man’s Land comprehensive bill to finally try and clean up all no man’s land issues.
§ EMS Levies with a simple majority.
§ Benefit charge elections with a simple majority.
§ Or…anything that you feel should be on your Top 5 list!!!
Again, please send the list to us prior to April 30th so the new list can be prepared prior to the upcoming Fire Chief’s Conference in Spokane.
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WFC Legislative Committee Page
Legislative Update; March 26th, 2010