03/14/08 Assessing the legislative session

Washington Ag March 14, 2008 Now that the 2008 State Legislature has concluded its business here is how John Stuhlmiller, Director of State Affairs for the Washington Farm Bureau sums up the session. Stuhlmiller: "It is a decent year from a legislative perspective. It is a great year from the water resource side. That is the absolute bright spot is the fact that we got money put in the budget in a tight budget year to fund this Lake Roosevelt, which again will provide water. It is a small down payment but it shows even in tight budget years the Democratic controlled legislature is going forward with the promise of trying to find water for the Columbia Basin. So, we are very encouraged by that." Stuhlmiller notes that the funding for the drawdown is general fund money. There was also 1.5 million dollars for agricultural flood relief in the tight supplemental budget. Stuhlmiller: "So that is an important piece. Other than that we have a little bit of tax equity for bee keepers and anaerobic digesters." Stuhlmiller says when lawmakers meet in 2009 they could be facing a 1.5 to two-billion dollar revenue shortfall, which he says will make it tough for the ag sector. I'm Bob Hoff.