A bill aiming to lessen the cost of providing services for low-income persons was amended and improved as it hurtled through the House and passed into the Senate Chamber.
HB 1326, from Rep. Julio Cortes (D–Everett), permits municipal utilities to waive connection charges for designated
properties. AWC wrote about the bill here.
Thanks in part to AWC’s advocacy work, a substitute version of the bill was adopted, with a few fixes of benefit to cities. The bill now requires that any waived connection charges be funded through general funds, grant dollars, or another identified
revenue stream. This ensures that utilities would not need to recoup the loss in revenues from the waiver by adjusting customer rates, thereby saving the same customers that are intended to benefit from the waived connection costs from experiencing
increased utility rates.
The bill was also amended to clarify eligible entities who may apply for connection waivers.
AWC would like to thank the bill sponsor and proponents for their collaborative work to address city feedback.
Substitute HB 1326 has passed the House Chamber and awaits a hearing in the Senate Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs Committee.