Eastern Washington lawmakers are thinking rural this Legislative season

Jan. 7—Making driver education more accessible in small towns, lowering gas prices and boosting school construction coffers are among the top priorities of 9th District lawmakers heading into the 2024 Washington Legislative session.

For the next 60 days, Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, and Reps. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy and Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, will be in Olympia supporting bills designed to benefit rural counties.

All three legislators spent the break attending parades, public meetings and other events across the sprawling eastern Washington district, which includes Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln and Whitman counties and parts of Spokane, Adams and Franklin counties.

Schmick said listening to constituents' concerns is a crucial part of being an elected official. Issues that may not sound like big deals in urban areas draw his attention.

"I try to really listen to what hurdles people are facing and try to figure out what can be done to help," he said.

What he learned on a visit to Lincoln County is that some kids and their parents have to go to Spokane for driver education classes that used to be offered locally. It's expensive and eats up hours of travel time during the 11-week program, he said.

Under the current rules, if someone wants to rent a school classroom for driver's ed, the district has to charge rent at fair market value or it's considered gifting of public funds. "I am attempting a very narrow exemption just for driver's ed and rural districts," Schmick said.

Another issue he hopes to tackle is an "unfunded mandate" that requires a trained coroner in every county. Covering the overhead for office space and personnel expenses "turned out to be quite a burden for some smaller counties," said Schmick, who has served in the House since 2007. "I'm going to have a bill that will have an exemption for smaller counties."

Schmick serves on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and is the ranking member on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee.

When it comes to wellness, Schmick would like to offer crisis training to clergy and anyone who has an interest in helping people on the brink of suicide. Mental health funding is available, but the effort needs to be more intentional and inclusive.

"I think we need more training around suicide in rural areas," Schmick said. "There are many programs people can go through, and I think the safety net needs to be much wider. I'm not talking about counseling. I'm talking about helping people in crisis. Let's talk them off the bridge and hopefully get them in touch with the help they need."

He's also working on a public records bill to "level the playing field" for small towns and junior taxing districts. This effort stems from a rash of lawsuits filed by individuals who attempt to catch government entities in a mistake.

Schmick said he supports transparency in government and access to documents. However, some public records requests have turned into battles that wind up costing taxpayers money and take valuable time away from small staffs. Instead of legitimate requests for information, some folks are working the system and have made an industry out of playing "gotcha," he said.

Dye, who has served in the House since 2015, is the ranking Republican on energy and environment issues. She is focused on bringing more transparency to the price of gasoline at Washington pumps.

Gov. Jay Inslee's cap-and-trade program is costing motorists an extra 50 cents per gallon every time they buy fuel. When the Climate Commitment Act carbon fee was established, Inslee said the impact at the pump would be pennies, Dye said, but that's not true. Instead, an average two-car family is paying an additional $500 a year for fuel.

"I want more transparency in gas prices, the market and the way this program is operated," Dye said. "Cap and trade will definitely be addressed during this session. The gas tax has essentially doubled in Washington state, and the roughly $1.5 billion that's been collected so far is money that's coming out of the economy during a time of high inflation."

Dye, a longtime Garfield County farmer, will continue her efforts to preserve the lower Snake River dams and ensure energy is affordable. She and the other 9th District lawmakers have made it clear they don't support dam breaching. At the same time, they spoke in favor of implementing alternative, effective ways to protect and enhance the salmon population.

"Allow them to function at their capacity," Dye said of the dams. "If we did that, a lot of these other land-intensive options would not be necessary, and let's face it, wind and solar farms are not very efficient."

At a recent field meeting in the Tri-Cities, Dye said she learned that the Office of Environmental Quality could get an executive order to do a drawdown of dams. "That ran my red flag clear to the top of the pole," Dye said.

Water quality is another issue that has Dye's attention. She said legislators have been focused on air quality for years, but "we have a terrible water quality problem," especially in the Puget Sound where wastewater treatment plants are polluting the water.

"We want to task the Department of Ecology with getting timely data on water quality for more accurate information. Puget Sound is significantly impaired."

In addition, Dye has introduced legislation to create a Washington State Commission on Boys and Men to address the well-being of males across the state.

"There are many issues that impact men and boys. Yet, there is no unified voice that would tackle these issues at the state level," she has said. "If adopted, this legislation would create the first of its kind boys and men's commission in the nation, right here in Washington state."

A lot of money is invested in affordable housing, the homeless, mental health and criminal justice, yet "we're seeing declines in the well being of boys and men, and we'd like to address why. Let's talk about it and figure it out."

Schoesler said the session will feature opening-day ceremonies Monday, and the governor's final State of the State address Tuesday. Inslee is not seeking reelection in the fall.

The three 9th District legislators want to change the costly "cap and tax" program, and force the state to honor the fuel surcharge exemption for agriculture, aviation and maritime industries, the longtime senator said.

Other goals are making it easier and more affordable for the victims of wildfires to rebuild, allowing patients to access their prescription drugs from their local pharmacy or by mail, and improving K-12 education policies and helping schools with construction funding.

In addition, Schoesler wants to provide more legislation to hold criminals accountable, address the fentanyl problem and increase the number of law enforcement officers on the streets.

The short session's main objective is to create and pass supplemental operating, capital and transportation budgets, Schoesler said.

Constituents are encouraged to follow bills on the legislative website — leg.wa.gov — and to contact their representatives by email or a visit to Olympia.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com. You can follow her on X @newsfromkerri