From the Director: AWC Legislative Committee to Meet: Specific Objectives Requested
By Stan Finkelstein, AWC Executive Director
AWC President Mary Place, Yakima, has nearly completed her appointments to AWC’s 2004 Legislative Committee. Members will be notified by August 27 and the committee will first meet on October 7.

AWC’s legislative process begins in April when the Resolutions Committee begins reviewing various proposals for resolutions. The city membership reviews and adopts the resolutions during the annual conference. The AWC President then appoints a Legislative Committee to refine the resolutions and make recommendations to the Board for specific legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session.

Last year, the Board adopted significant changes to the Legislative and Resolutions Committee process. The Board instructed the 2004 Resolutions Committee to define a number of broad policy directives designed to capture a general theme, but not address specific legislative proposals. The Board's intent was to reduce the number of resolutions, broaden the scope of the resolutions, and provide the Legislative Committee greater flexibility in defining the specific legislative objectives.

The membership adopted seven resolutions in June. The first outlines City Advocacy Themes: Home Rule, Local Fiscal Adequacy and Flexibility, Promotion of Intergovernmental Partnerships, and Infrastructure Funding, and the other 6 address the following issues:

AWC mailed the entire Statement of Policy and Resolutions to each city and town in early August. The complete text of each resolution can also be found on AWC’s website at www.awcnet.org.

The Legislative Committee will now draft specific legislative proposals within the framework of the resolutions. The committee is soliciting specific legislative ideas from city officials in order to assist with this process. City officials with specific proposals are encouraged to contact the one of AWC legislative staff members listed on the last page of this Bulletin by September 24.

The Legislative Committee will adopt their final recommendations on November 19. The Board will review these recommendations and finalize the legislative priorities on December 17. Please contact Jim Justin of the AWC staff if you have any questions on this process or have a specific legislative proposal.