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Dear Friends,
I NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Send me your permitting delay stories!
Several days ago, the governor was overheard talking about the state’s permitting process as if there is no problem. Yet we know thousands of people are waiting for water rights permitting approval; we know it took longer and was more expensive to permit Boeing’s new plant in Everett than it did to build the original plant from start to finish; and we know it took two decades for a gold mine in Eastern Washington to get necessary permits for operations.
A permit is a permission slip to move forward on a project. Lengthy permitting processes kill jobs in our state. In South Carolina, it only took 11 days for the permits to be approved for Boeing’s new Dreamliner plant. We lost several thousand jobs that could have been created here in Washington.
If we want to get Washington working again, we need to reform our state’s permitting process and speed it up! I’m supporting legislation that would create a 90-day deadline for state agencies to make a decision on permitting. Under House Bill 1961, if the deadline is not met, a motion could be filed in Superior Court requesting approval of the application or notification.
I know there are many examples out there of how our state’s lengthy permitting bureaucracy is stifling jobs. I want to hear YOUR story!
If you have any personal examples of the struggles you have had with the state’s permitting process, please send me your story. I want to know the details of what you went through, how long it took, and the outcome.
Send your permitting examples to: matt.shea@leg.wa.gov. I want to share them with the governor and fellow lawmakers here in Olympia.
I need to hear from you!
Thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
Matt Shea