Greater Grays Harbor, Inc.’s advocacy efforts continue to evolve as we engage on many levels with the Washington State legislative process. Here are a few of our most recent ‘wins’:

Purpose

GGHI engages in the state legislative process to ensure the development of state policies and funding decisions consider impacts on rural communities. Equity for rural communities is paramount.

Legislative Agenda

GGHI adopts a Legislative Agenda that lists the organization’s top 3-5 priorities for the upcoming legislative session. In time, the Legislative Agenda will be developed in alignment with the state’s two-year legislative cycle.

Policy Manual

There are countless other issues that impact GGHI but are not reflected on the Legislative Agenda. GGHI’s position on other legislative issues is outlined in the Policy Manual. The Policy Manual will guide engagement in Olympia for GGHI’s lobbyist and staff.

Business Environment

GGHI Supports:

  • Changes to the Paid Family Medical Leave program to reduce employer costs
  • Reforms to the energy code to recognize the additional costs placed on a small business. Often compliance with the energy code increases project costs by 10%
  • Reform to the state business and occupation tax
  • Increased monitoring and greater penalties for unemployment fraud
  • Ongoing small business funding the Disaster Relief Fund and Procurement Technical Assistance
  • Maintaining a stable supply of timber from state lands to support local mill infrastructure and jobs
  • Increase funding for regional capacity to coordinate and deliver economic development services through a new and ongoing $5 million (annual) “ADO Innovation, Sustainability, Partnerships & Equity Fund”

GGHI Opposes:

  • Any increase to or new fees and taxes on small businesses
  • Legislation that will increase insurance costs for local governments and/or business

Economic Development

GGHI Supports:

  • Greater predictability for economic development funding, both capital and operational
  • Policies to improve housing affordability and expand opportunities for housing at all income levels, particularly workforce and attainable housing
  • Efficient implementation of state laws through the rulemaking process honors the legislative intent and considers their impact on economic development
  • Streamlining of state agency permitting processes and timelines including, but not limited to creating concurrent review process, establishing a shot clock for review time, limiting the endless right to appeal and aligning with grant funding timelines
  • Adjust grant program requirements to acknowledge difficulties with permit review and local match requirements

GGHI Opposes:

  • Changes to the .09% sales and use tax for public facilities and economic development that negatively impacts the quantity or ability to use those funds for economic development purposes
  • Any reduction in funding to the Washington Tourism Marketing Authority

Rural Equity

GGHI Supports:

  • Targeted investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure for rural communities
  • Housing policies and investments to increase availability and affordability in rural areas.
  • Incentives for middle housing development in rural areas
  • Removing barriers to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) participation in contracting. We also face the reality that DBEs do not exist in rural communities at the same rate they do in urban areas. For this reason, we support modifying requirements for rural communities to contract with Office of Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) certified businesses based on the availability in the region. According to the OMWBE website, there are a total of 10 firms in all of Grays Harbor County that have received the certification. Large OMWBE requirements for small projects increase costs
  • Adjustment to the Labor & Industries salary thresholds for exempt employees to account for wage differences
  • Additional funding for the Industrial Site Readiness Grant Program and modification to the grant requirements to increase equitable distribution to rural communities

GGHI Opposes:

  • All statewide policies that do not consider the unique conditions of rural communities

Workforce & Education

GGHI Supports:

  • Funding to support new programs at institutions of higher education
  • Funding to meet students’ basic needs with the goal of maintaining enrollment and program completion
  • Policies and funding to address the shortage of healthcare workers, specifically nurses and behavioral health professionals
  • Policies to increase access and affordability of childcare
  • Creative solutions to increase participation in the workforce
  • Investments in behavioral health care continuum of care that have measurable outcomes
GGHI is the Economic Development Council and regional Chamber of Commerce for Grays Harbor County. In consideration of all policies and funding decisions, GGHI will support the advancement of rural equity.

Reform state agency permitting processes and timelines to provide more predictability for developers and reduce costs for public and private investments.

The cost of development in Grays Harbor County is an impediment to economic growth. Challenges with coastal development, unpredictably lengthy permit review timelines, endless option for appeal of permits, local match requirements and inconsistent funding levels for grant programs should be addressed to support economic development. GGHI requests a consolidated permit review for state agencies, similar to what the Legislature directed local governments to do in Senate Bill 5290 (2023).

Expand funding for Associate Development Organizations.

Associate development organizations (ADOs) serve as the local economic development partners for the WA State Department of Commerce. ADOs coordinate business recruitment, retention, and expansion, provide export assistance and support research, planning and implementation of local economic development strategies. GGHI joins the WA Economic Development Association (WEDA) in requesting increased and ongoing funding for ADOs – $5M annually for the “ADO Innovation, Sustainability, Partnerships and Equity Fund.”

Lower the cost of owning and operating a business.

Washington State is business friendly when it comes to opening a business. However, it is much harder to own and operate a business in our state. Existing and proposed policies place increasing burdens on businesses, making it difficult to maintain a business, let alone grow one. Specific changes that could be made to support business are:

  • Reform the business and occupation tax
  • Provide sales and B&O tax amnesty for young businesses.
  • Reduce the social tax rate for unemployment insurance by increasing compliance monitoring and raising the penalty for fraud.

Incentivize development of housing in rural communities.

Most of the housing policies adopted by the Legislature in the 2023 session were only applicable to fully planning GMA counties, which Grays Harbor is not. The county lacks both affordable and attainable housing stock. Incentivizing the development of middle housing types is one way to help.

Remove barriers to workforce participation.

A recent study conducted in Grays Harbor found that 50% of the eligible workforce is not participating in the workforce[1]. Additionally, Grays Harbor has the largest prime age employment gap in the state[2].

GGHI requests the Legislature make strategic changes to:

  • Increase access to childcare by funding training for childcare workers, providing universal Pre-K and easing the path to partnership with nonprofits and faith-based organizations.
  • Improve unemployment insurance claim authentication and fraud protections against scams and individual fraudulent claims.

[1] Grays Harbor Economic Vitality Index
[2] Recompete Eligibility Mapping Tool (REMT) – Main Map Viewer