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Capital Budget and “Hirst fix” pass Legislature

 

AGC applauds passage of the long-delayed 2017-2019 State Capital Budget as well as passage of the water-rights “Hirst fix.”

The Capital Budget funds about $4 billion in construction, including $1 billion for schools. The package also includes about $500 for university projects, such as $24 million for the Burke Museum at UW and $23 million for the animal health facility at WSU. It funds about $640 million in clean-up, clean water, stormwater and other Department of Ecology programs.

For a list of projects funded through the bill, click here. 

Substitute Senate Bill 6091, referred to as the “Hirst Fix,” passed the Senate 35-14 and the House 66-30, and was signed by the Governor.

The new legislation:

• authorizes the use of new wells throughout the state (some new conditions may apply, depending on the watershed);
  
  
• clarifies the relationship between local permitting authorities and the Department of Ecology to help provide for greater certainty for permit applicants going forward;
  
  
• establishes local planning committees to recommend stream-enhancement projects and other local standards in certain watersheds, and
  
  
• creates a task force to make recommendations about finding ways to make water available for growth in municipalities, and authorizes some pilot projects that will allow water rights to be granted.
  
  

For more information, contact AGC Chief Lobbyist Jerry VanderWood, 360.352.5000.