Chapter advocacy efforts

The chapter’s advocacy efforts are guided by American Planning Association Policy Guides and Policy Principles, which cover the whole United States, and the Washington Chapter’s annual Legislative Agenda.
This survey is intended to help the legislative committee update the chapter's legislative agenda, which will be considered and adopted by the chapter board of directors at their October meeting in Tacoma.

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* 1. In 2019, the chapter’s legislative agenda covered the following topics. Which ones should be carried over for 2020? Refer to the agenda document for the full language.

  Keep - high priority Keep - low priority Drop
Housing and homelessness – support for the 2017 Housing Affordability Response Team Recommendations and Affordable Housing Advisory Board legislative agendas
Climate change – stronger, clearer greenhouse gas reduction benchmarks
Climate change – mechanisms to achieve benchmarks
Climate change – incorporate climate impacts and greenhouse gas reduction benchmarks in planning and analysis
Infrastructure – support loan programs, local funding authority and state funding for infrastructure
Support funding for planning (Note: 2020 is a short session, so no major budget work)
Annexation – incentives and regulatory simplification to encourage annexations
Funding for civics education (Note: funding was secured in the state budget in 2019)
School siting – locate public facilities for urban users in urban areas
School siting – fund collaborative efforts to address siting challenges

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* 2. What new topics should be considered for the chapter's 2020 legislative agenda (or other comments)?

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* 3. The Ruckelshaus Center recently released its much-anticipated Road Map to Washington’s Future report, including a series of recommendations – 9 areas of broad transformational and systemic change and 28 more specific key reforms (see pages 81-102 of Volume 1).
Should the chapter endorse or prioritize any of these recommendations specifically? What other thoughts do you have about next steps for the chapter with respect to the report?

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* 4. Optional question: Specific issues rise and fall on the legislature’s list of priorities for attention each session. Reports (e.g. Road Map), court cases (e.g. Hirst), emergencies (e.g. opiates), and expiration/renewals (e.g. document recording fee sunset), and groundswells (e.g. climate change) can all drive specific issues to the forefront in a given year.

Setting aside the particulars of any given year’s hot topics, what issues do you think the chapter’s long-term advocacy efforts should focus on?

  Higher priority Lower priority Avoid
Annexation, governance, and special districts
Buildable lands and growth targets
Climate change
Comprehensive plans
Development regulations/zoning code
Economic development
Fish and wildlife habitat
Food systems
Hazard mitigation
Housing
Infrastructure financing
Infrastructure planning
Local budgets and revenue authority
Parks and open space
Placemaking
Shorelines
Social equity and accessibility
State capital budget
State operating budget
Transportation
Urban growth areas
Water quality
Water supply

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* 5. Contact information (optional)

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