Week of April 13, 2009

If you are interested in receiving pdf version of the hotlist by Monday morning of each week, please email sudha (at) wcvoters.org.

• Hot List for the State House

• Hot List for the State Senate

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL HOT LIST for the STATE HOUSE - Thursday, April 16, 2009

This is a SPECIAL State House Hot List for Thursday, April 16, 2009. SSB 5840, the bill to amend I-937, the Clean Energy Initiative, is set for Floor action today. We cannot support this bill if ANY substantive amendments are added.

ESSB 5840: Modifying I-937 the citizen’s clean energy initiative.

POSITION: SUPPORT without ANY substantive amendments AND in conjunction with commitment to extend
renewable sales tax exemption (yes, this compromise is that delicate).

• Please do not pass any amendments to the bill; other than technical ones offered by Chair John McCoy. The bill is a carefully constructed compromise between the environmental community and many utilities and businesses interests.

• The environmental community will supports this compromise if it is coupled with the extension of the sales and use tax
exemption for renewables as agreed to in the Governor’s Office with key industry stakeholders.

• Two individual utilities are seeking changes, probably to change the law’s “Cost Cap”. The cost cap for slow growing utilities in the bill works. The impact of changes to this provision are unknown and could be very damaging. If an amendment to change this cost cap hangs on the bill, we urge you to oppose the bill in its entirety.

• In exchange for the concessions/changes to Washington’s renewable portfolio standard that we agreed to, the Governor proposed extending Washington’s sales and use tax exemption for construction of renewable energy projects by 75 percent through July 2013 and 50 percent through July 2020. The bill to implement this language is currently in the Senate. The Governor; and House and Senate leadership agree that final passage of SB 5840 in the Senate should not take place until extension of the Sales Tax Exemption is secured.

• Together these two policy proposals strike a balance among issues and between many stakeholders. While they represent a
reduction in Washington’s overall renewable energy goals, if they remain linked, they represent an honest attempt to foster
continued investment in Washington’s effort to diversify its renewable energy portfolio; and create new economic
opportunity for Washington’s natural resource based communities.

------------------------------------------------------------

Hot List for Week of April 13, 2009

HOUSE FLOOR ACTION

•As the conversation around the state budget intensifies, there is growing momentum behind this bill as an immediate, substantive and achievable win for the environment, jobs and local governments.
 

•By imposing a fee on petroleum products that contribute to stormwater pollution, this bill would raise over $100 million in new funds that can be used for improved water quality in Puget Sound and across Washington. This polluter-pays approach could fund job-creating infrastructure projects in every district in the state.

•A water bank, administered through the Trust Water Rights Program, is a mechanism that provides flexibility for supplying water to instream and out-of-stream demands and protects a water right holder from relinquishment while the water is managed through the bank.

 
•This bill clarifies how a water bank operates and provides a consistent statewide system for managing banked water.

•It is critical this year to keep moving Washington forward in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and making real progress toward the 2020 emissions limits committed to in last year’s Climate Action and Green Jobs law.
 

•We support this bill moving forward, to be strengthened on the House floor to make clearer progress toward meeting Washington’s 2020 emissions limits. Key pieces of a bill we can support are measures to make Washington less-dependent on dirty coal power and taking steps to give people more transportation choices.

•This modest investment by the state, which is included in the Senate Operating budget, will save the public and private sector money through savings in utility bills, will stimulate our economy, improve our buildings, create jobs in energy efficiency services, and increase accountability that will help WA receive additional federal stimulus dollars.
 

•This bill has will reduce greenhouse gas pollution reduction by 30 million metric tons through 2020. Please pass this important policy and get the bill to the Governor’s desk to sign.

SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION

•No one has testified in opposition to this bill in either chamber.

•HB 1456 would prevent new fully contained communities from being developed on natural resource lands, helping to reduce the pressure to urbanize these working lands.

•Adjudication is a critical tool for understanding how much water is actually used in a basin and the amount of water available. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of water rights in Washington have been adjudicated, leaving the state unable to adequately manage its rivers and streams. 

•This bill modernizes the adjudication process, promotes efficiency, and provides certainty for water users.

•As the conversation around the state budget intensifies, there is growing momentum behind this bill as an immediate, substantive and achievable win for the environment, jobs and local governments.

•By imposing a fee on petroleum products that contribute to stormwater pollution, this bill would raise over $100 million in new funds that can be used for improved water quality in Puget Sound and across Washington. This polluter-pays approach could fund job-creating infrastructure projects in every district in the state.

•The state capital budget spends billions of dollars on infrastructure that if not spent properly could make it more difficult to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions required by state law.