(The Center Square) – House Democrats advanced a bill Tuesday that could upend an emergency dispatch network in Spokane by requiring counties to reallocate 911 tax revenue to cities operating their own center.
Tuesday’s approval sent Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1258 to the state Senate. If approved, it could provide the city of Spokane with funding to prop up its own network after years of failed negotiations with Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, or SREC, and local officials.
Spokane County and the rest of SREC booted the city in January after it hesitated to commit for five years. The network currently fields calls for the Spokane Fire Department, but the Spokane Police Department takes its own, though both may need to unify under a combined system soon.
Rep. Mike Volz, R-Spokane, was the only minority member who supported ESHB 1258, which passed off the floor Tuesday by a 56-39 vote. While Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, initially proposed the bill, he was one of three representatives who excused themselves from the vote.
“There’s a lot of reasons why my colleagues on this side of the aisle would be voting no,” Volz said. “It’s something different. It’s calling attention to a problem in Spokane that we couldn’t quite work out locally, and we’re, again, legislating a Spokane issue.”
According to ESHB 1258, the bill applies explicitly to Spokane County, SREC and its situation with the city of Spokane. Volz suggested they could handle it on their own with some more time and mediation but voted alongside the majority to hand ESHB 1258 over to the Senate.
Democrats passed one amendment proposed by Volz clarifying how Spokane County should redistribute the revenue. Volz and Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, were the only lawmakers who spoke to ESHB 1258, illustrating collaboration not only across the aisle but across the state as well.
“I could truly go on for hours and hours about this bill and the history of this bill, but what I will say succinctly at this moment,” Berg said, “is that it is a good bill … solving a problem between Spokane County and Spokane city around the distribution of the excise tax for 911 services.”
Spokane County funds SREC with 911 sales tax revenue that it and participating municipalities contribute along with member fees. Ormsby’s proposal would send Spokane’s portion of revenue back to the city’s coffers, bolstering its ability to prop up a new system if they don’t reach a solution.
The Center Square reached out to the Board of County Commissioners for comment, but the officials declined to comment as ESHB 1258 heads to the Senate. Communications Manager Pat Bell said there’s still a possibility that the parties mediate the situation on their own.
Cody Rohrback, who chairs the SREC board of directors, said the same in January. The board might be willing to rehash Spokane’s membership, but it also cited the city’s support for ESHB 1258 in the decision to kick them out due to how the bill would affect SREC’s funding model.
“This is widely disliked by the 911 folks across the state and in a good area of Spokane County, but I shook hands. I gave my word. I will work on it,” Volz said, “and try to get in a better spot. So please, well, [my peers are] going to vote no; I’m going to vote yes with the rest of you over there.”
