Each of the past three years, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has asked state lawmakers to proactively fund wildfire response and projects to make forests less susceptible to wildfires in the first place.
While the two previous proposals she pitched looked to pay for the large financial ask with a fee on insurance policies, Franz says this go-around she chose a different tactic. Last fall, she started working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both sides of the state to brainstorm possible funding mechanisms. At the time, it was looking like the state might have less revenue than once anticipated because of the pandemic.
"In all my communications with legislators east and west, in the House and in the Senate, they all largely agreed on the what: We have to be making these critical investments," Franz says. "Where it wasn't so clear was in how. Everybody had a different idea or comfort level."