Washington Legislature Focused on Hirst Too

Much of the conversation about the new Washington Legislative session will be on education and the McCleary decision, but that’s the not the only focus.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler said the Hirst decision was a major blow to rural Washington.

“If you want growth in counties that are actually losing population, pretty good chance you might have to drill an exempt well. That took affordability of that well right off the table for those property owners.”

There’s also an impact on individuals or companies who buy larger plots of land hoping to build communities.

2^nd District Senator Randi Becker said she has received many calls regarding the impacts of the Hirst case as people are very concerned.

“We’ve invested in this as our future and we thought we would have the ability to sell and live our lives the way we want to live and they can’t.”

Becker also noted that this could hurt the banking industry who might see fewer people coming and looking for home loans with the need to fund a study for water rights.

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