By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
A bill now moving through the state legislative process would allow the cities of Airway Heights and Connell to remove inmates from their population rolls in certain instances.
House Bill 1028, sponsored by Ninth District Rep. Joe Schmick (R – Colfax), authorizes Washington cities and towns to ignore prison populations within city limits when calculating their eligibility for certain grant funding opportunities or when determining the number of city council members they must have.
The only cities affected by the bill are Airway Heights, home to Airway Heights Corrections Center, and Connell, which contains Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. Airway Heights has a total population of about 5,600, roughly 2,900 of whom are inmates. Connell's non-inmate population is around 2,700, but a recent prison expansion inflates the town's total population to well above 5,000, the number that separates big cities from small cities under Washington law.
“If Connell had to bump over that threshold it would have to compete for grants or funds with cities of up to 50,000,” Schmick said. “(HB1028) also protects them from having to recruit more council and board members.”
Current state law would require Connell to transition from five to seven councilmembers when the city reaches more than 5,000 residents, which Schmick said would create a financial and administrative burden for the city.
Airway Heights has had a seven-member dais for years and already sits well above the small cities threshold when prison counts are included, but city officials have thrown their support behind HB1028, saying it could help Airway Heights in the short term.
“The reduction (of prison populations) would open us up for grants that we've not been able to attain since we were designated a higher population status,” Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing said during a November City Council discussion of HB1028. “By supporting the legislation that Connell is pushing through it would benefit us, at least temporarily, until the annexation goes through.”
Under an annexation scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2012 Airway Heights will incorporate a half square mile of land on its eastern edge, bringing the number of non-inmate residents back above the small cities threshold. But if HB1028 is passed before then Airway Heights could apply for Small City Pavement and Sidewalk Account grants, which fund street maintenance, repair and resurfacing to cities and towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.
HB1028 was originally introduced in the 2010 session and passed unanimously on the House floor, but time ran out before it could make it to a vote in the Senate. In the 2011 session it has so far passed both House and Senate committees and the House floor, but after a minor wording amendment in the Senate the bill must run back through the process before final approval and signature by Gov. Chris Gregoire. Though the process has been delayed, Rushing said final approval of the bill looks likely at this time.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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