Legislative Updates

Day on the Hill is a day devoted to meeting with Washington State legislators in Olympia.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to meet face to face with elected officials. You can make individual appointments with your legislators, or you can meet with legislators as part of a group of other SCAOA members and other local housing association members.

Please Be Advised:  No Olympia Parking Available at 1500 Water Street

Dear WAA Members:  Due to a new landlord policy, with a new “family property management team,” they have implemented a policy that if you do not live in the building you cannot utilize the parking of the building at 1500 Water
Street SW, Olympia, WA (which has been the usual parking space available to you).

We obviously regret that we can no longer park at the site and it seems that the local neighborhoods are curtailing parking for those that are not all year round residence.

Your best option is the visitors parking, which is on the corner of Capital and 15^th Avenue SW.  Attached is also a campus map, detailing visitors parking.

Dear WAA Members:

I’m inviting you to a fundraising  lunch for Sen. Jeff Baxter (R) who represents the 4^th  District in Spokane.

Sen. Baxter is being  supported by our industry and we urge that  if you are in the Spokane area or anywhere else to join us on:

Thursday, October 20  at 12:00 p.m.

Ramada Spokane/Airport

8909 W Airport Dr., Spokane, WA 99224

Luncheon orders will be selected off the menu and you will pay at the event.

He is a member of the  following Committees:

• Senate Ways & Means Committee,
• Judiciary Committee &
• Human Services & Corrections Committee

Anyone of these committees  has a direct or indirect impact on our industry.

We are also issuing  invitations to all Republican State Senators and House Members in the Spokane  area to join us at this event as each guest will have an opportunity to talk  about their industry especially with the November 28^th 30 day  special session, which will take into consideration a $1.4 billion dollar  revenue shortfall and the possibilities of raising taxes through a referendum  ballot that will likely go to the vote of the people in February 2012.

Any size donation is appreciated but not necessary to attend the event.

Please RSVP to me at mgjurasic@comcast.net
and let me know who will be coming.

Many thanks.

Mark Gjurasic

Public Affairs of
Washington, LLC

mgjurasic@comcast.net

(360) 481-6000

Dear WAA Member:

In the 2011 Legislative Session, which began on January 11, 2011, for 105 day regular session plus a 30 day special session, we monitored legislation that impacts residential rental real-estate as the legislature balances the state budget with a $5.2 billion revenue shortfall.

The Washington Apartment Association (WAA), worked with other real-estate groups, towards passing bills that we introduced in the 2010 session which included the following:

• State Rent Voucher Program:  We are introducing legislation that will allow for a state rental voucher system similar to the Federal Government Section 8 Program.
•  Emergency Notification of a Landlord:  We have introduced legislation that allows property owners to be notified of any emergency responses such as fire and public safety which occur on their property.
•  Utility Liens:  We are working to have legislation to exempt property owners from liability of delinquent utility debts owed by tenants.

The following bills the Washington Apartment Association Successfully Opposed:

•  We successfully opposed the use of interest on tenant deposits to fund government housing – we did not want to subsidize our competition by funds that in statute belong to the
  landlord.
•  Ensure that tenant screening reports are not made portable by tenants for a 30 to 60 day period of time.
• We successfully opposed the application of the Washington State Consumer Protection Act allowing a tenant to sue landlord treble damages – up to $25,000 per violation if a landlord made a mistake in the application of the Washington State Landlord and Tenant Act.  It also included the tenant being awarded attorney fees and other costs.
•  We successfully opposed rent control for residential properties as well as mobile home parks.
•  We opposed filing fees in superior court that would have allowed two to three hundred dollars per eviction.
•  We also opposed legislation eliminating the lower filing fee when a tenant does not show up in court to oppose an eviction.
• We opposed legislation that would allow the landlord not to consider “source of income” in a
  proposed tenancy.
• We opposed “split roll” taxation – which would allow rental property to be accessed and evaluated at a higher level than non rental properties.

Other WAA Legislative Activities:

•  In the 2008 session, we passed HB 1865 which allows the landlord to put the tenants abandoned property on the public right of way.  A court case previously required that we must store tenant
  belongings – this legislation also allows the landlord to store the tenant’s property and the tenant is required to pay the storage costs.  The bill took effect on 6/12/2008.
•  The Washington Apartment Association Political Action Committee has had an approximately 85% “batting average” in giving to lawmakers – both Republicans and Democrats seeking re-election.

It’s important to note that WAA has two lobbyists representing your interest in Olympia which are Mark Gjurasic and Terry Kohl.

The bottom line is that the Washington Apartment Association (WAA) Political Action Committee needs your financial support – we have been successful in Olympia only because we contribute to lawmakers that support residential real-estate issues.

We urge you to send a contribution, as a local chapter, and as an individual to
your local rental assocation PAC Fund so that we can help our lawmaker friends in Olympia
get re-elected.  Now is the time to do it.

Please support your state and local association against meaningless legislation in Olympia.

Thank you very much.

Dear WAA Members:

Just an “update.”

The issue of limiting the state debt limit is being considered in Olympia. The latest proposal is to lower the current gap of 9% of state revenue to 7% debt reduction, over time.

This approach will impact the state budget significantly.

Many thanks.

Mark Gjurasic

Public Affairs of Washington, LLC

mgjurasic@comcast.net

(360) 481-6000

Issue of taking on less debt keeps lawmakers in town

JORDAN SCHRADER and BRAD SHANNON | Staff writer . Published May 12, 2011

Both sides of a debate over debt are blaming the other for keeping state lawmakers in Olympia.

The question of whether to tighten restrictions on state debt continues to hold up approval of a bipartisan state construction budget. It kept roughly $1.3 billion in bonds from coming to a House vote this week.

With lawmakers’ 30-day overtime period more than half over, the debt limit is just one of the roadblocks in front of the exits. Lawmakers are also stymied by details of the more than $5 billion in cuts and transfers that need to be made in the operating budget, and what to do to rein in the cost of workers’ compensation benefits.

Republicans and sympathetic Senate Democrats are holding the budgets hostage until they get their wish list, said House Capital Budget Chairman Hans Dunshee.

“They’ve got all these ideological, external issues that they’re shoving, and they’re going to keep us here because of that,” said Dunshee, a Snohomish Democrat.

Dunshee is focused mainly on resisting the constitutional amendment to lower the state cap on debt to 7 percent of state revenue – down from 9 percent – which has opposition from the construction industry and unions but is backed by Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats and House Republicans.

“All three caucuses agree, and my understanding is the votes are there for it, too – so let’s get it done.” House GOP leader Richard DeBolt said. “If we’re going to get out of here, Hans Dunshee has to set aside his ego and start negotiating.”

They are already negotiating, say Dunshee and Sen. Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor, the Democratic capital budget chairmen who are at odds with each other over the debt limit. Lawmakers met Wednesday to talk about a proposal Dunshee offered. They declined to give details, but Kilmer said Dunshee expressed openness to “do something that would reduce how much debt the state’s taking on over time.”

Supporters of the lower cap want to reduce a debt load they say is too high – with interest payments approaching $2 billion or 6 percent of the main budget – and crowding out spending on other priorities such as schools and health care. But construction projects paid for with the borrowed money create jobs, and the construction industry says the debt level is manageable and isn’t affecting the state’s credit. Positions have been staked out:

. The committee chaired by Dunshee hasn’t voted on the debt reduction amendment.

. Senators, Kilmer said, are willing to ditch most of this year’s proposed borrowing if it’s not tied to long-term debt reduction. They could move forward with a much smaller bond budget of a few hundred million dollars.

. House Republicans are in the minority but have leverage because a supermajority is needed to approve bonds. That allowed them to block the bond budget this week. DeBolt said they want the debt limit change done first, because it will change borrowing levels – although it largely affects future years, not the upcoming 2011-2013 budget period.

State Treasurer Jim McIntire said he thinks the standoff can be resolved. There’s a lot of room for compromise between the House and Senate positions, he said.

Still, halfway through their special session called to deal with the budget emergency, some are asking whether lawmakers are facing the possibility of double overtime.

“Right now we’re looking at it,” Dunshee said.

But Gov. Chris Gregoire said Wednesday she wouldn’t call another 30-day session without a budget agreement.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/05/11/1648497/issue-of-taking-on-less-debt-k eeps.html#ixzz1MB6To5Nj

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Washington Apartment Association (WAA)
Mark Gjurasic
E-mail: mgjurasic@comcast.net
1-360-705-0113 * 1-360-481-6000

Terry Kohl
Email: tkohl@comcast.net

ALERT
NEED YOUR ACTION ASAP
Veto HB 1793 / OPPOSE SB 5941
HB 1793, Juvenile Records

Please contact the Governor and cc John Lane, Governor’s Staff, to veto HB 1793, restricting access to juvenile records, and specifically ask them to veto the section which allows sealed records until the age of 20. You can email John Lane at john.lane@leg.wa.gov or call him at 360.902.0651. You can contact the Governor’s office at 360.902.4111.

Please contact the Governor’s office to ask for a veto on HB 1793.

We want to have records available for those potential tenants whether they were under the age of 21, had activities legal or illegal that may cause a landlord not to rent to them or at least be aware of prior activities during their decision making process. In other words, we want to ensure that we have access to the information when screening tenants.

Please Contact the Governor’s Office to Veto HB 1793

To view the legislation, please click on the following link:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2011-12/Pdf/Bills/House%20Passed%2 0Legislature/1793-S.PL.pdf

SB 5941, Unlawful Detainer Surcharge

Please contact your 2 House Members and one Senator to OPPOSE SB 5941, concerning judicial branch funding.

SB 5941 increases court filing fees for landlords by removing the 2011 sunset on an additional $30 unlawful detainer surcharge.

The only way rental property owners can legally recover their property back from a tenant who hasn’t paid rent, did not leave at the end of a lease, or did not follow a rule in the agreement is through the eviction process. This is integral to a Landlord’s ability to operate his/her business, and landlords often find themselves filing unlawful detainers in the course of their business in the hopes the filing can be settled before a hearing is scheduled creating minimal court costs.

The current charge in statute (RCW 36.18.020) is $45 for unlawful detainers. Currently there is a temporary $30 surcharge. This surcharge is proportionally more substantial to landlord’s court costs than others paying surcharges under the statute.

The surcharge was originally initiated as a temporary measure. Landlords understand the difficult economic circumstances courts and local governments find themselves in, and would not oppose a sunset extension of the surcharge (as proposed in HB 2801) at this time.

Landlords cannot support eliminating the sunset on a temporary surcharge, which will effectively increase their permanent charge for filing an unlawful detainer with the court by 67% ($45 up to $75).

Attached is the contact information for the House and Senate Members.

Please Take Action Right Away on HB 1793 & SB 5941

To view the legislation, please click on the following link:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2011-12/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5 941.pdf

Many thanks.

Mark Gjurasic
Public Affairs of Washington, LLC
mgjurasic@comcast.net
(360) 481-6000

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2011_House_and_Senate_Member_Database(1).xls

Dear WAA Members:

Attached is and updated WAA Legislative report.

We are now in the extra session for 30 days.

Many thanks.

Mark Gjurasic

Public Affairs of Washington, LLC

mgjurasic@comcast.net

(360) 481-6000

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WAA Legislative Hot Sheet 4.27.2011.doc

URGENT MESSAGE -

Special Session – Legislature Back to Work

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Dear WAA Members:

Below is an announcement about the Special Session which is to begin on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Governor special session announcement:

Governor: Will start Tuesday, 9am, to pass the budget and bills necessary to implement the budget plus workers compensation. Issues: all 3 budgets (operating, capital, sup transportation) and Necessary to Implement the Budget (NTIB) bills. Gov doesn’t see a 2/3 vote for taxes or repeals of tax exemptions. Governor said this is a 30 day special session and hopes it can be done it that time. There are 40-60 bills that need to be addressed that are very tough policy issues. It will take some time.

Senate (Brown): Will have all its members coming back to work on many policy and necessary to implement the budget bills (including LTC). Democrats & Republicans have submitted their consensus budget so they’ll have less to do. However, the NTIB bills and some policy bills will take some doing to pass.

Sen Hewitt: Budget worked out with Democrats was good work.

House (Chopp): Will look at referendum bills for revenue; will have all its members in Olympia working together grind out agreement on budget. Will likewise have the many NTIB bills and some policy bills to pass as well.

DeBolt: Supports Senate capital budget and wants worker compensation passed. However, not happy for voters by process run in the House.

Many thanks.

Mark Gjurasic

Public Affairs of Washington, LLC

mgjurasic@comcast.net

(360) 481-6000

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This is the breakdown of active bills we’ve been tracking in the current legislative session. And whether or not they are still alive.

WAA Legislative Hot Sheet 4.14.2011.doc

Dear WAA Members:

Below is the hearing/work sessions of committees we are tracking for the week of *Monday, April 4 *to *Sunday, April 10. *

* *

Due to the cutoff on Friday, April 1, which is the* *last day to read in opposite house committee reports from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees, there are only a few committees scheduled with mainly work sessions.

The Senate and House will be on the floor and caucus next week.

The House is also planning on working on Saturday, April 9 and Sunday April 10.

Many thanks.

* *

*Mark Gjurasic*

*Public Affairs of Washington, LLC***

mgjurasic@comcast.net

(360) 481-6000

Community Development & Housing – 04/06/11 8:00 am

*Full Committee *House Hearing Rm C John L. O’Brien Building Olympia, WA

*Work Session:* Interim planning.

Committee Meeting Documents http://apps.leg.wa.gov/cmd/default.aspx?aid=17083 *Note: Documents are not available online until the meeting has begun.*

State Government & Tribal Affairs – 04/06/11 8:00 am

*Full Committee *House Hearing Rm E John L. O’Brien Building Olympia, WA

*Possible Executive Session:* Bills previously heard in committee.

Committee Meeting Documents http://apps.leg.wa.gov/cmd/default.aspx?aid=17086 *Note: Documents are not available online until the meeting has begun.*