This is the final week of new policy proposals, courtesy of Monday’s policy cut-off. After that cut-off has come to pass, we will be reworking our legislative tracker and sift out those bills left to whither on the legislative vine. But nothing is over until sine die adjournment. There are many ways to get across the finish line in the legislative world!
We have a few items of interest for you this week which you can find at https://wadistricts.us/topics/advocacy/bills/. Of note is a proposed constitutional amendment to conserve and protect the state’s natural resources. House Joint Resolution 4205 is scheduled for a public hearing Monday afternoon, February 15, in the House’s Environment and Energy Committee. We will be observing testimony closely.
Another bill we are closely following is SB 5234 about updating irrigation district election procedures. Because there is a perceived connection between all special purpose district elections, this bill rises to significance for WACD. It was voted out of its Senate committee on Wednesday, including a provision that irrigation districts would not be required to hold an election with only candidate. We will see what happens at the next step of the process.