Economic revitalization bill adopted by WA state senate

Senator Judy Warnick has been working for two years to boost rural economic development with changes to the Community Economic Revitalization Board. On March 5, the Senate passed Senate Bill 5442 which makes needed changes to the board’s requirements to improve competitiveness and spur economic growth.

The Board offers financing and grants to local jurisdictions but requires that entities receiving funding demonstrate that permanent private sector jobs created exceed the county median wage. This poses a problem for many rural areas with high paying industries in one portion of the county but o...