Schoesler focuses on school construction

The Washington senator representing the 9th District, which includes Whitman County and Clarkston, said he wants to amend the state constitution to help school districts with construction funding.

During a stop in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley on Wednesday, Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said he is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill that would increase the amount of money available for school projects.

Schoesler, who is the Ways and Means Committee’s ranking Republican on the capital budget, and Sen. Mark Mullett, D-Issaquah, will continue working together on the issue when the 60-day legislative session begins Jan. 8 in Olympia.

“Sen. Mullett and I agree this should be the highest priority in the supplemental capital budget,” Schoesler said.

The bill would establish a public school revolving fund in the state treasury that provides low-interest or interest-free loans to qualifying school districts for capital projects. Any school district in the state would be able to apply for the loans, which would not be capped, Schoesler said.

The money would help school districts that are in need of more funding for new or updated buildings, the senator said.

“How could I come to the valley without talking about schools?” Schoesler said, noting the recent failed Clarkston School District ballot proposal for a new high school.

The proposal called for a $79 million, 25-year bond that would have been funded by property owners at a rate of $2.84 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Schoesler said school election outcomes typically boil down to the “cost per thousand.” If it’s too high, voters won’t go for it.

“Every community has a threshold of pain they can tolerate for bonds, levies and other taxes,” he said. “I would suggest the Clarkston bond would have difficulty passing in any of the eight counties I represent.”

Constituents throughout the sprawling eastern Washington district — which includes Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln and Whitman counties and parts of Spokane, Adams and Franklin counties — have expressed interest in obtaining state funding for construction and maintenance.

As a result, school construction and “responsible use of the capital supplemental budget” are at the top of the senator’s to-do list for the coming session.

The second issue Schoesler plans to spearhead is a liquor bill that would streamline the process for transferring an existing liquor license to a different location or obtaining a new one. He’s proposing a 30-day response from the government so business owners can move forward with their plans.

The bill stems from issues his constituents in Ritzville and Washtucna encountered, Schoesler said. The red tape and lack of a timely response from the state was unnecessarily holding up valid requests.

In addition, Schoesler is hoping the Legislature will address initiatives to rein in the state’s cap-and-tax program, which is a “disaster.” Washington’s high gas prices are driving people in border communities to cross the state line into Idaho or Oregon to fill their tanks.

Gov. Jay Inslee’s expensive Climate Commitment Act is taking hundreds of millions of dollars out of drivers’ wallets and handing it over to state agencies for various spending programs, all in the name of climate change, according to the senator.

The imposed limits on law enforcement to engage in police pursuits or crack down on open drug use need to be changed, Schoesler said. Another hot-button issue that deserves attention this session is parental rights.

Schoesler, who was in Clarkston on Saturday for the Wreaths Across America event, took time to drive by the homeless encampment near Walmart. Typically, those kinds of camps are set up in larger communities, he said.

Homeless people are likely choosing Clarkston over Lewiston because of the state’s “liberal drug policy, legal weed and more generous social services,” he said.

Former President George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” policy is a better approach, Schoesler said.

During his campaign for the 2000 election, Bush said it’s compassionate to actively help citizens in need, and it’s conservative to insist on accountability and results.

In the past several weeks, Schoesler has visited communities throughout the district to talk about what’s on the table in Olympia in 2024. He said he’s looking forward to tackling the issues that are important to eastern Washington residents and continuing his work on the bipartisan bills.

“Fortunately, I work really well with Sen. Mullett,” he said.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com. You can follow her on X @newsfromkerri.