South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update

April 12^th is the cutoff for all bills to be moved out of the opposite house. Any bills that do not make it out of the opposite house of origin by Wednesday are considered dead and will not be included in this year’s sessions unless they are Necessary to Implement the Budget (NTIB). The session will officially end on April 23, 2023. 

Home stretch: Fewer than three weeks remain in the 105-day legislative session. The Senate and House have released budget proposals and will need to agree on one budget to send to the governor’s desk. We continue to advocate for lawmakers to slow spending growth and put money in reserves amid economic uncertainty. Learn more in a new AWB Amplified video.

Senate budget: The Senate voted 40-9 last week for a nearly $69.4 billion operating budget for 2023-2025, boosting funding for special education, housing and homelessness, behavioral health and addressing climate change. The budget includes about $5.4 billion in new spending and leaves about $3.6 billion in reserves.

• The budget represents a slowdown in the extraordinary rate of spending growth we’ve seen in recent years. It would grow state spending 8% over the current budget, compared with a 24.3% jump last year and an average of 9.1% spending growth between 1993-95 through 2019-21.

House budget: The House is expected to adopt its $70.1 billion two-year operating budget this week. The House budget includes about $5 billion in new spending and leaves about $3.2 billion in reserves. It spends more and saves less than the Senate proposal.

AWB’s perspective: We appreciate that both budgets slow state spending and contain no new tax increases on employers. But we are concerned whether lawmakers are putting enough in reserves, considering the cooling economy and drop in state revenue projections.

• “Neither budget puts enough money away in the reserve account for Washington to weather an uncertain economic future,” said Emily Shay, AWB’s government affairs director for tax and fiscal policy.

Mostly bipartisan: Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, told the Everett Herald she appreciated the inclusion of Republican input in the Senate’s budget process, and hoped to see GOP priorities preserved in negotiations with the House.

Housing investments: On the capital budget side, AWB appreciates the record investment in housing in the Senate and House budget proposals. The Senate’s capital budget includes $625 million for housing, a significant increase over previous years. The House’s proposal makes an even larger housing investment at $704 million.

Contact Government Affairs Director Emily Shay to learn more and get involved.

With the state Supreme Court ruling that Washington’s new capital gains tax is legal, the Department of Revenue is reminding taxpayers that the tax is due April 18. Passed by the Legislature in 2021, the tax creates a 7% tax on any gain over $250,000 per calendar year on stocks, bonds or other investments. 

Venture capitalist Matt McIlwain listed seven reasons why the capital gains tax is bad for Washington in an op-ed in GeekWire. He says it will encourage people and companies to leave Washington and discourage entrepreneurs from coming here.

“This new tax is bad news for the state, opens the door to countless other state and local ‘excise taxes’ as evidenced by a bill already introduced to raise the capital gains excise level to 8.5% and lower the threshold to $15,000. This will hurt the overall economy and innovation ecosystem for many years to come,” McIlwain wrote.

The Opportunity for All Coalition (OFAC) continues to explore ways to push back against the tax after the Supreme Court’s ruling. That includes exploring a path to the U.S. Supreme Court or working directly through the federal court system, as well as a possible statewide initiative to overturn the law directly by a vote of the people. Get involved through the OFAC website,

State revenue projection for 2023–25 forecast decreased by $483 million

Proposed 2023-25 Biennial and 2023 Supplemental Operating Budgets - PSSB 5187 Summary

Senate 2023-25 Biennium and 2023 Supplemental Capital Budget Proposals

House 2023-25 Biennial and 2023 Supplemental Capital Budget Proposals

Proposed 2023-25 Biennial & 2023 Supplemental Operating Budget - Budget Summary

Kitsap County Broadband Action Team (KCBAT) is seeking information from local businesses and organizations

Does your business or organization have information that can help our efforts?

The Kitsap County Broadband Action Team (made up of volunteers from Kitsap Public Utility District, Internet service providers, Kitsap County government, Olympic Educational Service District, Olympic College, Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, Kitsap Regional Library, and other community organizations) are working to identify the connectivity and accessibility needs in communities across Kitsap. Broadband Action Teams centralize the conversation and provide local coordination to the statewide effort being led by the State Broadband Office.

The KCBAT is currently leading Kitsap County’s engagement in a statewide broadband and digital equity planning process. This process is part of the federal government’s Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA), establishing $65 billion in programs aimed at bringing all U.S. residents on-line. Through mid-June of this year, the Kitsap County Broadband Action Team is working to understand infrastructure gaps, identify available digital equity resources, and develop a plan to address our community’s specific needs that will roll into our state’s Broadband Equity Access Deployment strategy.

There are several surveys KCBAT has launched in their efforts to gather this county information. Please complete one or all as they pertain to you or your business/organization.

LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET SURVEY

Take this survey to help us collect information to identify what assets (infrastructure, staff) your organization already has in place that might help support local broadband infrastructure development efforts. (Right of way, conduit, GIS staff, telecom staff, grant writers, etc.)

COMMUNITY ANCHOR INSTITUTION SURVEY

The Washington State Broadband Office has set the goal for all community anchor institutions to have access to 1/1Gbps services by 2028. This survey will allow you to report your organization’s current services and help to create an inventory of the existing services available to Kitsap’s local anchor institutions. Community anchor institutions include organizations facilitating community-benefit services, including schools, libraries, health centers or medical providers, public safety, or housing agencies, etc.

DIGITAL EQUITY ASSET SURVEY

If you provide services or are interested in providing services that support community members accessing online resources, such as helping get internet-connected devices to folks or providing training support.

Commissioners hold a public hearing on April 10 on draft alternatives for the county's Comprehensive Plan 

The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners is soliciting public testimony on draft Comprehensive Plan Alternatives during a public hearing at their regular business meeting that takes place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 10 in the Kitsap County Administration Building, 619 Division Street, Port Orchard. There is also a virtual option for the public.

Oral testimony will be taken at this hearing with written testimony accepted through April 14. The Board will then discuss all public comments and provide direction on the draft alternatives by April 19.

The three alternatives distribute population, housing and employment growth differently based on Washington state's Growth Management Act, regional plan goals, guidance from the Washington Department of Commerce, growth targets, requests for reclassification of properties, and local circumstances. The three alternatives are generally described as:

• Alternative 1: No Action All maps, policies and regulations remain as they are today with no changes proposed. This accommodates the least population, housing and employment growth.
• Alternative 2: Focused Growth/Urban Center Focus Population, housing and employment growth is focused on existing urban areas such as Silverdale and Kingston with policies to incentivize more diverse housing types such as townhomes, multi-family and cottage housing. Rural uses remain the same as they are currently and policies are developed to set greenhouse gas emission targets and provide greater tree canopy in urban areas. This alternative accommodates the most population growth focused within existing Urban Growth Area boundaries to meet Department of Commerce housing targets.
• Alternative 3: Dispersed Growth Distributes growth similar to historic trends focusing on single-family housing. Urban areas are expanded to accommodate growth and some additional rural development is allowed for housing and jobs. This alternative includes additional environmental protections for the Urban Restricted zone and requires additional tree canopy retention. Population is spread throughout a larger geographic area than the other alternatives but overall includes less population, housing and employment growth than Alternative 2.
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None of the three alternatives are a preferred recommendation at this time but rather serve as a menu of options to assess environmental impacts and capital facility needs (road, sewer, schools, etc.). They are intended to test different strategies of accommodating growth in population, housing and employment.

All documents and maps related to these alternatives can be found at kcowa.us/compplan. To submit written testimony or ask questions, please email compplan@kitsap.gov or contact Colin Poff through Kitsap1 at (360) 337-5777 and ask for Planning and Environmental Programs.

As the Washington State legislative session wraps, we will be shifting our focus to more local issues. Stay tuned.

Be sure to check out other bills currently on our Bill Watch List.