President's Message

Olympia WA . . . Code name, “Area 52”

I am convinced; for this past legislative session the aliens had landed and they took over the minds of our elected officials in Olympia. Logic was out the door as they scrambled to cover a $2.8 billion dollar deficit. What many pilots may not be aware of is that this was a supplemental budget. Next year this state will be faced with covering $5.7 billion or more. But my favorite line from this session came from one Senator who said; “It is time to suspend the will of the people”.

By now every aircraft owner and pilot in this state knows we dodged a bullet. We sank that legislative boat that came so close to crippling aviation. There were so many things wrong with the excise tax . . . just the fact that none of the money would go to support aviation made it wrong. And then, to spin this tax as leveling the playing field between the so called rich airplane owners and the boat owners when in fact we pay a factor 4 times greater than they do. This was really a bad idea . . . but it’s not over . . .   

Next fall these same folk will return to Area 52 intent on solving a budget deficit that is twice the size of this one. Over the next several months your board of directors will be asking for your input. We will be looking at all of the taxes we pay to the State of Washington. And we will be looking at how we fund our airports and aviation in general. Over the next moth I will be at several conventions gaining more insight from the various groups. So be prepared; increases are coming. We just want to make sure there is equality and we get back in kind what we pay for.

A second bill what started with a simple phone call was SB 6603. This was a land use bill with the intent of putting some teeth into the legislative action that passed in 1996. It was hoped that cities and counties would take serious their obligation to protect airports from incompatible encroachment. It was killed by the same Cities and Counties that have so violated airports in the past. There was one picture; the poster child for government doing bad things. Remember the day care center in Cashmere? That was so perfect!

We need your help! We need more pictures like Cashmere. We need pictures from every airport demonstrating bad things and we need the stories to go with them. We are going to build “The Book”. This book will contain aerial photographs of every compromise to noise and safety since 1996. Remember, that is the year we assumed our problems were behind us. By the time the folks return to Area 52 for the next session I will personally deliver to each and every legislator their own copy of “The Book”. There will no doubt just how susceptible the local elected have been to the greed of uncaring developers. 

Finally, I do want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you . . . The WPA Membership. You sent hundreds / thousands of contacts to your legislators . . . there were phone calls, letters, emails . . . over and over again. The call would go out; more ammo, this time direct all fire at the Senate! And here would come another volley. You have no idea how much impact you had. Every lobbyist in Olympia, regardless of their position or issue said they were envious about the kind of support we put together. But the really big news has yet to be felt. There were a number of big guys; those 135 Turbojet owners. They discovered that we can actually work together . . . we made a pretty good team.

At the February Puyallup Aviation Conference and Trade Show the Washington Pilots Association joined forces with AOPA, WAMA, PNBAA, NBAA, WA Seaplane Pilots Association, EAA, WASAR, San Juan Pilots Association, WA Aviation Association, Cascade Warbirds, and Angel Flight. (I know I am leaving someone out). The new group called the Aviation Coalition, headed by Ryan Zulauf, Renton Airport Manager and WAMA Pres, selected a simple mantra, “One message, and one voice”!

John F. Dobson
State President
Washington Pilots Association