HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/16/2012 08 Potential State Legislative and Administrative Priorities and Potential Federal Priorities BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No.
For Meeting of: October.16, 2012
ITEM TITLE: Discussion and consideration of potential state legislative and
administrative priorities and potential federal priorities.
SUBMITTED BY: Tony O'Rourke, City Manager
CONTACT PERSON/TELEPHONE: Randy Beehler, Community Relations Manager - 575 -6092
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
The City of Yakima is in the process of developing its 2013 strategy regarding state legislative and
administrative priorities and federal priorities. The City Council plays a key role in establishing the
priorities that the City will focus on in order to be as efficient and effective as possible in both Olympia
and Washington, D.C.
Attached are both potential state legislative and administrative priorities and potential federal priorities
that the City may pursue in 2013. The City Council is being asked to discuss the potential priorities
and determine which of them should be most agressively pursued next year.
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SUBMITTAL: i City Manager
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ATTACHMENTS:
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❑ Potential 2013 state legislative and administrative priorities
❑ Potential 2013 federal priorities
City of Yakima
k `- Potential Legislative/ State Administrative Priorities
� 2013
Legislative
- CitV
- Seek funding for Mill Site infrastructure.
- Seek funding for North 1 Street improvement project.
- Pursue a time extension re: original deadline for initiation of utilization of funds.
- Add "ability to pay" to considerations re: arbitration settlements:
- Seek SEID funding to extend the City's industrial waste line within City limits and
possibly to Terrace Heights and the SR -24 corridor to promote economic development.
- Change approval needed for emergency medical services ( "EMS ") levies and fire
maintenance and operation levies to simple majority (currently require 60% super
majority approval).
- Support merger of Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters ( "LEOFF ") Plan 1 and Plan 2 in
order to reduce costs and stabilize the long -term funding of both plans.
- Extend the required response deadline for Public Records Act ( "PRA ") requests from 5
to 10 days in order to increase accuracy and completeness of initial responses.
- Support rewrite of legislation to raise current, outdated county bid limit of $25,000. The
City /County Purchasing Division supports increasing the county bid limit now, which will
likely trigger the increase of the city bid limit in the near future.
-AWC
- Fund new rounds of Local Revitalization financing
- Eliminate requirement for cities to pay medical costs for felons
- Reaffirm local authority to set public defender standards
- Allow cities to use Real Estate Excise Tax ('BEET) 2 revenue for capital debt service
- Identify sustainable funding for gang prevention and intervention programs
- Restore diverted liquor tax revenue to cities
- Retain existing state - shared revenues to cities
- Authorize tax increment financing
- Curb abusive PRA requests
State Administrative
- Clarify Total Maximum Daily Load ( "TMDL ") requirements resulting from DOE study,
which may result in additional expense for the City in order to meet.
- Support joint request from the City, WSDOT, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of
Reclamation, etc. to Department of Ecology for $1,000,000 in state capital budget funds
for the Gap -to -Gap levee setback project.
- Work with Department of Retirement Systems ( "DRS ") to consider allocation of a
portion of LEOFF 1 pension moneys to cities to offset lifetime medical expense costs.
- Oppose Department of Labor and Industries interpretation of "Prevailing Wage
Determination" re: on call" contracts due to its potential to increase costs to cities.
City of Yakima
` r4rIbk , Potential Federal Priorities
2013
- Support increased funding for Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
( "OJJDP ") and other federal programs designed to combat youth gang crime and
violence.
- Support the ongoing funding assistance provided to local public safety entities through
programs such as Community Oriented Policing Services ( "COPS "), Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency Response ( "SAFER "), and Local Law Enforcement Block
Grants ( "LLEBG ").
- Encourage the development of pilot programs (with accompanying funding) to assist
cities in the creation of innovative solutions to combat crime and violence.
- Seek funding from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
( "TIFIA ") program and other available federal sources for critical local transportation
projects such as development of streets serving the Mill Site project and the Yakima
East -West Corridor project.
- Encourage the development of adequate, predictable, and sustainable funding for
airport capital projects and airport economic development projects.
- Support the continued funding of the Community Development Block Grant ( "CDBG ")
program at current or increased levels.
- Encourage close consultation with cities prior to the consideration of any proposed
legislative or regulatory changes regarding the CDBG program.
- Support the inclusion of a "hold harmless" provision in any proposed reform to the
CDBG program allocation formula in order to allow city affected by such reform a
reasonable period of time to adjust to such formula change.
- Encourage our congressional delegation to support efforts to secure Brownfields
Assessment, Cleanup, and Redevelopment grants from the Environmental Protection
Agency Region 10 office.