OLYMPIA — A bill to charge a fee for parking at state parks and other recreation areas will likely be changed in response to recent criticism, said its sponsor, Rep. Kevin Van De Wege.
One of the changes might be to allow a dozen free parking days each year, said the Sequim Democrat.
The purpose would be to maintain some access for people who can’t afford the proposed $10 day-use fee or $30 annual pass.
Concern that the bill would make state parks and other recreation areas less accessible to low-income people is one of the reasons why retired Rep. Lynn Kessler said she spoke against it at a hearing last Tuesday.
“There are other ways to do this rather than shut down the parks to all the low-income people,” she said in an interview Friday.
Kessler represented the 24th District for 18 years before retiring last year.
The district includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and the northern half of Grays Harbor County.
Van De Wege said the bill is needed because about $60 million needs to be raised during the next two years to avoid park closures.
“We’re really running out of options,” Van De Wege said.
But it would also eliminate the $5 “opt-out” fee on vehicle tabs, a move Kessler got passed in 2009 as a way to avoid park closures during past budget problems.
The former house majority leader said she has seen parking fees at state parks fail in the past — twice in the last 10 years — and believes the state should instead raise the vehicle-tab fee to $10 and seek more private donations.
Cost of a solution
It didn’t work in the past because it cost too much money to administer, Kessler said.
Van De Wege said he doesn’t foresee the same problem because the main source of revenue is expected to come from the annual pass.
He expects the annual pass would not cost much to administer because it would be sold through existing state agencies.
Van De Wege said he looked at other options for funding state parks.
“I looked at a lot of different things,” he said.
“I don’t see how [parks can be saved] without doing this.”
Twenty percent of people surveyed by Washington State Parks would purchase the annual pass, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
That, the state estimates, would raise $18 million a year, or $36 million in the next biennial budget.
Van De Wege said the state estimates that $72 million will be raised through the fees over the next two years.
That would be enough, he said, to maintain funding for parks and for land managed by the state departments of Natural Resources and Fish & Wildlife.
Both Kessler and Van De Wege SEmD former 24th District seat mates SEmD said their relationship hasn’t been strained over the issue.
“I know his [Van De Wege’s] heart is in the right place,” Kessler said. “I absolutely know that.”
Supplemental budget
Last week, the Legislature passed a supplemental budget meant to backfill the state’s budget problems for the rest of the current budget, which ends in July.
The package cuts $370 million from the $550 million shortfall.
The North Olympic Peninsula’s three representatives — Van De Wege, Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, and Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam — voted yes.
They said the Legislature will have to adopt another supplemental budget to eliminate the rest of the deficit.
“There will be another supplemental worked on probably starting [this] week to come up with the remainder,” Hargrove said.
Meanwhile, the Basic Health Plan and other social services avoided being cut completely.
However, about $25 million in school funding was eliminated.
Tharinger said he disagrees with Republicans who say the state shouldn’t have cut so much from education. The alternative, he said, would be eliminate some social programs entirely.
“Kids can’t learn if they don’t have a house or they don’t have food,” Tharinger said.
“Providing some of those basic needs I think is more important.”
Bills pass
Some of the noteworthy bills passed by the House last week include:
■ House Bill 1019, prohibiting the state Department of Corrections from transferring an offender out of state if the person submits a written request and shows participation in family visitations or parent-teacher conferences.
The bill passed 93-0. Tharinger and Van De Wege voted yes.
■ House Bill 1225, allowing the salaries of port commissioners to be adjusted for inflation as determined by the state Office of Financial Management.
The bill passed 92-0. Tharinger and Van De Wege voted yes.
■ House Bill 1293, exempting a child’s personal information related to child care or early learning services from public disclosure.
The bill passed 94-0. Tharinger and Van De Wege voted yes.
■ House Bill 1454 (introduced by Van De Wege), requiring the results of tests for blood-borne pathogens to be disclosed to law enforcement officers, firefighters, health care providers and jail and prison staff if they have been exposed to the bodily fluids of the person who received the test.
The bill passed 93-0. Tharinger and Van De Wege voted yes.
Bills passed by the Senate last week included establishing toll rates on state Highway 520, modernizing insurance statutes and increasing the number of judges in Grant County.
Hargrove voted yes on the bills.
Legislation must be passed by the House and Senate to become law.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.