Port Shares Whitman County Priorities at State Capitol

District 1 Port Commissioner Karl Webber, District 2 Port Commissioner Kristine Meyer and Executive Director Kara Riebold met with state legislators in Olympia on February 2 to discuss Whitman County priorities.

Every year, the Port participates in the annual Port and Maritime Day organized by the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) and the Washington Maritime Federation. The occasion provided an opportunity for the Port of Whitman County to engage in person with its District 9 legislators, as well as legislators that chair committees with an interest in port issues.

The Port met with Representative Joe Schmick, Senator Mark Schoesler and Representative Mary Dye. Among other priorities, Webber, Meyer and Riebold discussed:

• the importance of the Rural Public Facilities Sales and Use Tax (HB 1267), which provides Whitman County with .09 funds that supported $1.25 million in County broadband projects in the past two years; 
• the need for a state broadband map to measure the state’s progress toward achieving its goal of 150/150 Mbps service for all citizens by 2028 and better position the state for federal grant funding; and
• the value in ensuring Governor Jay Inslee’s proposed study on the removal of barging on the Snake River looks comprehensively at all impacts on the transportation system and includes robust stakeholder participation from those most impacted.

The group also heard remarks from Representative Chair, House Transportation Committee, 27th Legislative District; Representative Kevin Waters, 17th Legislative District; Chris Green, Washington State Department of Commerce; Becky Kelley, Office of Governor Jay Inslee; Debbie Driver, Governor Inslee’s Senior Policy Advisor on Transportation; Senator Matt Boehnke, 8th Legislative District; Senate Republican Leader John Braun, 20th Legislative District; Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, 3rd Legislative District; and House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, 34th Legislative District.