Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
Study Session
STUDY SESSION
Date of Meeting
October 25, 2022
DATE: October 19, 2022
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Eric ffitch, Senior Government Relations Manager
SUBJECT: Draft 2023 State Legislative Agenda
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since the end of the 2022 state legislative session in Olympia, Washington, staff from the
Government Affairs team has been working with subject-matter experts across the Port,
members of the Executive Leadership Team, staff from the Commission office, and the
Commissioners themselves to develop a draft legislative agenda for the 2023 legislative session.
This is the initial staff briefing for commissioners, with any proposed changes discussed in public
session to be adopted on November 8, 2022.
DRAFT State Legislative Agenda for 2023
Priority Agenda Items:
Invest in essential workforces: Essential activities that kept the economy running early in the
pandemic included maritime and freight operations, air cargo and more. The Port seeks
continuing state partnership on workforce development in port-related industries, including
support for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs and policies intended to support
retention and promote a respectful worksite free of harassment and intimidation.
Progressive climate action: Enactment of progressive climate policies spurs investment in new
technologies and generates demand for a newly skilled workforce, while reducing emissions and
improving environmental justice action. With the Clean Fuels Program and Climate Commitment
Act in place, the state should pursue partnership with ports on decarbonization of heavy
transportation from maritime to aviation sectors, including a focus shorepower, on-dock cargo
equipment, and working toward zero emission trucking.
The Port of Seattle fully supports state partnership in:
- Proposed maritime decarbonization investments put forward by The Northwest
Seaport Alliance
-
COMMISSION AGENDA – Study Session Page 2 of 7
Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
- Potential Regional Maritime Fuels collaborative, developed alongside Maritime Blue, to
speed adoption and promote regional leadership in the fuels space
- Development of an incentive package to promote deployment of Sustainable Aviation
Fuels and other low- and zero-carbon aviation technologies
Further, the Port acknowledges that siting of clean energy facilities sufficient to meet state
demand for renewable energy will require legislative changes, and we support state work to
promote development of in-state renewable energy sources.
Equity and Community focus: An annual priority for the Port of Seattle, this year legislative
efforts that can support our community partners include:
- Reduced local match for community improvements: The Port supports reducing the
required local match that non-profit entities must provide in order to receive small-dollar
grants for public improvement projects. This statutory change will help the Port distribute
grant funding at a time when many local government partners will be forced to reduce
grantmaking.
- Public contracting and grantmaking: The Port’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
is eager to work with our community to increase the share of grants and contracts that
go to underserved populations. Legislative changes may be required to meet our goals,
and we will partner with Olympia lawmakers to pursue such changes.
Vessel noise and impacts: With the state’s prior investment in Quiet Sound leading to successful
program implementation and early successes, the Port supports additional state funding for
Quiet Sound to ensure continued program success and further growth and development.
Priority Issue Areas: Quality Jobs and Small Business
Quality Jobs: Support proposals that are consistent with the Port’s focus on bringing quality,
sustainable jobs to the region, including proposals that:
- Expand state-level support for worker training programs in port-related industries of
aviation, maritime, construction trades, and green jobs that seek to foster maritime
innovation and provide incentives to incorporate new technology into port-related
sectors.
- Support career-connected and work-based learning programs that seek to expose middle-
and high-school age students to professions in port-related industries.
- Expand and strengthen state support for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship
programs, with a focus on retention especially among BIPOC apprentices.
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Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
- Ensure responsible enforcement of labor standards, including a culture of respect and
inclusion on jobsites.
- Support continued state partnership on tourism promotion as an economic sector critical
to the overall recovery of the Washington state economy.
- Pursue partnerships in trucking that expand the workforce and the supply of drivers
serving port operations, to speed the movement of goods and services.
- Support rural economic development: Partner with the state and other ports and
economic development actors to promote rural economic development initiatives,
including rural broadband deployment, tourism promotion, support for small
manufacturers in rural Washington, investments in freight corridors in rural areas, and
other actions to support economic growth across Washington state.
Small Business: Support proposals that reduce structural barriers and provide equity in the
workplace for disadvantaged groups, and promote inclusion of small businesses, including
disadvantaged, minority, and women owned business enterprises (SMWBEs). This includes:
- Continued support for the repeal of Initiative 200, the enactment of Initiative 1000, and
any other policy proposals that seek to achieve similar equity objectives.
- Support for proposals that provide flexibility in contracting to public owners, including
alternative public works, while ensuring that contracting practices support SMWBEs.
- Support proposals that enhance the opportunities for SMWBEs to more effectively
compete for small works projects.
- Support business assistance programs at the state-level that are focused on supporting
BIPOC and rural-based small businesses that face challenges accessing resources and
relief programs
Priority Issue Areas: Transportation and Competitiveness
General transportation priorities: Continue support for freight mobility, multimodal investments,
and decarbonization investments as the state implements the Move Ahead Washington package.
Other transportation priorities include:
- Continued state support for transportation networks that serve essential public facilities,
with a specific emphasis on: funding for needed upgrades State Route 518 and the on-
time delivery of the Puget Sound Gateway Program (SR509/SR167).
- Support proposals that speed the movement of freight and passengers from origin to
destination through seaport and airport facilities and improve the trade competitiveness
of Washington state and our gateway.
COMMISSION AGENDA – Study Session Page 4 of 7
Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
- Continue to deepen partnership with Washington State Legislature, Executive Agencies,
and other public and private stakeholders on promoting Washington state as an
international trading partner, supporting the state’s exporters while also ensuring that
transportation facilities that support trade are modernized, world-class, and can operate
efficiently.
- Support proposals that clarify and affirm the authority of the Port Commission to control
access to port facilities by all transportation modes -- including private vehicle access,
commercial ground transportation providers, and public transportation providers -- and
promote fairness and equity among transportation service providers, in support of
responsible operation in all areas of regulation, including insurance, monitoring, safety,
and environmental standards
- Support state engagement in regional conversations related to a potential increase in
passenger vessel routes operating in Puget Sound, and other innovative transportation
partnerships that reduce congestion on roadways and reduce emissions associated with
transportation sector. Increases in passenger vessel routes should be accompanied by
consideration of potential mitigation measures associated with increased vessel traffic.
- Support state actions that promote resilience in the transportation network, and support
collaboration with other government agencies, including on issues of climate resilience.
- Support coordinated approach to regional transportation planning, including aviation
planning, to reflect the unprecedented growth in the region and the related stresses on
our existing infrastructure.
Land use priorities: Continue to advocate on land use issues facing Washington ports, with a
specific focus on zoning issues that may affect port competitiveness. This may include:
- Proposals that reflect the “Guiding Principles: Stewardship, Enhancement, and Protection
of Maritime and Manufacturing Lands” document that was adopted by the Northwest
Seaport Alliance on November 1, 2016;
- Proposals that reduce gentrification pressure on critical industrial lands by focusing dense
residential development in existing residential areas
- Proposals that reflect the Port's commitment to environmental sustainability, including
promoting Puget Sound ecosystem health and resource stewardship, and acknowledge
the fact that manufacturing and industrial centers designated under the Growth
Management Act are resource lands of statewide economic significance that are
irreplaceable; and
COMMISSION AGENDA – Study Session Page 5 of 7
Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
- Proposals that recognize the role industrial resource lands play in global port
competitiveness and in supporting job retention in diverse economic sectors that provide
ladders of opportunity to underserved groups; and
- Proposals that seek to strengthen the Container Ports Element of the Growth
Management Act
- Recommendations related to the Department of Commerce’s Interbay Public
Development Advisory Committee; and
- Any legislative changes that may impact the efficient functioning of statewide essential
public facilities.
Priority Issue Areas: Energy and Environment
Support and advocate for continued state investment in environmental cleanup programs and
state-level policies that promote the adoption and implementation of clean energy sources to
reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels and seek to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. That
includes:
- Policies that promote the use of low- and zero-carbon fuels for transportation, low or
zero emission transit options, and otherwise support the continued reduction in the
cost of low- and zero-carbon energy sources to consumers in the state.
- Programs directed at Puget Sound health, to include: water quality, habitat
restoration, cleanups, stormwater, underwater noise reduction, and other issues
related to orca recovery in the Puget Sound.
- Streamlining Department of Ecology’s wetland mitigation banking program so that
cost-effective and large-scale compensatory mitigation projects can be built in
advance of permitted impacts.
- Programs funded through the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) that assist ports in
their efforts to promote environmental stewardship, to include cleanup grants and
public participation grants to community organizations, including a streamlined
pathway that promotes voluntary, expeditious cleanup of habitat restoration and/or
shoreline public access projects in underserved communities.
- Continued robust funding for the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office, and any
additional state-level program or office that supports partnerships and funding on
environmental cleanup, habitat restoration, and public access to the shoreline and
marine resources.
- Policies that promote use of clean energy technology, build energy efficiency, and
support a statewide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as well as statewide goals
for clean power, and that can be implemented in ways that: leverage our state’s
COMMISSION AGENDA – Study Session Page 6 of 7
Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
competitiveness; maintain the efficient operation of essential public facilities such as
airports and seaports; and support equity between our business partners.
- Continued state support for partnership in the development and deployment of
sustainable aviation and maritime technologies, including state-level actions intended
to drive development of low- and zero-carbon aviation and maritime technologies
within the state and for use at in-state transportation facilities.
- Support state actions that promote climate change resilience, and support
collaboration with other government agencies in this effort, including a focus on
resilience within the transportation network that serves ports, such as heavy haul
corridors, freight chokepoints, intermodal yards and more.
- Policies that reduce carbon and air pollution emissions for passengers, employees,
and cargo traveling to and from Port facilities, including promoting and improving the
efficiency of public transportation improvements, public transit, and increasing the
availability of low carbon fuels.
- Pursue continued state partnership with efforts to reduce carbon emissions from
waterfront operations while maintaining the international competitive edge that
supports job growth in Washington state. This includes partnership on electric
transmission infrastructure development, on innovation in the clean maritime sector,
and on the state’s ongoing Maritime Blue 2050 initiative.
Priority Issue Areas: Tax, Governance, Technology, and more
- Tax: Support tax policies at the state level that support the economic health of port-
related businesses and activities, including:
• Policies that promote the efficient movement of freight and supports those
communities that house the warehousing and distribution infrastructure
necessary to enable the Port of Seattle, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and its
partners to serve Washington State businesses, including those in agriculture,
manufacturing, and trade sectors.
• Policies that reduce manufacturing costs in port-related businesses, including
businesses that support the efficient functioning of Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport and that incentivize construction of fishing vessels in Washington State
shipyards.
- Governance: Oppose legislation that would create an imbalance of representatives
between the two homeports in their governing of the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
And further, advocate that any legislative proposal that would alter the previously
voter established governance structure of either homeport include ratification by
citizen vote within the respective homeport district(s).
COMMISSION AGENDA – Study Session Page 7 of 7
Meeting Date: October 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
- Cybersecurity: Monitor proposals that seek to balance the importance of
transparency and public disclosure with the vulnerability of public governments that
manage critical infrastructure.
- Technology: Monitor proposals related to the use of biometric technology, such as
facial recognition, particularly those that address the protection of individual privacy,
civil liberties, equity and compliance with federal and state regulations.
- Broadband: Support continued state and local government efforts to bridge the
digital divide and bring high-speed internet connectivity to communities around the
state.
- Human trafficking: Engage continued state partnership with Port efforts to combat
human trafficking at port facilities, including the airport, seaport, cruise terminals, and
marina properties, including potential advocacy in support of state anti-human
trafficking efforts that align with efforts underway at the Port.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS
December 14, 2021 – The Commission voted to adopt 2022 State Legislative Agenda
November 16, 2021 – Port of Seattle Commission was briefed on the 2022 DRAFT State
Legislative Agenda
