COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          11a 
BRIEFING ITEM                            Date of Meeting     November 16, 2021 
DATE:     November 9, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Eric ffitch, Senior Government Relations Manager 
SUBJECT:  Draft 2022 State Legislative Agenda 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Since the end of the 2021 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 2022 legislative session.
This is the same process that has transpired each interim in an effort to ensure the proposed
agenda reflects the Port Commission's current priorities and values. 
Staff brief commissioners in public session on November 16 and will return on December 7th to
seek final approval of the 2022 State Legislative Agenda. 
DRAFT State Legislative Agenda for 2022 
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
through robust support for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. 
Support for a Transportation Revenue Package: Building infrastructure and investing in moving
people and freight supports economic activity and puts people back to work. Key transportation
priorities: 
o  West Seattle Bridge partnership 
o  Puget Sound Gateway program 
o  Robust investment in transit including incentives for zero-emission transit vehicles 
o  Strategies that promote low carbon approaches to regional transportation 
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

Template revised April 12, 2018.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 2 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
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. 
Equity and Community focus: The onset of the pandemic was accompanied by a nationwide push
to address historic inequities and systemic racism. The Port supports state leadership in
addressing social injustice, and specifically supports action in the following areas: 
-    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. 
-    Police reform and accountability: The Port supports continued work to improve policing
while protecting public safety. Will monitor and engage to ensure that updates to reforms
passed in 2021 align with values that emerged from our own policing assessment. 
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 middleand
high-school age students to professions in port-related industries. 
-    Expand  and  strengthen  state  support  for  pre-apprenticeship  and  apprenticeship
programs, including potential financial support for pre-apprentices and reforms to
apprenticeship programs statewide. 
-    Ensure responsible enforcement of labor standards, including a culture of respect and
inclusion on jobsites. 

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 3 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
-    Support continued state partnership on tourism promotion as an economic sector critical
to the overall recovery of the Washington state economy. 
-    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  small
business capacity building and help SMWBEs to compete in the government marketplace. 

Priority Issue Areas: Transportation and Competitiveness 
Transportation revenue package development: The Port of Seattle supports enactment of a
long-term transportation revenue package to support trade and Washington's international
gateway, stimulate job growth, and support economic recovery. Transportation investment must
be undertaken in a way that does not disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities. 
-    Transportation package revenue raisers: 
-    Price  on  carbon:  The  Port  of  Seattle  supports  new  revenues  to  support  a
transportation revenue package, including by maintaining the current revenue
distribution from the newly established cap-and-trade program. 
-    Road usage charge: As the purchasing power of a gas tax has diminished with
increased fuel efficiency of cars, so too will the value of a carbon price as carbon
intensity of fuel is reduced. Therefore, a user-fee model as is envisioned by a road
usage charge, should be considered as a transportation revenue input. 


Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 4 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
-    Gas tax increase: Even as receipts to the state diminish owing to fuel efficiency gains,
the gas tax remains an efficient means of funding conventional transportation
projects. Indexing the tax to inflation would preserve its purchasing power and should
be explored. 
-    Transportation package investments: 
-    West Seattle Bridge: The West Seattle Bridge is a transportation asset that carries
state and regional significance, and state partnership on repair or replacement should
be outlined in a transportation revenue package. 
-    Continue support for critical freight routes: The Puget Sound Gateway and other
projects that connect the international gateways in Seattle and Tacoma with
warehousing districts, growers, shippers, and manufacturers must be prioritized and
supported in a transportation revenue package. 
-    Invest in transit: Hit hard by the pandemic but made more critical in its role helping
workers access their workplaces during an expected economic downturn, we support
strong funding for transit agencies statewide. Funding should include incentives for
adoption of zero-emission transit vehicles. 
-    Port-specific  grant  program:  Port  infrastructure  supports  statewide  economic
development, and a state transportation package should include grant funding that
specifically targets off-highway projects developed by port districts. 
-    Reduce conflict between passengers and freight: In addition to robust transit funding,
revenue  derived  from  the  cap-and-trade  program  should  be  directed  at
transportation options that reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips on the main stem
transportation system, to reduce conflicts between passengers and freight and to
improve our overall trade competitiveness. 
General transportation priorities: 
-    Continued state support for transportation networks that serve essential public facilities,
including: funding for potential upgrades State Route 518, on-time delivery of the Puget
Sound Gateway Program (SR509/SR167), and more. 
-    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. 
-    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

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 5 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
transportation facilities that support trade are modernized, world-class, and can operate
efficiently. 
-    Support proposals that allow for creative approaches to infrastructure development and
funding, including: potential expansion of authority of public owners to partner with
private entities, provided that such proposals do not compromise public infrastructure;
and potential revenue sources that account for miles traveled and could bring stability to
state transportation funding. 
-    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 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 
-    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 

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 6 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
-    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
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 sustainable aviation, including state-level
actions intended to drive development of low- and zero-carbon aviation 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

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 7 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
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). 
-    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. 

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _11a___                            Page 8 of 8 
Meeting Date: November 16, 2021 
-    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 
November 17, 2021  The Commission voted to adopt 2021 State Legislative Agenda 
October 27, 2021  The Commission was briefed on the Draft 2021 State Legislative Agenda 











Template revised September 22, 2016.