WREN Washington Rural Environmental Network

03/06/2026

Rep. Mary Dye alerted constituents today to a bad bill expanding state authority at the expense of the people. She lays out her reasons in this blog post from the WREN.
https://www.wrensong.org/wrensong/rep-dye-requests-action-to-stop-sb-6355

SB 6355 creates a new state Authority appointed by the governor, without Senate confirmation and yet not considered part of the Executive Branch and therefore NOT subject to the State Public Ethics Act. Handing eminent domain power to an unelected board with no barriers to a financial interest in the siting of electric transmission lines is a throwback to the kind of back room dealing that traded off public land to site railroads, except this board gets to trade off private land.

Any transmission lines owned and built by the State Authority on private land seized by eminent domain would be exempt from paying the property taxes that support rural county services, further weakening rural county tax bases to support schools, fire districts, emergency services, hospitals and general administration of counties hit with a growing list of unfunded state mandates. SB 6355 vaguely refers to some sort of impact fees that might be paid . . . more piecrust promises from Washington Democrats.

There is no provision for fair and equitable geographic representation. The governor could appoint ten people from King County to lord it over the rest of the state. We don't need any more rule by Kingly authority, created by legislative decree, developed without input from county commissioners through WSAC, unaccountable to citizens, with the power to develop, own and sell transmission lines. And more likely than not - to make money for favored insiders at the expense of the rest of the people.

Flood the legislature's email inboxes with objections.

Received today from Rep. Mary Dye (R-Pomeroy) March 6th and passing along to WREN subscribers for consideration. This bill is an example of the worst of authoritarian instincts out of Olympia ignoring rural community input and concerns. Contact your legislators and share concerns with your circles.

03/03/2026

As the 2026 Legislature draws to a close, a few hearings are held to kick off work on bills over the interim. HB 2616 Concerning Agriculture, aka the Washington Farm Bill, is one of them. The WREN was represented.

‍ ‍ HB 2616 Concerning Agriculture was brought to the attention of the WREN by Bridget C**n, First Vice President of the Washington State Farm Bureau. The Washington Farm Bill is an attempt to recognize and mitigate the impacts of state regulation on the viability of farms and ranches as small b...

02/27/2026

Frustrating to listen to testimony at the Senate Ways and Means Committee today. Especially on SB 6355.

https://www.wrensong.org/wrensong/sb-6355-proposes-new-authority-with-eminent-domain-power-impacting-rural-communities

02/26/2026

A new bill just popped up to create an electric transmission authority with eminent domain power. Take an interest NOW and sign in with your opinion, scheduled for hearing Thursday, February 26th at 1:30pm. This affects every rural county in the state.

"Held at the desk" and other concerns. 🤨

01/30/2026

This week's legislative action report, testifying OPPOSED to SB 6279 and adoption of the International Wildlife Urban Interface (WUI) code without appropriate tailoring to match specific challenges and resources in rural communities.

The WREN testified remotely as OPPOSED to SB 6279 at the Senate Local Government Committee on January 29th. SB 6279 directs the State Building Code Council to adopt the International Wildland Interface Code and assumes a still to be established mapping by DNR will be adequately detailed to reflect c

01/21/2026

Legislative update for January 20, 2026

First testimony of the 2026 session and ready for more. Send your recommendations of individuals and organizations in your rural county who are tracking legislative and agency actions, whether specific to your unique community or affecting similar communities across Washington. The WREN is ready to reinforce and amplify your voices!

Legislative Update, Week of January 19, 2026 HB 2373 was brought to the attention of the WREN by Nancy Churchill, a resident of Ferry County who publishes a great tracking tool for bills affecting rural communities across Washington. Nancy is a part of the WREN network. She runs a website called

01/10/2026

Bringing to your attention a proposal to eliminate election of sheriffs and replace elections by the people with appointment by a board. As the saying goes, you may not be interested in politics but politics is still interested in you.

Citizens of Chelan County,

I write to respectfully provide feedback on HB 1399, now SB 5974, concerning the proposed “modernization” of laws governing Sheriffs. I do so with professionalism and respect for the legislative process, but also with a duty to speak when the constitutional rights of the citizens I serve are at risk. I am a law enforcement officer first who serves in an elected role. I have made every effort to keep partisan politics out of the Office of Sheriff. However, there comes a point where silence is no longer appropriate particularly when legislation threatens to diminish the voice of the people.

The most concerning provision of SB 5974 grants an unelected state board the authority to remove a duly elected Sheriff from office. This represents a fundamental shift of power away from voters and toward centralized authority. The Office of Sheriff belongs to the people of each county, not the Legislature. These concerns are shared by the Washington State Sheriffs’ Association (WSSA) and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), both of which oppose this legislation. This is the third consecutive year legislation has been introduced to “modernize” the Office of Sheriff, yet no clear problem statement has been identified. Claims of “accountability” do not justify sweeping changes such as imposing candidate requirements, redefining duties, or allowing state-level removal of a locally elected constitutional officer. Sheriffs are already accountable through elections, recall, and public scrutiny no less than any other elected official.

Equally troubling is the precedent this bill would set. If the Legislature may authorize an unelected body to remove an elected Sheriff, where does that authority stop? Does it next extend to Prosecutors, Judges, or County Commissioners whose decisions or viewpoints are unpopular? This slippery slope undermines the separation of powers and the principle that government derives its authority from the consent of the governed. The voice of the people must not be silenced. The Washington Constitution allows the Legislature to prescribe duties of county officers through general and uniform laws, but it does not permit overriding voter choice or singling out one elected office for special control. Article I, Section 1 affirms that all political power is inherent in the people.

Washington voters have demonstrated their ability to hold Sheriffs accountable at the ballot box. Professional standards are already firmly in place, and no other elected office is subject to the type of licensure and removal authority proposed here. Granting such power to the Criminal Justice Training Commission, an unelected body largely composed of non–law-enforcement members, raises serious concerns. I oppose SB 5974 not out of resistance to accountability, but out of fidelity to the Constitution I swore to uphold and to the citizens who placed their trust in me.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this feedback. I remain committed to working collaboratively on solutions that respect constitutional limits, preserve local control, and keep accountability where it belongs with the citizens we serve.

Respectfully,
Mike Morrison
Chelan County Sheriff

11/13/2025

Rep. Andrew Engell (R-Colville) sat down with Gov. Bob Ferguson recently for a conversation on rural concerns. Rep. Engell shared a dozen examples of how state policies impact rural residents. IF you have a story, send it to [email protected] and we'll sing your song for you!

Rep. Andrew Engell (R-Colville) represents rural northeast Washington’s 7th Legislative District and wants to be sure rural communities have a voice in state policy. Last week he sat down with Gov. Bob Ferguson to discuss the concerns of his rural district. “Some of these things [we discussed] a...

08/23/2025

The WREN is back from a summer break and getting ready for the 2025 Washington Legislative Session. One issue we'll be tracking is outlined here by Lincoln County Commissioner Rob Coffman.

Between court orders, runaway costs, and the Legislature’s latest strings-attached “help,” rural communities like ours are being set up to fail.

03/08/2025

A minor success in Olympia, but it's a start and the WREN is being heard!

WREN President Sue Lani Madsen had an opportunity to sit in the wings of the House of representatives in Olympia on March 4, 2025. The House was in session and a legislative staff member passing through came over to say he appreciated WREN’s testimony on a bill establishing a Wildland Urban Interf...