TagRCW53(8)
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2025-06-01The Gift of Public Funds Bogeyman
★ 32This 2025 Washington Law Review article argues that Washington State's 'gift of public funds' doctrine—which prohibits governments from giving away public assets—is widely misunderstood and far less restrictive than most officials believe. The authors, both attorneys in Washington's Solicitor General's Office, explain that modern court interpretations allow governments broad flexibility to fund programs serving legitimate public purposes, and note that no appellate court has struck down any government program under this doctrine in the past 45 years. The article urges public officials and lawyers to stop letting unfounded fears about this doctrine block innovative policy solutions to problems like homelessness, childcare, and climate change. -
2025-06-01
The Gift of Public Funds Bogeyman
★Noah Purcell (Washington State Solicitor General) and Michelle Saperstein (Assistant Attorney General) argue in the Washington Law Review (Vol. 100, No. 2, 2025) that Washington’s ‘gift of public funds’ doctrine under article VIII, sections 5 and 7 of the Washington Constitution is systematically misunderstood and over-applied by public officials and government lawyers. The article analyzes -
2026-01-21
SB5652 introduced in Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee
Expansive airport bill gets warm first hearing Documents/Schedule Our Take Senator Tina Orwall introduced her bill with an emotional anecdote as to the harms of childhood asthma–and the health benefits of proper air filters. This was a good idea considering the bill’s complexity. We applaud the legislative aide responsible for summarizing its contents. The bill -
Legislation 2026
A list of programs and changes to City, Port, State and Federal law we can and must implement in the upcoming legislative calendar. The SAMP is the largest and longest expansion in airport history. These policies will reduce noise, pollution, provide mitigation and compensation for decades of inequity. This is a blueprint not only for Sea-Tac, but for every community unfairly impacted by commercial aviation. Solve for Sea-Tac, solve for every airport. -
2024-07-12RCW 53.54.020 Investigation and monitoring of noise impact—Programs to conform to needs—”Impacted areas.”
Washington state law defining requirements for port commissions to investigate and monitor aircraft noise impact before initiating abatement programs. Establishes geographic boundaries for “impacted areas” where port districts may undertake noise programs, with specific distance limitations from runway ends and centerlines. -
2023-01-13Match requirements prevent rural and low-capacity communities from accessing climate resilience funding
More than 60% of federal resilience funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires a local match, with an additional 13% requiring a match under certain conditions. Requirements for matching funds have been included in federal funding programs to promote economic efficiency and ensure communities have “skin in the game.” In practice, however, they can impose insurmountable burdens on communities, -
2020-06-11SHB1847 – Aircraft Noise Abatement Various Provisions
Washington State's Substitute House Bill 1847, signed into law on March 25, 2020, expands the aircraft noise abatement programs available to port districts by lowering the threshold for eligibility from airports serving more than 900 scheduled jet flights per day (previously 20). The law also enlarges the geographic 'impacted areas' around runways where noise relief programs—such as soundproofing, property acquisition, and transaction assistance—can be offered, extending coverage from six to ten miles north and up to thirteen miles south of runway ends, and from one to two miles from runway centerlines. -
2020-06-11Substitute House Bill 1847 – Aircraft Noise Abatement – Defining aviation impacted area
Washington State's Substitute House Bill 1847, signed into law in March 2020, expands the aircraft noise abatement programs available to port districts by lowering the qualifying threshold from 900 to 20 scheduled jet flights per day and extending the geographic boundaries of 'impacted areas' around airport runways. The law allows port districts to pursue noise relief measures—including property acquisition, soundproofing, transaction assistance, and mortgage insurance—for communities affected by aircraft noise. It amends three existing state statutes (RCW 53.54.010, 53.54.020, and 53.54.030) and took effect on June 11, 2020.