Seattle City Council Resolutions
Information modified on March 1, 2013; retrieved on March 29, 2024 7:04 AM
Resolution 31419
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A RESOLUTION setting forth the City of Seattle's 2013 State Legislative Agenda. |
Description and Background | |
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Current Status: | Adopted as Amended |
Fiscal Note: | Fiscal Note to Resolution 31419 |
Index Terms: | STATING-POLICY, STATE-LEGISLATION |
Notes: | Originally referred to the Committee on Economic Resiliency and Regional Relations on December 3, 2012. |
Legislative History | |
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Sponsor: | CLARK | tr>
Date Introduced: | December 10, 2012 |
Committee Referral: | Full Council |
City Council Action Date: | December 17, 2012 |
City Council Action: | Adopted |
City Council Vote: | 9-0 |
Date Delivered to Mayor: | December 18, 2012 |
Date Filed with Clerk: | December 21, 2012 |
Signed Copy: | PDF scan of Resolution No. 31419 |
Text | |
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WHEREAS, the City of Seattle's Legislative Agenda is developed annually with input from our City departments, elected officials, regional governmental agencies, statewide interest groups, and advocates; and WHEREAS, the City will lobby the Legislature in cooperation with these entities; and WHEREAS, the 2013 legislative session will last 105 days and will result in the adoption of operating, capital, and transportation budgets, as well as changes to state policy; and WHEREAS, elected officials of Seattle support the state efforts in funding critical services that protect the quality of life of Seattle residents, and WHEREAS, ensuring access to public benefits will help vulnerable individuals and families survive; and WHEREAS, quality public education is crucial to developing a strong citizenry competitive in a global economy the City of Seattle will advocate to fully fund basic education consistent with the recent McCleary decision of the Washington State Supreme Court; and WHEREAS, the City will advocate for state investment and policies that lead to retained and new jobs through support for innovation and investment in infrastructure, including local and regional transportation; and WHEREAS, State investment in public safety with a focus on crime prevention, supported re-entry, and traffic and pedestrian safety are crucial for the well being of Seattle residents; and WHEREAS, Seattle will work with other local governments to protect direct state funding to local governments and support additional local authority to provide resources for transportation, public safety, human services, and public health programs; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT Section 1. Issues in the City of Seattle 2013 State Legislative Agenda are an accurate, though not exhaustive, list of current City priorities for the 2013 state legislative session. The Agenda is separated into three sections to show relative priority and to provide guidance to Legislators, City elected officials, and lobbyists. The sections in the Agenda are defined as follows: Primary focus These issues directly and immediately impact the City of Seattle, and will be the primary focus of our efforts throughout the 2013 legislative session: 1) Protecting the most vulnerable: The City of Seattle will work to protect human services, public health, and other critical areas such as the Housing Trust Fund. We will oppose efforts to shift human services, housing and public health dollars to other priorities. 2) Education: We support efforts to reform K-12 education on a statewide basis and to comply with the McCleary decision by fully funding basic education. We support efforts to maximize the efficiency and accountability of our public education system in order to save money. We support efforts to raise revenue equitably. We oppose further cuts to higher education. 3) Economic development and infrastructure: We support new local and regional transportation funding options and a statewide transportation package. We support funding for infrastructure investments that lead to job creation and continued investments in job training. 4) Public safety: We support gun safety laws and regulations that reduce violence and result in safe, responsible gun ownership, including: a ban on all assault weapons; a ban on large capacity ammunition magazines; universal background checks, including at gun shows; trigger locks and safe storage requirements; and micro-stamping technology in all firearms sold, purchased or delivered in the state to improve the capability of police to trace fired bullets. We support investments in youth violence prevention and intervention, new tools to prevent and reduce gang-related and other forms of violence, and domestic violence prevention and services. We support funding for programs that help women and men previously incarcerated successfully transition back into society and resources to evaluate and treat mentally ill offenders deemed not competent to stand trial. We support legislation allowing cities to set speed limits as low as 20 miles per hour in residential and small business districts. 5) City fiscal health: The City of Seattle will work to protect existing state and local shared revenues, including the restoration of liquor revenues, and to preserve existing local revenue authorities. Areas of Significant Interest -We will press for progress on this list of issues in the 2013 legislative session. However, we realize that legislative approval for many of these items may take several years. See Exhibit 1 for a list of these issues. Areas of Ongoing Concern -Legislative action on these issues would make a difference to Seattle. Some of these issues would require only small technical changes to State law and we will ask our Seattle legislators to lead the effort on moving these forward during the 2013 legislative session. See Exhibit 1 for a list of these issues. Section 2. The City of Seattle 2013 State Legislative Agenda attached to this resolution as Exhibit 1 is adopted. Adopted by the City Council the ____ day of ____________________, 2012, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this________ day of ______________________, 2012. _________________________________ President ___________of the City Council THE MAYOR CONCURRING: _________________________________ Michael McGinn, Mayor Filed by me this ____ day of ________________________, 2012. ____________________________________ Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk (Seal) Traci Ratzliff Legislative Department, 2013 Legislative Agenda RES December 17, 2012 Version #3 Attachment: Exhibit 1 CITY OF SEATTLE 2013 State Legislative Agenda MAYOR Mike McGinn CITY COUNCIL Sally J. Clark, Council President Sally Bagshaw Tim Burgess Richard Conlin Jean Godden Bruce Harrell Nick Licata Michael O'Brien Tom Rasmussen STATE TEAM Office of Intergovernmental Relations Marco Lowe, Director Jasmin Weaver, Deputy Director Craig Engelking, State Legislative Director Kelsey Beck, State Legislative Liaison SESSION PRIORITIES -2013 Areas of Primary Focus Protecting the most vulnerable: The City of Seattle will work to protect human services, public health, and other critical areas such as the Housing Trust Fund; and we support efforts to raise new revenue in order to preserve these essential programs and services. Education: We support efforts to reform education on a statewide basis and to comply with the McCleary decision by fully funding basic education without cutting funding for human services or other important state services and programs. Transportation, economic development and infrastructure: We support new local and regional transportation funding options and a statewide transportation package, as described below. We also support funding for infrastructure investments that leads to job creation, continued investments in job training, and expanding the Main Street Tax Incentive program to include Pioneer Square. Public safety: We support gun safety laws and regulations that reduce violence and result in safe, responsible gun ownership, including: a ban on all assault weapons; a ban on large capacity ammunition magazines; universal background checks, including at gun shows; trigger locks and safe storage requirements; and micro-stamping technology in all firearms sold, purchased or delivered in the state to improve the capability of police to trace fired bullets. We support investments in youth violence prevention and intervention, new tools to prevent and reduce gang-related and other forms of violence, and domestic violence prevention and services. We support funding for programs that help women and men previously incarcerated successfully transition back into society and resources to evaluate and treat mentally ill offenders deemed not competent to stand trial. We support legislation allowing cities to set speed limits as low as 20 miles per hour in residential and business districts. City fiscal health: The City of Seattle will work to protect existing state and local shared revenues, including the restoration of liquor revenues, and to preserve all existing local revenue authorities and support new local revenue opportunities. Areas of Significant Interest Human Services and Health Periods of economic downturn affect people from every walk of life, but their effects are felt most keenly by those who are most vulnerable. To the greatest extent possible, we ask the State to preserve programs that protect the most vulnerable people and families and reduce future social costs by providing those who are able the tools needed for selfsufficiency. We have identified expanding healthcare coverage through implementing the Basic Health Option or other alternatives that providefederal support for health care coverage, Maternity Support Services, public health funding, Community Health Clinics, mental health treatment services, Apple Health for Kids, Housing and Essential Needs, the Senior Services Act programs, immigrant services, State Food Assistance, the Farmer's Market Nutrition Program, Small Farm & Direct Marketing Assistance Program, Farm to School Program, Working Connections Childcare, family planning, and Nurse Family Partnerships, and support implementing the Community First Choice Option provision of the Affordable Care Act to leverage increased federal funding for long-term care services as areas of particular importance to Seattle. In addition, Seattle recognizes that many young people aging out of foster care face numerous and serious challenges, and so we support full implementation of Extended Foster Care, the Foster Care to 21 portion of the Federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, to allow all youth the opportunity to remain in care until they are 21 years old. Housing and Homelessness Seattle believes that housing---its availability and affordability---is critical to the quality of life of our residents and neighborhoods. In addition, Seattle supports State efforts to assist with the implementation of the TenYear Plan to End Homelessness. Therefore, we support legislation that will create additional financing tools and land accessibility to expand affordable housing. We also seek additional changes in tenant screening laws to improve fairness, transparency and accountability, including improved protections for victims of domestic violence and fee relief for prospective tenants. We also support aligning state and federal law to ensure housing access for disabled residents with service animals. Transportation We support an environmentally sustainable transportation system with stable funding for transit and options to expand transit service in the future. To address long-term funding needs, Seattle supports efforts to craft a statewide transportation package for voter approval that prioritizes safety, transit and maintenance over expansion. Specifically: * Includes a significant share of funding for cities to help pay for local maintenance backlogs; * Includes sustainable funding for transit operations; * Results in expanded transit service in areas with the greatest demand; * Prioritizes safety and maintenance projects; and * Meets both the City's and the State's greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets. We support new local and regional options for transportation funding that could be used to help expand transit, including light rail; modifying the City's parking tax authority to allow for a more equitable application of the tax; and more progressive options regarding MVET. To help better manage on-street parking and improve access to local businesses for all drivers (including those with disabled parking placards), we seek improvements to the disabled parking placard eligibility and administration process such that disabled parking placards are distributed to and used only for the benefit of those who need them. We support the development of a full funding package for the SR 520 Replacement Project (SR 520 Project) that improves safety, improves the movement of transit, bikes, and pedestrians throughout the corridor and is consistent with the Memorandum of Understanding between WSDOT and the City of Seattle. We urge the State Legislature to fund continuing efforts in 2013 to advance the design of the West Side of the SR 520 Project and build upon the successful outreach and engagement efforts completed as part of the Seattle Community Design Process (SCDP) in 2012. Substantial progress has been made in refining project design near Seattle's neighborhoods and the Arboretum through collaboration with members of the community and the City of Seattle. Continued funding in 2013 is necessary to maintain the momentum, build upon the progress being made with the community and implement recommendations identified in the SCDP Final Report. We support the completion of analysis of tolling I-90. We also support establishing the authorization for tolling I-90. We support additional resources for commercial vehicle safety enforcement and policies that equitably share the burden of responsibility for safety violations between drivers and equipment owners. Public Safety In addition to the issues identified in our highest priorities, we also support the continued use of automated traffic safety cameras and legislation that improves transparency and accountability. We seek legislation to remove barriers that currently limit the City's ability to release Digital In Car Video footage to the public. We also support a waiver of the two party consent rule pertaining to police video cameras (body-cams), identical to the exemption for Digital In Car Video. We believe that local governments should have the ability to regulate firearms or weapons in public places to ensure the safety of their communities and local circumstances. We support funding for Win 211, which helps the public access important information and government programs and services after disasters. Education In addition to supporting efforts to reform education, the City supports maximum possible funding for Early Learning and Basic Education. During challenging economic times, it is also critically important to support community colleges, technical colleges, and state universities as they provide access to retraining and workforce development opportunities. Sustainability and Environmental Protection To ensure cleanup of local toxic sites, we support full funding for the Local Toxics Account and use of the funds for their statutory purpose. We also support a new, long-term state funding source for local stormwater management programs to help improve water quality and protect salmon. Areas of On-going Concern Economic Development and Infrastructure Seattle supports tax increment financing, including new value capture concepts, as a tool to encourage economic development and community improvement projects, and supports a set aside for low-income housing. We support the Global Health Fund and continued funding for the Life Sciences Discovery Fund. Seattle supports revising Section 3 Chapter 38, Laws of 2011 to restore Seattle's ability to collect parking tax revenues from the baseball stadium public facility district. We support increased capital funding for Seattle's cultural institutions. The City also supports considering the creation of a state investment trust to provide financing for housing development, public works infrastructure, educational infrastructure, student loans, and community quality of life projects. Sustainability and Environmental Protection Seattle supports the Energy Independence Act (RCW 19.285) which was passed by the voters as I-937 in 2006. Seattle City Light has met its renewable and conservation targets and anticipates continuing to in the future. We support changes to the Act that would provide greater flexibility for utilities to meet their targets, such as the ability to roll over excess conservation into the next biennium but without undermining the initiative. We support incentives for investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy development and net-metering. We support legislation that will reduce toxic chemicals in children's toys. We support development of common industry standards for recycled products, funding for recycling facilities, promotion of product stewardship, and legislative initiatives to reduce waste and increase recycling. We support product stewardship for surplus pharmaceuticals, carpet, paint, mercury-containing lighting and additions to the products covered by E-Cycle Washington as well as legislation to ensure manufacturers' responsibility for waste products. To help promote waste reduction, we are also seeking elimination of the requirement that phone companies publish and distribute telephone directories and support efforts to create a statewide opt out system for commercial telephone directories. General Government Seattle seeks the ability to recover costs associated with egregious public records requests, clarification that the Public Records Act does not require ongoing or continuing responses and an automatic exemption for witnesses. Race & Social Justice Every person has the right to live, work, and learn free from discrimination. We support legislation that prevents discrimination and creates equitable opportunity in housing, employment, public accommodations, voting, contracting and in lending practices. We support efforts to promote racial equity in the areas of education, community development, health, jobs, housing, the environment, the criminal justice system and in government policies, programs and procedures. We support efforts to protect the rights of and services provided to immigrants. In the 2013 Legislative Session we give special attention to the legislative recommendations of the Race and Social Justice Community Roundtable working to eliminate the opportunity gap by reducing racial disparities in public high school graduation rates. Law & Criminal Justice We also support safeguards for protected groups from harassment and violence through misuse of the Public Records Act. We also support efforts that would allow courts of limited jurisdiction to order convicted defendants to pay restitution. We support legislation that clarifies state DUI laws regarding the number of violations that would trigger mandatory probation. We seek legislation to improve enforcement of limousine regulations. Planning & Development Seattle believes in the right to impose fees to fund necessary facilities and services related to the impacts of development and to require appropriate infrastructure such as open space and sidewalks associated with new development. We support the expansion of incentive zoning to include provisions that encourage new open space, preserving current open space, creating multi-modal transportation infrastructure, and preserving landmark structures. |
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