GENERAL LEGISLATIVE POLICIES

Unfunded Mandates
In adopting Initiative 601, Washington voters required the Legislature to provide adequate funding to local governments when it mandates new or expanded local responsibilities. This same policy also is implicit in the state’s maintaining control of local revenue sources. The state has an obligation to keep local responsibilities within existing revenue sources or to provide additional funding or funding authority when it imposes new mandates.

WSAC Policy: Counties will seek appropriate funding for all legislative and agency mandates on local governments.

Local Fiscal Data
Providing legislators with reliable, trustworthy fiscal data on county costs is often the difference between good and bad legislation. Data may be provided to legislators directly by individual counties or WSAC or indirectly through the local fiscal note process.

WSAC Policy: Counties will be accurate and reliable sources of data. County officials will actively assist in the development of trustworthy data for the Legislature, whether it is on an individual basis, through WSAC, or in the fiscal note process.

Accountability
As much as 50% of the legislation introduced in a typical legislative session affects county government. The legislation may address county revenues, expenditures, regulatory authority, law enforcement powers, ministerial functions performed on behalf of the state - a wide variety of topics in keeping with the broad nature of county responsibilities. However, sometimes the legislation is ambiguous as to the Legislature’s intent and/or it does not adequately specify expected outcomes from the state, local government or others. This lack of clarity makes implementation on the local level time-consuming, expensive and sometimes divisive.

WSAC Policy: Counties will seek clear statements of legislative intent and inclusion of expected outcomes, including performance measures, in legislation wherever appropriate.

Local Government Partnerships
There are more than 300 general-purpose local governments in Washington State, including counties, cities and towns. WSAC and the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) represent elected officials in county and city legislative and executive branches respectively. Separately elected county officials, i.e., assessor, auditor, clerk, prosecutor, sheriff and treasurer are represented by the Washington Association of County Officials (WACO). Although the three Associations must represent their members on individual issues, those members ultimately report to a joint constituency, the public. The public interest must come first.

WSAC Policy: WSAC will work in partnership with AWC and WACO on legislative issues to ensure that the public interest comes first.