Unknown Speaker 0:03 Parker's meeting at nine o'clock this morning she couldn't get out of. So that's what the glitch was. That was the last minute shuffling. So she should be coming on in the moment, and then I'll give her an introduction. Unknown Speaker 0:29 Well, actually, I could start the introduction, I suppose. She is the first female senator from her district, which is the 48. And that's primarily Bellevue. I'm not sure if it includes any of Redmond or Kirkland, we'll have to ask her. But she was appointed by the FCC appointed by the house in September 15. And as you want our first election to retain the seat The next year, and in 2017, Patty was again unanimously appointed by the Keene county council to fill the vacant senate seat in the 48. So she is, if you all remember who Dean takko is, he was our main go to, for the first for the house and then for the Senate for the local government. Hi, Patti. Hi. I'm introducing you. Um, but anyway, Patty is our new dean. She is the chair now of it's not the house. And it's not the local government. Committee. It's the Unknown Speaker 2:01 housing and local government, Unknown Speaker 2:02 housing and local government. Thank you. I love the haircut. That's cute. Thanks. And so she is chairs the committee that we will be dealing with whenever we have a bill come up. So her bio is on the website, and I've already told them where you're from and how you came to the Senate. So I was curious, just real quick. If it says you're from built or in Bellevue, the 48 is it just Bellevue? Or does it include any of Redmond or Kirkland or Unknown Speaker 2:45 currently, it's it's parts of Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland. And then all of Hunts Point Yarrow point Medina and Clyde Hill. But after redistricting, it's very likely it will shrink. And I will probably lose. It looks like the parts of Redmond that I currently represent. Uh huh. Unknown Speaker 3:07 Okay. Well, thank you very much, Patti. And, and, and I, I feel comfortable enough to call you, Patty, because you did a whole bunch of wonderful things for my husband, Gilbert. Yes, no, remember? I do. And so yeah. And so take it away. Yes. And Unknown Speaker 3:25 I certainly don't mind being called Petey. I consider my highest title, mom. So Patty is just fine. I want to start just by thanking all of you for inviting me to speak with you today. And I also need to thank my predecessor on the local government committee, Senator Dean TECHO, who I think you know very well. Dean is not only an amazing human being, I consider him a good friend, as well as a former colleague. And I know he was a tireless advocate for the partnership between state and local governments. And he, you know, built a pretty impressive career in both, quite frankly. And I continue to learn the ropes of the local government areas, I can tell you that in my background, I was a city attorney for a short time in my long legal career. But that was a few moons ago. And I know that I have a lot of learning to do. And I'm hopeful that I will be able to tap into all of you as a resource to help me with some of these local government issues, as well as those who are on my committee who have strong backgrounds in local government. So you know, I want to start to by thanking you for you know, the complex and crucial work that you all do day in and day out, ensuring that all levels of government interact and function as intended. And to learn from you how the legislature and my committee Specifically, can help better carry out our collaborative mission together, you all have a very important job. And I feel that it's the job of the legislature to do whatever we can to help facilitate what you do. And to be as clear and intentional as we can be when we're enacting policies that come out of my committee. And I know that there are contentious and complicated and controversial issues that we deal with that the legislature, and then there's the growth Management Act. And I think for for all of you who have, who have backgrounds in the in the GMA, and I certainly don't, it is one of those extremely complex pieces of legislation that require really deep understanding, I think, so that when we do enact policies, we're not creating unintended consequences. And I think you all know what I'm talking about in that respect. So we have made great strides in recent years on issues such as climate change, fear, and affordable housing and other issues that do have GMA implications. And our work in these areas will continue. As it does, you know, Washington will benefit from the policies that we write that have clear intentions, transparency, and I also want to emphasize equity, because that is a very big concern with the GMA in particular. And I think that, you know, meeting those initial goals will allow us to continue to advance the goals of the GMA. And that's why I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. But I want this to be more of a back and forth, I want to hear from you how best the legislature can help you carry out your work. You know, what, what can we do better on our end, are you not as involved in the stakeholder meetings such that you feel you need to be, I have an open door policy, and I invite you to reach out to me anytime, especially on a bill that may have come across your radar, and you feel that you should be included in the discussions on what the ultimate policy proposal may be that we vote on. And I think that it's really critical to have those who really have a deep understanding of the area we're working on to be present at the table. You know, so what, how can we be better on our end? And by that, I mean, the legislature and my committee in particular, you know, what resources do you need, that we can provide to help you with your work? And what can we do to be more clear when we're passing land use planning policies. You know, I am an attorney, as I said, and I know the value of dispute resolution, included in one of the bills that passed this last year dealing with evictions, passed with strong bipartisan support. And I'm just very appreciative of the work that you do and the crucial role that you play in maintaining the roles of the CMA. So with that, I just want to thank you and, and, you know, your stand the way that I can be most helpful to you and open things up for your questions in your in your comments. Jay Hamlin 8:17 We have two hands up already. Mary reparse. First, and then Mary Lynn Evans second. Mary. Sorry. Yeah, go ahead. Unknown Speaker 8:32 Oh, thank you. I'm Mary Report. I'm on the committee account. drB. And one of the things I think that would help all of us is if the state legislature passed laws that were more cognizant of in the environment, and how we need to protect our environment, so everything else works. We, I think most of us on the brb boards are fighting, losing battles. Most of the time, against development. It's always development development, but there's no cost benefits as to environmental issues and degradation of the environment. If we don't have an environment, human beings won't be able to live on this planet. So I'm not quite sure where development is taking us. But I do appreciate all that you all did, about the evictions, and that's also but legislatively, I think we need stronger environmental laws that will actually make our jobs as vrb members easier. Thank you very much. Unknown Speaker 9:39 Thank you. And you know, I absolutely agree with you, I think, you know, our, our development going forward, it absolutely needs to take into account more into account. I mean, it has been for quite some time, but not to the extent that it needs to be the environment and the environmental impacts. And there was a clear effort this last session. This session was was challenging. You know, having been remote and not being able to talk to each other face to face and having to do everything over zoom really was quite challenging. But I will say that with those challenges, we were able to rise above them and pass some pretty powerful policies, including the Climate Commitment act that we passed, and also the heal act and those deal with protecting our environment and looking at it from an equity standpoint as well in which populations are, are most impacted from our developments that that go in and how they go in. And I do think we can be better at that. So I appreciate the comment very much. Thank you. Jay Hamlin 10:46 Okay, Maryland Evans, and then Chandler vote. Unknown Speaker 10:49 Yes, Senator cooter, I wanted to thank you, first of all, well, first, I should say, I'm the chair of the Legislative Committee for this August organization. And we did have quite a bit of business with you this past session. And I wanted to thank you and your staff for the way that we were treated, you were responsive, they were responsive, we had deadlines, we knew what was going on, we had chances to operate, you took our comments, and made some for us substantive changes. And I just wanted to thank you for that. That was, it was nice to be respected. When we as boundary review boards, do have a lot to do with the growth Management Act. And it affects, you know, what we do, the Byzantine amount of legislation that's concerning annexations. And boundary Review Board issues is just as crazy wild, and nobody has ever tried to put the whole thing together, you know, there are laws within our enabling legislation and laws within cities and counties, first, you know, kinds of cities and all of that. And so oftentimes, we get blamed for things that really are in consistencies in the laws between these various legislative acts. So at some point, if you are interested in challenging that, or taking a look at all of that, we have it right here in front of you a great amount of expertise, of what it looks like on the front lines, how do things really go right? How do they go wrong? And what is it that we could do to help in enabling legislation? So we'd like to put ourselves in your service. And we're very happy to do that. And then secondly, at least for me, and I think for many others, the annexation questions come down to finances time, after time after time, it's can a city afford to take an area that wants to annex into what, how are they going to keep their level of service up what they're supposed to have under the growth Management Act, when generally the areas that come in are not really revenue producing. And so we have, that's only one example social services, you know, streets and gutters, all of that. The business of running government is just expensive, it's really expensive. And while the growth Management Act asks us to encourage annexations, it doesn't give us the financial wherewithal to do it. We had it in the past, when cities were given, you know, some tax rebates from the legislature when they got an annexation, they got some money to go along with it. And in our history, we have found that that was very helpful. The cities were really, really able to annex those areas and make them work. Of course, it declined, you know, it wasn't a straight on out allocation that went on for years and years. So you know, if you are able to think about that with the cities and counties, the financial equity of going back and forth between those two, and then the question is always for the counties. How are they supporting? How are they able to support their law and justice in their public health responsibilities when they lose all that revenue? So the idea of revenue sharing also is an overarching thing for us. We can't do anything about it, we don't make the laws. We just see that this is a problem. So that's enough for me. Unknown Speaker 14:45 Thank you, Marilyn. I just have one real quick comment about that. I just wanted to say that I would love to to work with you on that and if you've already done a side by side of them That are inconsistent, that would be very helpful, I could get stuff going on that we, you know, I can tell you that I've litigated hundreds of cases. And I've litigated with good laws that were clear, and you have a pretty good idea what the outcome is going to be. And then there were not such a good loss. And I think it's upon us to clarify where there are in consistencies. And in terms of the resources. You're absolutely right. And I have been a strong advocate for revenue sharing with local governments, city cities and counties. And, you know, the number one thing that the counties told me that that they need is for us to lift the 1% property tax cap, that artificial cap that was placed on years ago, that was just plucked out of the air has absolutely no basis in any kind of solid evidence or reasoning or logic, it was just a number that someone thought was appropriate. And, and it sounded good. And, you know, as my dad used to say, if it sounds good, right out of the gate, you better just go check that just a little deeper. And, and I have been looking at that very closely. And, you know, there's always a backlash against any kind of tax legislation in our state. You know, besides the fact I mean, I guess, in spite of the fact that I had get to talk to anyone who likes our tax structure, everyone hates it. And I think they're in their various reasons why they do, but I think there's justification and all of that. But the reality is, we are rated dead last, in terms of tax fairness in the country, with our tax code, it is, it is clearly the worst in the country. And we can do better, and we can free up resources for cities and counties to do the work that they need to do. You're absolutely right about government, you know, it's a service, it's not a business. And if we're going to provide the services that people need to really make an impact on their lives, and help them be productive members of our community and, you know, make our economy very robust and everything, we do need to take a strong look at that we've taken a step this last session with enacting a capital gains tax that will affect, you know, point two 3% of our 7.6 million people. So it's the it's the ultra wealthy of the ultra wealthy who will be paying that. And I'm not there yet. I have something to work for, you know, toward. But, you know, I've talked to some of those people in my district who will pay that tax and have said to me, you know, they're more than fine with it. They get tax breaks, as one of my constituents said, galore, I read his email on the Senate floor. It happened to come in when we were debating that bill, but I could use your help as we go forward and reforming our tax code and everything in freeing up resources where and, and if that's something that you're interested in partnering on to be welcome to that as well. Jay Hamlin 18:09 Right. Okay. Chandler Oh, Unknown Speaker 18:12 hi, I'm Chandler fel member of the King County Board. And as a member of the legislative committee that Mary Lynn chairs. I'm I've had the opportunity to attend several of the housing and local government committee meetings that you chair, I've just got to say I was impressed with the way you ran those meetings in a very fair and courteous and even friendly way trying to look for commonality and consensus. It contrast and so much with the contentiousness that we all see at the national level so I was I was really grateful and and glad to see the respectful way that you treated all members of your committee and and those who were testifying. I'd also like to say for your addressing, I want to hold on percent. Unknown Speaker 19:35 So theraflu is for Unknown Speaker 19:40 that's that's it. Unknown Speaker 19:42 Thank you. Jay Hamlin 19:45 Okay, anybody else? hope they're Mark Smith. Unknown Speaker 19:56 Yes, Senator cooter, thank you for coming and speaking to us today. I'm a member of the calots county boundary Review Board. And we are a non GMA County, which there are a few. I really like hearing your comments, and just wanted to have the opportunity to address you today that, please consider when you make changes to GMA, growth management is a very good idea. But it's not generic, and it doesn't, one size fits all. And the counties in our state being 39 do not all line up the same, you know, the majority of the counties in the state need to be looked at to be developed within their resources and their needs and their quality of lives for their communities, and not be subject to rules and regulations that don't really fit their structure. And I think that's one thing that all legislation needs to take a look at is how does it affect all Washingtonians in all counties, not just this specific top three. And I've served on the Planning Commission for 16 years boundary review board now, and we experienced this on a regular basis with the rules regulations that do come down from Olympia, where we then have the responsibility to have to implement them. And we don't always have the base, the funds and the economy to support those actions. So a little more flexibility in our growth management, each county I think, would be very beneficial. And thank you again, for coming today. And sharing. Unknown Speaker 21:28 Thank you, Mark, I agree with you on that one size does not fit all when it comes to this. And this conversation I've had with colleagues who who are not on the committee as well. And I think that that we're in alignment with that, and that's why I say it's going to take some real thought and, and deep understanding of what we're doing and how it's going to work on the ground. And, you know, I've said this many times before, we can put the words on the paper, but if they don't work on the ground, then that's all they are. And we have to make sure that what we put into effect, um, you know, adds to efficiencies adds to growth and development in a way that that the counties wanted to in this in the cities want it to, as opposed to mandating from on high. Having, like I said, having been a city attorney, I'm very, very much sensitive to the issue of local control. So I think there are some things we need to take a look at from a statewide level in terms of environmental protections, for example, but I do think there's room for improvement with the GMA and we and You have my word that we will be looking at providing more of that flexibility in in all reasonable ways that we can, Jay Hamlin 22:48 right, Robbie, and then Henry after Robbie, Robbie are muted. Unknown Speaker 22:59 While she is unmuting this as Leonora very quickly to Senator knows, King County is very interested in trying to return the streaming sales tax that we had several years ago to help communities more able to annex and serve currently unincorporated urban areas. Unknown Speaker 23:25 Alright, thank you for that. Robbie, Unknown Speaker 23:29 um, your comment about putting the laws side by side that conflict each other, like cities and counties versus vrb, RC W's that is very intriguing. And I think it would behoove us to take a stab at that, because that would that would help the legislature get it all coordinated better for us. For everyone. It was very intriguing, Patti, thank you. Unknown Speaker 24:04 You bet. Well, and I would also say that that, you know, we can we can arrange it so that you're working directly with staff on it as well. So there is that collaboration out of the gate. And, you know, staff does this a lot. And we have non partisan staff, as well as partisan staff on both sides. We can involve all of them to participate in this. It's really just giving us an understanding of where the conflicts lie. And then the policy decisions and how to resolve them. That's the discussions that we'll all be having together. Unknown Speaker 24:41 Well, we're a nonpartisan organization. So because we're quasi judicial, you know, so we have to be non partisan. Got Jay Hamlin 24:52 it. Okay, Henry. Unknown Speaker 24:55 Good morning, Senator. And thank you for coming. This is more of a general question. on an issue, I think that all Washingtonians are very concerned about, I'm just wondering if Olympia might be able to put a little more pressure on this. Why is the point Roberts situation not being resolved? That's those four poll people over there just can't seem to get anybody's attention. Unknown Speaker 25:19 Yeah, yes, well, they certainly have their legislators attention that has been discussed in our caucus. You know, the problem is, it's a, it's a border between two countries, and there's only so much that the governor can do. And we need to have the federal government also involved in this. You know, and I don't know enough about the laws that are in play here, to be able to tell you, you know, with any kind of foundation, this is the way to go, or that's the way to go. I just know, it's a problem. And it has to be solved, because we have landlocked those people. And, and we and, you know, these are their livelihoods. They go back and forth over the border all the time. And we need to make sure that that gets fixed. I just don't know when I mean, we're in the middle of this global pandemic. And we're still in the middle of it, I have to tell you, when things first hit back in 2020, we were an in person session. And none of us thought that we would be in a remote session in 2021. And I can tell you that we're talking about a remote session again, in 2022. We don't know what it's going to be because the virus continues to mutate. And if a more deadly, deadly reversion comes around, I don't think that you're going to see people at the Capitol Building congregating. So that's the biggest part of the problem here is this is a public health crisis, a global public health crisis. And it's going to take leaders from all over, working together collaboratively to solve this. And it's going to take us to do our part as well. And I know that, you know, I have two children, one of whom was immunocompromised from the moment she was born. She was a micro preemie, and she was immunocompromised for years. And so I'm highly sensitive to things like this. And because I see it, I know that it's life threatening for some people, and people who can't protect themselves, because they don't have the ability to get vaccinated. But I think it's incumbent upon us, you know, as good citizens to look out for our neighbor, you know, to take steps to wear a mask, these things should not be political. This is a public health issue. And I think if we had done it right, on Henry to begin with, if we had locked down if we had just hunkered down and wore those masks and got vaccinated when it came up, we wouldn't see the situation at the border right now. And that community would not be locked in like they are. Thank you. Jay Hamlin 28:11 I agree. Thank you. You're welcome. Anybody else? up, Tim. Unknown Speaker 28:20 Thanks, Jay. Sir courier, this Tim canoe from Skagit County. And as we were talking about the DMA, and flexibility, flexibility, for some doesn't looks like impediments and loopholes to others. And I know the Skagit character of rural Skagit County and farm ground is important to us up here. And GMA has a strong tool as written that allows us to keep that rural character. So I just caution that as we move through some of these things, that we need to take a look how that applies individually in the counties and the fact that there are some rules in there that get leveraged at the county level, to help us maintain what we have. So just a point to the counterpoint to the flexibility, you know, two sides to that coin, depending on how it's applied. Unknown Speaker 29:11 Yeah, that's absolutely true. And, you know, flexibilities in the eye of the beholder, right. Yeah. What What does it mean, and how is it applied? And and, you know, where is it used? And it just is, if there It depends on how the mandate, what is the mandate? What is it for, what is it doing? Is it reasonable in all situations? You know, I've heard enough about unfunded mandates, and that's one of the problems too is I hear from counties in particular, that when we pass legislation dealing with land use, that they don't have the resources in a lot of cases to implement that new law, that new policy right. And I think it's incumbent upon us if we're going to do that, that we need to make sure that there's resources available and not necessarily just money, but also expertise available to us. Local Government have staff so that they can do their jobs the way they need to do it. And I, you know, the GMA, when it was passed, if I'm remembering correctly was Maria Cantwell is Bill many years ago in the 80s, I believe that was one of your house rooms. Okay, thank you for correcting me. But it was a it was groundbreaking, you know, and it was very visionary. And I think, you know, maintaining the intent of the GMA, is critically important, because I do think that it that it has date for the most part pretty well. But I also think that there are some tweaks that need to be made to it. As we move forward. We see the need for that. Unknown Speaker 30:46 Yeah. And with so many of those things being goals, the relationship between counties and cities, while their goals, who who has who has stepped up and done their part to meet those, those matches of where we can place people by their through density, or sprawl. And sprawl is never a good thing. But if you live in a city and you have a nice view, density isn't because there's only one way to get while there's two ways up or down, but up is more convenient. So it's a balancing act, but carefully cracking that open is is important to us up here. Unknown Speaker 31:19 Thank you, Jay Hamlin 31:20 Robbie, we've reached the end of the time. You're muted again. You're unmuted goes back and forth. There you go. Unknown Speaker 31:34 Okay, I'll just hold it. Jay Hamlin 31:41 Anyway. Unknown Speaker 31:45 Thank you so much, Senator. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you face to face, so to speak. And if anyone has any further questions, for her, I have her las, her legislative assistants email. And that's the best way to reach her. So I just truly appreciate your time today. We I learned stuff. Unknown Speaker 32:18 Well, and I appreciate all of your time, and very much appreciate the the q&a and it's been very helpful for me. And the offer that Robbie made is genuine. If you need to speak with me or have any questions, just reach out. And I'm more than happy to get in touch with you. So I'll let you get back to your meeting. And thank you all for giving me the opportunity to speak with you. And enjoy the rest of your day. Unknown Speaker 32:47 All right, thank you so much. Unknown Speaker 32:49 Bye bye. Bye bye. Unknown Speaker 32:58 Okay, it is Bob with us. Jay Hamlin 33:00 Yes. Unknown Speaker 33:01 All right. Well for all you new people. Bob is one of our fixtures in our little group. Transcribed by https://otter.ai