42nd legislative district bills are sent to governor’s desk

A number of bills from 42nd legislative district state representatives Joe Timmons and Alicia Rule and senator Sharon Shewmake passed both chambers of the state legislature, and now are either heading to the governor’s desk or already have been signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee.

Shewmake bill to assist superior courts with incoming water rights adjudication

Shewmake’s Senate Bill 5828 passed unanimously through the House and Senate, and was delivered to the governor on March 8 to be signed into law.

The bill would add a section to the current water rights portion of state law to allow local counties to appoint attorneys to act as water commissioners as superior courts works through caseloads.

The adjudication of the Nooksack River, the legal process of the state recording and doling out water usage claims to parties along Whatcom County’s 75-mile drinking water and irrigation source, will officially begin this spring. The process will take years and will result in thousands of claims to investigate and determine water rights by the state Department of Ecology and Whatcom County Superior Court.

Timmons bill to add judge to Whatcom County Superior Court

With a backlog of cases and a fast-approaching water rights adjudication of the Nooksack River, Timmons sponsored House Bill 1992, which would increase the number of judges on the Whatcom County Superior Court from four to five.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously on February 29, and will hopefully allow the county more capacity to get through massive caseloads and thousands of water claims in the coming months and years.

“The pandemic exacerbated the backlog of civil and criminal cases that the Whatcom County Superior Court handles and it was evident that we need another judge on this court to work through cases more efficiently and to process the department of ecology’s impending water rights adjudication,” Timmons wrote in a statement.  

Inslee, after signing the bill, would appoint the additional judge.

Timmons bill to create state public infrastructure assistance program

House Bill 2020, co-sponsored by Timmons and state representative Peter Abbarno (R-Centralia) would create a public infrastructure assistance program within the state’s emergency management division.

The bill would help the state respond to natural disasters, like the Nooksack River floods in 2021 that devastated multiple low-lying communities that may not fully qualify for federal assistance.

“The state is experiencing disasters with greater frequency and longer duration, causing damage to public infrastructure that is beyond the capacity of local government and tribal government response,” the bill stated.

The bill, sent to the governor’s desk on March 4, would allow the state to send supplementary assistance to counties and tribes when the governor issues an official proclamation of emergency. State assistance would go toward emergency response, debris removal and public infrastructure repair work.

“This is an important step to ensure that Washington is equipped to assist local communities rebuild after natural disasters, whether flooding, wildfires, or landslides. Our state should step up so local governments can rebuild critical infrastructure when we don’t qualify for assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),”  Timmons wrote in a statement.

Rule bill to support natural disaster response

Rule (D-Blaine) sponsored House Bill 1978, which passed the House and Senate unanimously during the short legislative session, was signed by Inslee. The bill will go into effect June 6.

The bill defines a political subdivision as a special purpose district or junior taxing district, which will allow for more collaboration between state, county, local and tribal jurisdictions during responses to natural disasters.

The bill was inspired by the aftermath of the 2021 Nooksack River floods, and the problems that arose when infrastructure across multiple government agencies was destroyed or damaged, according to a press release from the Washington House Democrats.

“This piece of legislation will make it easier for our helpers to work together in a natural disaster, both in planning and when the actual disaster occurs,” Rule wrote in a statement. “It supports collaborative planning efforts for the next emergency and puts an end to bureaucratic red tape.”