Tag Archives: 18th Legislative District

Rivers’ ‘more salmon for all’ bill set for Thursday public hearing

Adapting Alaska’s innovative hatchery approach could help feed orca sooner

Legislation that could lead to a dramatic increase in the number of salmon in Washington waters and boost the food supply for Puget Sound’s southern resident orcas will come before the Senate’s natural-resources committee at 1:30 Thursday afternoon.

The bipartisan bill is aimed at supporting the creation of a new private-public salmon hatchery in Bellingham, modeled after an approach that has proven to be productive and financially self-sustaining in Alaska.

Sen. Ann Rivers is prime sponsor of Senate Bill 6509, known as the Salmon Repopulation Act. She sees it as the most effective action lawmakers can take on behalf of the endangered orca as well as the commercial fishers, sport fishers, tribes and others in Washington who would benefit from having more salmon return to the state’s waterways.

“So far the things that have either been approved or proposed in the name of helping the orca tend to be restrictive, like putting more limits on whale-watching tours, or destructive – meaning the idea of breaching dams,” said Rivers, R-La Center. “I think the bipartisan support for this bill is due to its positive approach. What could be divisive or controversial about producing more fish in a way that would respect the environment and be a good investment for taxpayers?

“Our state has a robust hatchery program but the operation I saw in Alaska this past summer is at another level. I have no doubt this is the fastest and also the smartest way to make more salmon available for the orca to eat,” she added. “I’m convinced it can be adapted to our state, and the Port of Bellingham has the ideal location. The people who can make this happen have come to the table in recent weeks. The Legislature simply needs to say yes – and it needs to be this year, so the pilot project can get going. The orca can’t wait.”

Rivers’ advocacy for early learning earns Crayon Award

In recognition of her commitment to advancing policies that support early learning, Sen. Ann Rivers has been selected to receive a Crayon Award on behalf of the Early Learning Action Alliance.

“Every child in our state needs to be ready to start school regardless of what street they live on or what their family structure looks like. I’m proud to stand up for our youngest residents and do everything in my power to ensure that they are ready to learn and succeed,” said Rivers, R-La Center.

Crayon Awards are presented every two years to policymakers who support investments that are critical to closing the school readiness gap. Sen. Rivers received a Silver Crayon Award in 2014. A formal ceremony to present the award will be scheduled later this summer.

“We are delighted that once again Senator Ann Rivers is a recipient of the Crayon Award and is being recognized as an early learning champion and advocate for her work on behalf of young children and their families during the 2016 legislative session.  Access to high quality early learning programs are essential for closing the opportunity gap many of our children experience.  We appreciate Senator Rivers for her continued dedication to the infants, toddlers and preschoolers growing up in Clark County,” said Debbie Ham, director of the Southwest Early Learning Regional Coalition.

The Early Learning Action Alliance is a broad coalition of Washington nonprofits, professional associations and business with the shared belief that opportunities and support provided in first five years of life are critical to school preparedness and successful outcomes.

Rivers selected to attend historic convention of states

Sen. Ann Rivers has been selected to attend a two-day ‘snapshot’ of an Article V convention in Colonial Williamsburg Sept. 22 -23. She was one of three Washington state legislators invited to attend the historic event.

“Many folks have heard me speak of ‘our’ state capitol and ‘our’ government; I truly believe that it is. Walking through a mock convention and seeing how the process would play out will be highly informative and provide valuable insight that I can bring back to my colleagues and constituents,” said Rivers, R-La Center. “I support returning government to the citizens and I’m honored to be a spokesperson for this important conversation.”

A convention of states would gather representatives from the states for the purpose of debating amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Article V of the Constitution allows for constitutional amendments to be proposed either through a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, or though the calling of a convention on application by the legislatures of two-thirds of the states. A convention has never been used to propose amendments to the Constitution.

“The legislation I sponsored this year asked Congress to call a convention of the states to amend the Constitution. The simulation in Colonial Williamsburg is part of the planning process for a real convention and my involvement makes me more informed in the event that Washington participates in one in the future,” said Rivers.

The Convention of States Project is the work of Citizens for Self Governance who believe that the federal government is out of control and the answer is a grassroots movement supported by Americans.

Funding from Legislature gives local school districts breathing room

Two Clark County school districts have been awarded grants that will allow them to make classrooms and other learning environments less crowded for students in kindergarten through third grade. The Ridgefield School District will receive $1.2 million and the Vancouver School District will benefit from a nearly $43 million grant; the state money will go to construct more classrooms and provide more learning space.

“This is an important piece of the ongoing education puzzle that the Legislature is solving. While I’m pleased that two of my school districts were selected for grants, there are still many needs in schools throughout southwest Washington,” said Sen. Ann Rivers, co-chair of the Education Funding Task Force. “Lowering class sizes has long been a goal, but where do you physically place kids when you add another class in a grade level? These grants, along with the additional 4.6 billion dollars the Legislature has already committed to education, are great steps toward ensuring that every child in our state has the opportunity for an excellent education.”

The K-3 class size-reduction grants are the result of Senate Bill 6080 and will be funded through the state capital budget. Districts with the highest percentage of free and reduced lunches and the most crowded K-3 classrooms were considered for grants first. Other requirements included that the district had not raised capital funds through a levy or bond in the past 10 years.

A total of 21 school districts statewide will receive grants reaching nearly $234 million. Schools that require 10 or more new classrooms to meet lower class size standards are expected to build a new school. Additional funding is directed to those schools to cover the cost of administrative offices, hallways and cafeterias. Those schools that needed fewer additional classrooms were classified as a remodel of an existing structure.

Where does marijuana revenue go?

I’ve received a number of questions regarding marijuana revenue. I’m sharing a helpful document prepared by the Office of Financial Management that lists how much  marijuana revenue was collected in 2013-15, how much marijuana revenue budget writers can anticipate through 2019 and where it all goes.

Sen. Ann Rivers’ Legislative Update – Post-session wrap-up

Some great things have happened since my colleagues and I reached a no-new-taxes bipartisan budget update and adjourned for 2016. My fourth-grade friends from Captain Strong Elementary School in Battle Ground visited our state Capitol and my bill that makes our communities and law enforcement officers safer was signed by the governor.

Read more here!

Rivers’ corrections-partnership bill a ‘game changer’ for law enforcement

It was 2011, and Clark County detective Jason Granneman was fed up. As a law-enforcement officer he came into daily contact with individuals who were serving the remainder of their sentences in the community, instead of behind bars, sometimes for months or even years. Officially they are in “community corrections” status; however, because they are under the sole supervision of the state Department of Corrections, Granneman and his law-enforcement colleagues refer to them as “DOC active.”

Granneman was fed up because state law prohibited him from detaining, searching or arresting DOC-active persons. It didn’t matter if they violated the signed agreement setting the terms of their community release, which could mean staying away from certain places or certain people or avoiding alcohol or other conditions, depending on the case. Even alerting DOC that someone under its supervision wasn’t upholding his or her signed accountability agreement resulted in limited action.  

Spurred by the memory of the four Lakewood police officers who were murdered in November 2009 by an individual under community-corrections supervision, Granneman came to a realization: if someone was going to make a change, it would have to be him.

Taking his idea to the Capitol, Granneman immediately met unexpectedly fierce resistance from DOC, as well as many legislators. Looking back, he admits the first draft of the policy change he proposed was too broad.

The idea was shelved until, in 2015, Granneman met with his neighbor Sen. Ann Rivers and explained how the hands-off approach to DOC-active persons was creating not only a public-safety hazard, but also putting law-enforcement officers at greater risk. They began to work together on a more focused solution and a strategy for securing legislative approval.

“The state had put the public’s first line of defense directly in harm’s way. Jason and other officers were encountering DOC-active folks every day but lacked the tools to appropriately deal with those who had gotten out of line. This is the kind of public-safety issue that makes my job in Olympia truly meaningful, so I got on board immediately with what he wanted to achieve,” said Rivers, R-La Center. “It seemed like a no-brainer to simply allow law enforcement officers to partner with their DOC counterparts and make sure people follow the rules while serving out their sentences.”

Despite the new collaboration between senator and sheriff’s deputy, the updated policy proposal was once again greeted with contention from DOC.

Unwilling to back down, Rivers got Granneman, key lawmakers and representatives of DOC and the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs together in a room and began hammering out a solution acceptable to all sides.  

Granneman describes the end result as “a game changer” – Senate Bill 6459, which was filed by Rivers and won overwhelming legislative approval in early March. Signed April 1 by Gov. Jay Inslee, the new law allows a law-enforcement officer to notify DOC when persons under community-corrections supervision violate the terms of their release. Additionally, law enforcement is now permitted to detain, search and make arrests on new crimes when committed by a DOC-active individual.  

“It was a challenge to reach an agreement that brought everyone on board, but the final product will be a force-multiplier for the entire state of Washington,” Granneman said. “Now law enforcement has shared authority with DOC and the benefit is going to be huge. This will mean more safety for communities and for the officers who run across people who are serving community corrections, because it holds those offenders accountable. 

“My peers and I appreciate Senator Rivers’ willingness to take on this issue,” Granneman added. “Without her tenacity it would have remained just an idea.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Jason Granneman (on Gov. Inslee’s left) and members of Clark County’s law enforcement community join Sen. Rivers at a ceremonial bill signing Monday.