TO:  WRPA Membership

FROM: Justin Brown, Longview/Travis Stombaugh, Si View Parks District – 2020 LEG Day Planning Leads

L&I has filed an emergency rule effective today (Monday, March 11, 2019), regarding the prevailing wage for landscape construction and maintenance workers.

A law passed in 2018 raised the prevailing wage for this group from a low of around $13 an hour up to $50 an hour or more in some instances. This job category included higher-rate landscape construction work (like spreading top soil, seeding, planting and installing sprinkler systems), along with simpler landscape maintenance like lawn mowing and trimming.   

Local government agencies and landscape contractors expressed concern about the unexpected increase in cost for landscape maintenance under the new prevailing wage law. And in February, the Association of Washington Cities requested L&I undertake rule making to separate out landscape maintenance work from the traditionally higher-paid landscape construction work. L&I heard those concerns and has moved ahead with an emergency rule.

Congress Passes Public Lands Packages (S.47)

We wanted to flag that Congress passed the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreations Act (S. 47), a legislative package that has now been sent to the President for his signature. It includes more than 100 individual bills that address natural resources, parks, and water. Most of the individual bills were introduced in previous sessions of Congress, with the relevant authorizing Committees engaging in a significant stakeholder engagement process to inform the final, comprehensive package. The text of S. 47 was introduced this past December and voted on in each chamber over the past two weeks. You can read more about the process, including a list of individual key bills included, here. The President has ten days from Congressional passage to sign the bill into law.

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WRPA Legislative Update - Youth Athletics Facilities Program (YAF)

What is “YAF”? – The Youth Athletic Facilities grant program, administered by the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), provides funds to build, renovate, replace, or acquire land for outdoor athletic facilities such as ball fields, courts, swimming pools, tennis courts, BMX tracks, field lighting, and skate parks. The program focuses on serve youth through age

WRPA’s Request – We are requesting at least a $12 million investment in the 2019-21 Capital Budget to help fund a ranked and evaluated grant list comprised of more than 60 project applicants who sought over $16 million.

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RIGHT NOW: Legislators are making important decisions about our great outdoors. Tell them that you support $130M for #WWRP, so that Washingtonians can continue to enjoy trails, parks, forests, and so much more.

Visit our Take Action Page right now for a sample message you can send to legislators! 

WRPA Stands By the Following Legislative Priorities 

The Board Of Directors recently approved the key legislative priorities for 2019. Check out the condensed version below and visit our Legislative Priority page to learn more about our position on these legislative issues in the Recreation & Parks Community.

• Provide Local Parks and Recreation Agencies with new Funding Options to Address Vital M&O and Preservation Needs and to Enhance Economic Development
• Enact 2019-21 Capital Budget – Including Key Funding Targets for WWRP, YAF, ALEA
• Protect Funding for Dedicated Accounts within the Capital Budget
• Support Efforts to Address Mental Health, Homelessness, Affordable Housing
• Oppose Legislation to Prematurely Place Regulatory Burdens on “Crumb Rubber” Fields
• “Big Tent” Outdoor Recreation Coalition
• Support efforts to make the system of outdoor recreation passes simpler, more equitable, and more convenient
• Advocate for Key “Healthy & Active Communities” Funding within the State Budget Process

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Learn More About How to Help

Dear WRPA Supporters,

I am writing on behalf of the LWCF Coalition to ask for your help to save the Land and Water Conservation Fund, our nation’s oldest and most important parks and conservation program, which will die at the end of September unless Congress acts. 

WRPA 2018 Week 1 Session of the Legislature

By Doug Levy, WRPA Lobbyist – 1/15/18

“Remember.  This will be a short, 60-day, modest Session.  Don’t expect much.”

WRPA Stives to Keep You Informed!

1. 2018 Park & Great Outdoors Legislative Day
2. No Child Left Inside Grant Announcement
3. Senate Bill 5999 - Prohibition Bonds for State Employees

2018 Park & Great Outdoors Legislative Day

When: January 25, 2018 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM Where: Woman's Club of Olympia

Legislative Priorities

Top Priorities

Enact 2017-19 Capital Budget – Including Key Funding Targets for WWRP, YAF, ALEA

(Capital Budget) The two-year Capital Budget that is pending in the Washington State Legislature is much more than a document or a “bill.”  It is a mission-critical, job-creating investment in the State of Washington, in outdoor recreation, in schools, and in local communities. WRPA urges the State Legislature to move forward with adoption of a 2017-19 Capital Budget, including agreed-upon allocations of $80 million for the Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program (WWRP) and $4.077 million for the Youth Athletic Facilities (YAF) program.  The negotiated Capital Budget also includes a historically-low $1 million allocation for the Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account (ALEA).  WRPA urges lawmakers to enhance funding for both ALEA and YAF in future cycles.

Protect Funding for Dedicated Accounts within the Capital Budget

(Capital Budget) As the Legislature looks to finalize a 2017-19 Capital Budget, WRPA urges lawmakers to refrain from diverting funding from dedicated accounts that are focused on funding outdoor recreation activities.  These include the WWRP, YAF, and ALEA accounts, others such as the Boating Facilities Program (BFP) and Non-Highway Off-Road Vehicle Account (NOVA), and pass-through federal-funding accounts such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).  WRPA urges lawmakers to keep top-of-mind a recent report study showing that the outdoor recreation sector generates $26 billion a year in economic activity for the state, as well as 200,000+ jobs.