House nixes park fees blamed for driving away visitors

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Hoping to lure disgruntled patrons back to Washington's state parks, the House on Monday voted to repeal a highly unpopular $5 parking fee blamed for driving away millions of visitors.

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said the 3-year-old fee was a failed experiment after nearly a century of free access in Washington.

The fees were instituted with the Legislature's blessing in 2003 by the state Parks and Recreation Commission. Washington joined 37 other states, including all those in the West, in charging such fees.

During the first two years, the money was used to whittle away a $350 million maintenance backlog. In the current budget, it helps finance basic operations at 120 state parks.

But the fee has proven unpopular, even with outdoorsy Northwesterners — attendance has dropped by more than 7 million since it was introduced.

"Enough is enough. We have closed people out of our parks too long," Kessler said. "I don't really care what other states do. I just know that our state needs to have free access to state parks."

Kessler and Gov. Chris Gregoire say they support using $3.4 million of the state's budget surplus and laying off 22 workers to offset the loss in the short term. But no long-term replacement for the revenue has emerged.

"Nothing is free. If you take away the day-use fee, it doesn't become free state parks," said Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham.

Kessler pledged to work during the coming year to find a new source of money to replace the fees, which brought in some $11.5 million through last December.

The fee repeal passed the House 94-2 on Monday, with some Republicans suggesting the state general fund as a permanent replacement.

— Approved a measure declaring the Walla Walla sweet onion the official state vegetable. The measure was developed as part of a Kirkland junior high school teacher's lessons on state government, and passed the House 95-1.

Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, cast the only dissenting vote. Sells said the 'no' vote was an early Valentine's Day present to his wife, Gayle, who was in attendance and can't stand the scent of onions.

Lawmakers were then invited to a free lunch of sausages flavored with the fragrant orb, prompting House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, to declare: "It seems to me this bill is a lot about pork — pork sausages, that is, and I'm looking forward to lunch."

— Endorsed tax breaks for farmers who buy replacement parts for their agricultural equipment. The House approved the measure by a vote of 86-10.

The bill originally cut sales and use taxes for both replacement parts and purchases of whole used equipment, but the measure's main sponsor, Rep. Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla, said that would have trimmed too much money from state coffers.

Republican House members said the smaller tax cut wouldn't do enough to help farmers struggling with high fuel and fertilizer costs. "If we only do this on the replacement parts, it's not going to encourage them to purchase new equipment," said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama.

— In the Senate, lawmakers passed that chamber's version of a measure requiring minimum amounts of biodiesel and ethanol in the state, similar to a bill that passed the House last week. The Senate version passed 27-20, with two lawmakers excused. It now heads to the House.

Like its House companion, the Senate bill requires 2 percent of the state's diesel sales to be biodiesel by Dec. 1, 2008. By that same date, gasoline must be blended with a minimum blend of 2 percent ethanol.