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2009 Washington State Legislature
Boating Scorecard
They say it was one of the most difficult legislative sessions in Washington State history because of the economic recession and the resulting budget shortfall. Over the last four months, we have heard over and over again the challenge of filling a $9B shortfall.
While that was going on, the NMTA and other boating organizations in the state were on both offense and defense. On the one hand, we were trying to encourage a number of state agencies to “Serve Boaters Better” by reorganizing how they deliver services under a single Office of Boating. On the other hand, we were trying to prevent the legislature from reducing or eliminating money that have historically gone into boating programs to help solve their overall budget shortfall.
From my vantage point, we lost one and won one.
When the final bell sounded in Olympia and legislators returned to their districts, the budget they sent to the Governor for signature took $9.8M right out of boating programs and used the money to help keep the Washington State Parks Department afloat. This is money from the Recreation Resource Account, which is tax money that comes from boaters pay when they buy gas to use in their boats. The money has been going to boat launch facilities since voters passed Initiative 215 in 1965.
Some might consider this a reasonable compromise given the fact that the Parks Department oversees many boating programs. But the cold hard facts are these – over the next two years, 20 boat launch ramps across the state will not be repaired, upgraded or built. Access to the water is one of the single most important investments the state and local governments can make so we can all get out on the water and enjoy boating since 75 percent of all boats are on trailers.
I know the legislature “swept” hundreds of millions of dollars from all sorts of accounts to balance their budget, but I wish we could have done something more to stop it.
The bright spot for boating came in the final days of the session when the legislature directed an independent legislative committee to conduct a study of boating programs. I wrote about this last December in Water Life with the headline: “The Time has Come.” In my mind, this is exactly what we needed from this legislative session in order to determine if an Office of Boating could or would really make a difference for all of us boaters in the years ahead.
The study will conduct a review of the state’s recreational boating programs. This review will include examining the following:
- Revenue sources for state recreational boating programs.
- Expenditures for state boating programs.
- Methods of administrating state recreational boating programs including:
- The roles of both state and local government entities, and
- Approaches other states have taken to funding and administering their recreational boating programs.
I would like to especially thank Senator Karen Fraser (D- Olympia), Senator Ken Jacobsen (D- Seattle) and Senator Dale Brandland (R – Bellingham) for their support of boating. I also would like to thank our lobbyist, Cliff Webster who just finished his 10th year working for us in Olympia as well as Joanna Arlow, the lobbyist for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).
Since I will be finishing my time at the NMTA next month, this was my last legislative session so I am very proud of getting this study authorized. It helps temper the loss of funding for boating facilities in the next two years. Heck, I am not sure there is anything we could have done to prevent the legislature from sweeping the boat launch money.
With warm regards,
Michael Campbell
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