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Matt Baide
matt@masoncounty.com
State representatives Drew
MacEwen and Dan Griffey and state
senator Tim Sheldon were given a
Mason County sendoff at the Shelton
Yacht Club last Friday before the 2022
legislative session.
The event was put on by the Shel—
ton-Mason County Chamber of Com—
merce, North Mason Chamber of Com-
merce and the Economic Development V
Council of Mason County. Sen. Shel-
don, D-Potlatch, spoke first at the
event and said there weren’t a lot of
highlights to report from the 2021 leg—
islative session. He said the biggest
thing he believes will be changed this
year is the bill passed in 2021 regard-
ing long-term care. ,
“Actuarily, the bill doesn’t work. I
think the majority party has finally
discovered that and admitted it. They
knew, a lot of people knew before it
was passed but it was a partisan bill
and I was the only Democrat that vot-
ed against it,” Sheldon said. “The issue
is you can’t afford it and there was an
initiative that didn’t make the ballot
but we’re going to review it and I think
the bill will certainly be on hold or on
’ pause at least for two years.”
Sheldon said the law enforcement
accountability bill will also be looked
at and possibly 'changed. He said there
were some good things, including the
‘ rural broadband bill and the wildfire
bills.
In the upcoming session, Sheldon
hopes to break ground on the Shelton
Veterans Village. He said he got the
appropriation for $6 million for two
ve
g erans’ villages. He also wants to '
break ground on the Belfair Bypass.
“We’re not going to accept phasing
the project. Phasing means shorten-
”"Sheldon said. “That’s what they
did“Wit‘h“ the improvements through
Belfair, should have continued from
Sweet Water Creek all the way- to
l’state Reute) 106 and that we should '
finished as well.” ,
Sheldon also said he hopes to pass
a bill to allow fire districts to use their
own'treasurer instead of going through
the city or county for money. ,
Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, said last
year was tough and talked about his
speech on the floor about the police re-
form bill. ‘
“I said there were going to be riv—
ers of tears cried because of the bills
we passed this day,” Griffey said. “We
didn’t help sexual—assault survivors
with that bill, we didn’t, help people
that were murdered, the families, we
didn’t help law enforcement be pro-
active in policing, we didn’t do any of
those things. It was a terrible bill. We
fought the entire session to, it was sev-
eral of us, we fought the entire session
to say no, the unintended consequenc-‘
‘ es of those bills are going to be terrible
for everyone. Now the majority party
has asked us, because I serve on the
public safety committee, my ranking
member and the rest of the public safe-
ty committee, how do we fix this bill?
We can’t deal with the backlash any-
more. I’ll tell you what, between that
and the long-term health tax, we know
that the majority party will listen to
people because they have backed down
on both of those policies'and are ac—
tually asking for help so this is good
news.” , r
Griffey saidvbecause the last session-
was virtual, it was easier to pass bills
with the majority instead of bills that
had due diligence. He said he wants
last year to “be in the rearview mir—,
ror” and one of the first bills that will
be passed after negotiations is to put
the “genie back in the bottle” when it
comes to law enforcement reforms.
He said House Republicans will
be releasing three top priority bills.
Griffey said Republicans have a trans-
portation package to restore bridges
,. and'lroadmwithout raising Etaxes and h
they are going to Write a budget as if ‘
they were the majority party. He also
noted Republicans haVe an environ-
mental policy that reduces carbon, but
doesn’t raise taxes.
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 — Shelton—Mason County Journal — Page A—15
Legislators Speak at '202‘21egislative sendoff ’
Griffey also stated House Republi-
cans put the speaker “on notice” that
they want to eliminate the governor’s
emergency powers. He also wants to
make sure people cannot show por=
nography to children and says it is a
grooming technique.
“I couldn’t even get a hearing last
year because the majority party said
they were really worried about the rap
music industry’s concern with that bill.
Well. I say heck with that, BS,” Grifl'ey ’
said. “It is really time for us to say we
are going to take care of our children. I
don’t care what the rap music industry
says. We need to stop sexual violence
before it happens. Those that are sexu-
ally violated at a young age turn into
sexual predators themselves and I’m
tired of it. So, I will be very loud again
on this, but it is time we all put our
feet in the ground. It doesn’t matter
if you’re a Democrat or a Republican,
the right is right now. We’re not going
to protect the rap music industry in
Washington state, we’re going to pro-
tect sexual assault survivors.”
Rep. MacEwen, R—Union, said it
_was not a good session last year, spe-
cifically mentioning the way session
was conducted remotely.
“When we have public hearings,
yeah, people sign in, they give their
testimony. Granted, it’s only a min-
ute, sometimes it’s three minutes de-
pending on the complexity of a bill
but what’s more important is when
you’re. sitting there and you look out
at a group like this, and called into a
hearing room, and you can read peo-
ple’s faces,” MacEwen said. “You can
tell what they’re thinking and then the
committee adjorns and you go out in
the hall and you' get grabbed and all
of these people who testified are tell-
ing you their thoughts and that was
totally lost and I firmly believe the
Linajorityparty tOOk advantage of that. end of Shelton’s Urban Growth
Area
They raised. your taxes a couple times.
They made the streets worse. We’ve.
done nothing to solve the housing cri-_
sis. It was just this ram‘rod-‘that went
through and then when we adjomed
this virtual sessions, they would go to
their favorite box store and go shop-
ping with 500 of their closest people
but we couldn’t figure out how to put
90 people in the biggest building in
Olympia? It was not good.”
. MacEwen-called out Gov. Jay In-
slee, saying the budget that passed
last year was over $56 billion and the
supplemental budget he released for
this session is $65 billion and asked
the crowd if things have ‘gotten better.
“We’ve got mass inflation headed
our way, what is that going to do to
our state budget? We cannot continue
to spend every last dime as the gover-
nor’s proposed in every budget cycle,”
MacEwen said. ,
Mason County Economic DeVelop-
ment Council Board Chair Joe Schmit
talked about four priorities for the
EDC, including infrastructure, ex-
tending the 0.09% sales and use‘ tax
for public facilities and economic de-
velopment activities in rural commu-
nities, continue to support the state
department of commerce’s request for
$7.5 million in the community eco-
' nomic revitalization board to build in—
frastructure to foster job growth in our
rural and urban communities and sup-
port and protect state level leadership
and funding for economic development
including full support for business re—
cruitment, retention and expansion
programs. _‘
Shelton City Manager ‘Jeff Niten
said he wants the Legislature to look
at the 10—year cap for transportation
benefit districts and see how it could
work better for the city in the future.
He said he hopes representatives and
Sheldon can help with the deck at the
Shelton Library, safety and security
for parking improvements for Shelton
Police and moving forward with the
Water reclamation plant on the north
and to expand" capacity in“ that area;
He said Shelton‘will also be investing
in a piece of property to make thata
reality and to eventually no longer’be
discharging into Oakland Bay. '
,I unfrastructu re among S‘heldon’stop priorities
By Matt Baide \
matt@masoncounty. com
, ' Legislation for the 2022 session includes a bill I
already have introduced (SB 5565) that would al-‘
This Would help compensate for the losses:We are
seeing as more motorists choose electric carsand
The 2022 legislative session kicked off Monday,
and it is another virtual session due to COVID-19.
’ The Journal sent questionnaires to 'Sen. Tim
Sheldon and Reps. Drew MacEwen and Dan .
Griffey, with only Sheldon responding before the ’
Journal’s print deadline.
Q: What are some of the goals you would
like to accomplish during. the 2022 legislative
session? Any legislation you are planning on
introducing?
Sheldon: The 2022 legislative session will be
a short 60—day session in an election year, and I -
doubt there will be enthusiasm for taking on big
new matters of controversy. We have plenty of old
ones to keeprus busy.‘Much of our focus this year
will be on fixing problems created by major pieces of
legislation passed'by‘my fellow lawmakers in previ—
ous sessions, including taxation, public safety, and
a new state long-term care insurance program that
appears to be insolvent even as it debuts.
. We also have many projects we need to see
through to completion. Nowhere is this more true ‘
thanin the 35th_Legislative District. ‘We have
money appropriated for a veterans’ housing project
in Shelton, but the project has stalled for techni-
cal reasons, and we need to determine whether the
LegiSlature ’will need to take further action or the
, Department of Commerce can deal with the issue
on, its own. The Belfair'Bypass also needs attention
. I’ obtained the first'appropriation for that project
in’2005‘, and we are still waiting for ground to be .,
broken. And weneed to complete improvements to.
the existing Highway 3 through Belfair, to relieve
some of the congestion we see in that community at
peak travel times. ,' -~ ‘
fuel and electricity.
low larger fire districts to hire their oWn treasurers,
rather than going through existing county and city
governments for services related to bond issues.
Another bill 'I introduced toward the end of the last
legislative session remains underconsideration in
2022, a measure that Would give judges more ‘dis—..
cretion in imposing fines, restitution and otherfi- '
nancial obligations on indigent persons convicted of
crimes (SB 5486). I also am planningto reintroduce
a bill «I offered in 2019 making it easier for the'De-
partment of Natural Resources to provide designat-
ed areas for target shooting on the 3 million acres
of public land that it controls.
Q: What would you'like to see the commit-
tees you’re a part of (Environment, Energy &
Technology, Transportation) address during:
the session? ~ . «
Sheldon: In' the Environment, Energy and Techi-
nology Committee, we need to ensure the rural per- ’
spective is heard in our never-ending debates over
climate-related legislation; We want clean energy,
too, but we don’t have money to burn like they do '
in Seattle, and people here are far more sensitive
to measures that would increase the prices of motor
In Transportation, we need to continue laying
the groundwork for a new transportation package
it’s the only way'we’re going to get new highways
built and relieve traffic congestion. This is espe-
cially importantin the 35th District ~ we are the 1
most rural district of the state, and we also have its
longest commutesl‘I don’t think we’ll finalize a pro-'
1‘ posal this year, but transpbrtation packages often
take several years to develop. One element I would
liketo see as part of the next package would be to
dedicate sales taxes on vehicles to transportatibn.
stop paying gas taxes, and as COVID continues to ,
discourage travel.
c
Q: What are some of thereoncerns and is-”
sues you are hearing about from yOur constit- i V
uents in Mason County? Was 2021 a’good year
for Mason County in your view?
Sheldon: I’m certainly hearing about COVID and
vaccine mandates. Here I think we must be careful.
I think people can get better advice about COVID
from their doctors than frOm their politicians. We
know more about laws than we do about disease. ‘
Yet I think many of us in the Legislature, in both
parties, are concerned that we have been under
an official declaration of emergency for nearly two v
years, giving the governor sweeping authority to
suspend laws and issue decrees._Last week [refers
to week of Jan. 2-8] we reached 'the 67 5thrday of
this emergency. When an emergency drags on like,
this, there comes a point when it’s not an emer-
gency anymore and it’s just crisis-as—usual. The
Legislature ceded its authority regarding COVID to
the governor at the start of the 2021 session, and I
think that was a mistake. The people’s Voice needs -
to be heard in decisions regarding COVID, and the
Legislature needs to reassert its authority and par-
ticipate in-the process.-
r 2021 certainly was a good year for Mason Como
gOvernment, but this has less to do with the'Legis-
lature than skyrocketing home prices. The higher
prices go, the more the county, collects in real estate
r excise tax. In 2019, we had just one house in Marion,
County that sold for more than $1 milliOn. 11112020 H
it was three, and in 2021 it was 36. Unfortunately,
what’s good for local government isn’t good for the
see SHELDON, page A-16