With expectations for a short state Legislative session that likely will focus on addressing public education mandates, many legislative priorities for the Spokane-region business community focus on protecting prior and ongoing commitments and encouraging business-friendly policies, rather than pursuing massive funding requests.

Court and voter-approved public school mandates will be high on the Legislature’s agenda, says Alisha Benson, interim CEO at Greater Spokane Incorporated, the Spokane region’s chamber of commerce and economic development agency.

The Washington state Supreme Court has found the Legislature in contempt for failing to address adequately its earlier ruling, known as the McCleary decision.

The decision limits class sizes for kindergarten through third grade to 17 students per classroom and sets a 2018 deadline to come up with a funding plan to satisfy the court. The Legislature failed to meet certain benchmarks in the interim, the court determined in its contempt ruling earlier this year.

A separate, voter-approved initiative calls for class-size limits of 25 students for fourth through 12th grades, and class sizes would be even smaller in low-income areas.

Benson says the business community stands behind the Legislature’s efforts to come into compliance in education funding, but GSI also wants to ensure the Legislature doesn’t place the burden of paying for the McCleary decision on businesses.

“B&O taxes and other things will be thrown around as the Legislature discusses McCleary,” she says.

GSI annually compiles a list of regional priorities that it forwards to the Legislature prior to each session.

The 2016 legislative session will open Jan. 11. Because it’s the mid-budget year in the state’s two-year budget cycle, a 60-day short session is scheduled.

To address the McCleary decision, GSI’s priorities include reducing reliance on local property tax levies and providing stable funding for teacher salaries and education costs.

GSI also supports restoring career and technical education funding to 2012 levels, and addressing teacher shortages due to anticipated class-size reductions, low-pay incentives, and the expected surge in retiring teachers.

Mark Anderson, Spokane Public Schools associate superintendent for school support services, says one of the top priorities for districts throughout the state is for the Legislature to allow passage of school bonds through simple majority votes, rather than supermajority votes.

Anderson says support for such legislation started to gain momentum last session with school districts across the state facing the need to add more schools due to voter and court mandates to reduce class sizes.

“It was introduced last session,” Anderson says. “It wasn’t approved, but it has some legs and it’s being revitalized this upcoming session.”

A related priority for public schools districts is for the state to provide capital funding for adequate space to implement mandates for lower class-size limits, as well as to continue funding for state matches where districts have approved bond measures.

“When we run a bond issue and develop a bond budget, we count on the state match to do the projects list,” Anderson says. “We can do more projects at the same tax rate if the state kicks in.”

In other education-related priorities, GSI is seeking continued support for all Inland Northwest health sciences and education research initiatives, including WSU’s efforts to launch a new medical school and University of Washington’s goals to expand its five-state physician education program here.

GSI also supports UW’s request for $3.7 million for its Regional Initiatives in Dental Education program here.

Also for higher education, GSI supports expanding the Washington State Work Study program and student grant programs and expanding the Math Engineering Science Achievement program in community colleges, to increase post-secondary opportunities for students.

Spokane City Councilman Jon Snyder says the city’s top legislative priorities include ensuring stable funding for accrediting the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, at Washington State University Spokane.

The city also lists support for legislation to continue and expand the in-state film production tax credit.

Noting that the state no longer funds a tourism agency, he says, “I feel the film and television projects are some of the best ways to advertise the state.”

He says the tax credit is tied directly to money spent in the area. “It’s a much higher bar than on any other tax break,” he says. 

The city of Spokane’s top capital priority is a request for $6 million to improve Riverfront Park bridges.

Snyder says the Legislature traditionally has helped match local efforts when parks bonds are passed in the west side of the state.

Spokane also is seeking $500,000 for cottage housing energy efficiency funds, $4 million for Fish Lake Trail Bridges, and funding assistance for the Spokane Public Facilities District’s envisioned sportsplex.

Snyder, however, isn’t optimistic about capital project funding requests for the session.

“I’ve heard that the capital budget in the supplemental year may be only in the $80 million range,” Snyder says. “That will probably be requested three times over by state agencies.”

Benson says McCleary isn’t the only topic on the Legislature’s agenda.

“Minimum wage issues and all the stuff around climate change and carbon caps will be very apparent,” she says.

Benson says the business community wants to ensure that that climate-change initiatives don’t put a freeze on the business environment, and GSI will oppose legislation and regulations that would increase energy costs and hinder business growth.

The organization also wants the state to ensure that state water quality standards are attainable for businesses and communities.

GSI will ask the Legislature to oppose high minimum wage initiatives, which Benson says could hurt small businesses.

Along that line, GSI supports reforming prevailing wage restrictions and establishing a training wage to promote youth employment, she says.

Benson says that as a border community, the Spokane area is sensitive to disparities in the cost of doing business here compared with costs in other states, including in neighboring Idaho.

GSI will ask the legislature to increase tax incentives for border communities and to reinstate research-and-development and business-and-occupation tax credits, Benson says.

Transportation

Benson says an underlying regional focus will be for the Legislature to follow through on $1 billion for regional road and transit projects included in last session’s transportation package.

The long-term transportation package outlines the Legislature’s intent to provide funding for the North Spokane Corridor, the City Line transit route, the West Plains Transit Center, the Interstate 90-Medical Lake Interchange, the University District Gateway Bridge, and Intestate 90 improvements between Barker and Harvard Roads.

Mike Jackson, Spokane Valley city administrator, says the city will seek funding to complete a finance package for a $29.2 million Barker Road-BNSF Railway Co. at-grade rail crossing.

“We’re keeping that in front of the Legislature,” Jackson says.