Dent bills move through WA Legislature

OLYMPIA — Four of Rep. Tom Dent’s, R-Moses Lake, bills have made significant progress in the state legislature over the last week.

House Bill 1243, which changes requirements for municipal airport commissioners, passed the House unanimously on March 8, passed the Senate with floor amendments 46-3 on April 12, and in concurrence with Senate amendments, passed final passage in the House 96-0.

The bill states that in a municipality with a population of fewer than 35,000, at least a majority of members must be residents of the municipality or the county in which the municipality is located, with any remaining members residents of a county or counties adjoining the municipality or the county in which the municipality is located.

"In small communities, it can be difficult to get enough residents to serve as commissioners on the municipal airport commission," said Dent, in a release by his office. "This legislation provides another option to assist small communities and their municipal airports. It would also expand the powers and duties that may be vested in a municipal airport commission."

HB 1032, which mitigates the risk of wildfires through electric utility planning and identification of best management practices appropriate to each electric utility's circumstances, passed the House and Senate unanimously and was delivered to the governor on April 14 and awaits his signature.

HB 1590 concerns the membership and subcommittees of the oversight board for the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

"With House Bill 1590, we are changing the membership and qualifications of the oversight board for the Department of Children, Youth and Families. It streamlines the process and ensures qualified individuals are serving in these positions," Dent said.

The bill passed the House 96-0, Senate 48-0, was delivered to the governor on April 14 and now awaits his signature.

HB 1498, co-sponsored by Dent and Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, concerns aviation assurance funding in response to wildland fires and passed the House and Senate unanimously. The House concurred with Senate amendments on April 14 and it moves on to be signed by the speaker and president before going to the Governor for final approval.

Dent said the legislation is the culmination of seven years of work, the release said.

“This is a critical measure for Eastern Washington. It would allow local fire departments who use aviation suppression efforts on the initial attack of brush, timber and grass fires to be reimbursed by the state for those expenses,” said Dent.

Dent's fourth bill to make it out of the Senate, House Bill 1019, would create the Pesticide Advisory Board to advise the Washington State Department of Agriculture on pesticide-related actions, the release said.

“There was a board in place that advised the department on pesticide issues. It was eliminated along with a number of other boards in 2010 during the recession to save the state money in the operating budget,” said Dent. “We need to restore this advisory board and include members who have firsthand knowledge of pesticides and their use so the department has the best input and feedback available.”

The bill passed the House unanimously on March 7, passed the Senate 33-16 with committee amendments and passed the House’s concurrence vote unanimously. It awaits the signature of the speaker and president before going to the Governor for final approval

“I look forward to having all four bills head to the governor's desk for his signature,” Dent said.

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