SB5955, the Port Package Update bill we’ve all been waiting for, has passed onto the second step in the legislative process. This is great news. Now we need you to take one minute to help get it over the line! (Skip to Action Item
The next step is a hearing THIS SATURDAY February 3, starting at 9:00AM in the Ways and Means Committee in Olympia and this is critical. (You’ll be able to watch the proceedings live on TVW here: Watch on TVW.)
Ways and Means is the ‘funding committee’. So there is a good chance that if the bill passes out of this committee with strong (not tepid) support, it will get signed into law. But it must be strong support. Often bills pass out of this committee, but only with bland support, and that spells death when it comes to the final floor vote. We must get the committee to endorse this bill enthusiastically!
The challenge? Their agenda is packed. So the strategy for us at this hearing is different—and for you easy. All we need are NUMBERS. We need as many of you as possible to take one minute to show your support.
Your Action Item!
This time, we don’t need you to testify in person or remote. What we need is for you to do is simply fill out a web form. Takes only one minute!
The procedure is
1. Click this link (or paste into your browser): https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?selectedCommittee=456&selectedMeeting=31873
2. Select SB5955
3. Select the type of Testimony you wish to provide.
I would like to provide written testimony
or
I would like my position noted for the legislative record
4. Fill out the form (be sure to select ‘PRO’) and submit.
That’s It! That’s all we need to pass SB5955 and get $10,000,000 to start doing Port Package Updates!
If you choose to provide written testimony, your comments will be most helpful if they focus on financial impacts (the cost of replacement). After all, the committee is concerned with -money-. Our suggestion is also below. Feel free to copy/paste.
THANK YOU!
Suggested Testimony (last option)
You would have to live under a flight path to understand how absolutely necessary both good sound insulation and good ventilation are. But the cost of a quality system is more than most people can afford. We need a quality replacement because the system we got from the Port initially did not meet either of those goals. This is not about cosmetics. We now understand the health impacts of having a poor system and we demand that the Port provide what was promised with the original system.
Our understanding is that the Port has learned from past mistakes and that the systems they now provide are best in class. So providing a way for them to do this work is the best approach for all concerned. We and future owners will get a replacement or repair that you won’t have to worry about for decades to come. This is critical for protecting our families and our community into the next generation.
It’s also the bare minimum of what we were promised in exchange for having over 1,000 planes fly over our heads every day.
On behalf of my family and my community, we urge you to pass SB5955.