Janéa Holmquist Newbry: from the trenches of Olympia
Janéa Holmquist NewbryState Senator(R) 13th District
President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the fields.
Well, I didn't grow up a thousand miles from the farms of Eastern Washington; I spent my youth growing up in George and Colville, on family farms - and I am a Farm Bureau member.
I understand how important it is to encourage the next generation of farmers, which is why I successfully fought to establish and extend a farm-internship program and remove a burdensome commercial driver's-license requirement for the use of farm vehicles.
In the 2014 legislative session that wrapped up on March 13, I continued to be a voice for farmers, for lower taxes and less regulation, and for all of the workers, employers and taxpayers of our state.
Some media outlets have described the 2014 legislative session as the "Session of NO," choosing to focus on what the Legislature didn't get done during the short 60-day session. To some extent I have to agree: there were a lot of things that - fortunately for the people of Washington - did not happen:
* We did not raise taxes, which House Democrats wanted to do by nearly $100 million.
* We did not overspend or damage the state's balanced budget.
* For the second year in a row, we did not raise tuition at state colleges and universities, despite Democrat attempts to do just that.
* We did not waste taxpayer dollars with a special session - only the first time in five years the Legislature completed its work and adjourned on time.
* As Chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee, I was able to protect you by successfully blocking attempts to raise the minimum wage, and to saddle you with paid sick-leave and pesticide-drift mandates.
While the taxpayers and small-business employers of our state can be glad about some of those things that didn't happen, the Legislature's record on things that should have been done is mixed.
Several bills were introduced in the House and Senate to deal with the issue of water banking, a process that allows for new water users to purchase "credits" to offset the impact of their water usage on existing water rights.
Kudos to our state's Cattlemen, Cattle Producers and the Farm Bureau who worked to educate lawmakers on the need to rein in Ecology's strong-arm approach to overseeing the environmental impact of farms. As a result, a number of bills were introduced to address this problem (SB 6087, 6288 and HB 2472, 2478). Unfortunately, the Legislature failed to advance these solutions.
One area where the Legislature did make progress was on increasing the accountability of state agencies such as Ecology, and Fish and Wildlife, when it comes to basing regulations on sound science instead of political agendas. While there were several approaches to tackle this systemic problem, two bills were signed into law. House Bills 2261 and 2262 now require that these agencies give the public documented evidence of the science used to develop new rules, regulations or policies.
Another plus: I secured critical investment in our rail infrastructure, which is integral to our farmers' ability to get their products to market. While a statewide transportation package didn't pass the Legislature, I worked to ensure that $25 million was included in the Senate's project list for rail build-out at the Port of Moses Lake and am working to secure funding for the Palouse shuttle loader project.
This year, we passed a measure that requires the state to evaluate the possibility of establishing a voluntary water quality trading program. House Bill 2454 passed with broad bipartisan support - 93-5 in the House and unanimously in the Senate.
I wish we would have seen similar cooperation in the House when it comes to one of the key issues for our state's farmers, and all employers - the need for reforming the costly state-run workers' compensation system.
One of the bills I sponsored was Senate Bill 5112, which would have allowed the Farm Bureau and other organizations that participate in retrospective (or "retro") programs to schedule independent medical-exam appointments. Our industrial-insurance system has seen a number of scheduling delays when it comes to independent medical exams. Retro groups can help alleviate this delay. They have experienced claims representatives and can handle the backlog, and help make IMEs more efficient for workers. This common-sense measure passed the Senate back in February, but never made it out of committee in the Democrat-controlled House.
The case was similar with my Workers Recovery Act - Senate Bill 5127. This measure would have given more of our injured workers additional options regarding how to settle their claims with the Department of Labor and Industries and get on with their lives. This voluntary option is already available to all workers, regardless of age, in 44 other states. While the measure passed with broad bipartisan support in the Senate both last year and this session, House Democrats refused to even give the bill a hearing.
The buildup of sediment and gravel along river banks often puts farmland at risk. Senate Bill 6549, a bipartisan measure introduced by a Democrat, would have promoted strategies for reducing the flooding of farmland, through various demonstration projects on sediment-management strategies and techniques. This measure passed the Senate unanimously but once again the bill went nowhere in the House.
In fact, again and again, we have seen this clear pattern: The House of Representatives was the graveyard where good jobs and agricultural bills went to die.
Our final order of business was approval of the "supplemental" operating budget. The Legislature is required to adopt a biennial operating budget in odd-numbered years; it may pass a supplemental budget in even-numbered years (like this session) to make minor corrections to the two-year budget.
I was pleased that we were able to reach agreement on a bipartisan budget this year that balances over four years, prioritizes education and protects our social safety net, without raising taxes.
Some of this good work has been undermined by Governor Inslee's vetoes, which reduced our reserve funds and will put t potentially out of balance in later years.
One positive item that survived Inslee's veto pen was a provision I fought to have included in the budget. Working with stakeholders I was able to make sure the budget includes funding for an agricultural labor work group, which will include representatives from growers, agricultural industries, the Employment Security Department (ESD), Labor and Industries, the Department of Health and the Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
We have serious labor concerns in the agricultural community. We want to make sure there are enough workers available so that our orchardists can get their products harvested and to market. It's important to bring all the parties to the table and address these concerns.
I also worked to ensure ESD (instead of the Department of Ecology) was specified as the agency responsible for coordinating meetings and facilitating discussions within the work group.
Many of the farmers, ranchers and growers I have worked with over the years have serious concerns about the role of Ecology in rulemaking and enforcement. The goal of this work group is to foster a substantive, respectful, solution-oriented dialogue on issues affecting agriculture. In order to accomplish this, it is important to have a facilitating agency that all parties have confidence in to conduct discussions in a fair and equitable way.
This will be my final year in the Legislature, and I feel blessed by the friendships I have made in the Ag community and what we have been able to accomplish together legislatively over the past 13 years. You have been the best bosses in the world to work for.
You can count on me to continue to fight to protect you, your wallet and your rights in the state Senate up until my last day in office. So if you have a question or concern, please don't hesitate to call my office (360-786-7624) or send me an email (Janea.HolmquistNewbry@leg.wa.gov).
Editor's note: We invited all the contenders for the 4th District Congressional seat to submit a guest editorial or, alternatively, be interviewed on their positions. These articles are for introductory purposes only. The BBJ does not endorse any candidate.
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