Recently, Representatives Judy Clibborn and Jay Rodne have introduced a bill to make it easier for out-of-state boats to cruise in Washington state waters and spend money here. We completely support this bill and are appreciative of this bi-partisan effort.
The next step in the legislative process is to get a hearing for this bill in the Washington State House of Representatives.
That’s where you come in. Please help us get a hearing for this bill by directly emailing your representatives and state senator. (They can all be on the same email “to” field)
Find your district: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx and there is a formula for their emails. It’s their last name separated by a “.” And then “@leg.wa.gov” . For example: Rep. Ross Hunter would be Hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov
Background on this issue that you should know:
Smaller recreational boats tend to be owned by people in their personal name. For reasons of liability and insurance, the majority of larger recreational boats are owned by people via a legal entity (LLC’s, Corporations, trusts, ext). Individually-owned boats have two options when they visit: they can cruise our waters for 6 months per year, every year or can cruise for one year and then leave Washington state waters for two years. That makes sense to us.
On the other hand, recreational boats owned by out-of-state residents via entities (which are the majority of boats over 50 feet in length) are treated differently. These boats can only cruise for 60-days and then must vacate our waters or face a use tax around 10% (depending on your municipality) of the boat’s value. This rule activity discourages these larger boats from visiting our state and spending their money here on moorage, provisioning, refits and repairs, entertainment, dinning, and tourism.
(Please note: The cruising permit only applies to out-of-state residents.)
Our ask: Please treat out-of-state recreational boats owned via entities the same way our state treats individually-owned out-of-state recreational boats.
The gist of your email to your state representatives and state senator (If you aren’t sure who these folks are, go here and type you address in: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx )
***Your email and contact gets bonus points if your legislators are on the House Ways and Means Committee)*** (Here’s the list of Ways and Means Members from the House: http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/WAYS/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx
Here’s the gist of how your email should look:
Subject line: Cruising Permit Bill (HB 1904)
“Dear Senator _______ and Reps __________,
The Recreational boating is a $2.9 billion dollar industry for Washington state’s economy. Unfortunately, our state is “leaving money on the table” by not encouraging more recreational boating in our state.
One way to help support this is help us get a hearing for the Cruising Permit Bill, which is sponsored by Reps. Clibborn and Rodne, which is my direct ask to you, Rep. Hunter.
During the hearing, Northwest Marine Trade Association will demonstrate that there is a fiscal benefit to getting this bill signed into law. Please support our effort to treat boats visiting from out of state the same, whether they are individually owned or entity owned. Our economy benefits when out-of-state boats visit, which is the crux of this bill.”
Other points you may want to use in your email:
-Recreational boats bring all the direct and in-direct economic benefits to our economy. Boats are like floating economic stimulus packages where ever they go. With them, comes the need to provision, repair and accessorize.
-If you’ve owned a boat, then you know just how much money is spent for upkeep and maintenance. Our economy would greatly benefit from this revenue that we are currently sending to other states and Canada.
-All we are asking is to treat these out-of-state recreational boats owned by LLCs or S Corps the same way we already treat individually-owned out-of-state recreational boats.
Here is the link to the cruising permit bill:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1904&year=2011
The next step in the legislative process is to get a hearing for this bill in the Washington State House of Representatives.
That’s where you come in. Please help us get a hearing for this bill by directly emailing your representatives and state senator. (They can all be on the same email “to” field)
Find your district: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx and there is a formula for their emails. It’s their last name separated by a “.” And then “@leg.wa.gov” . For example: Rep. Ross Hunter would be Hunter.ross@leg.wa.gov
Background on this issue that you should know:
Smaller recreational boats tend to be owned by people in their personal name. For reasons of liability and insurance, the majority of larger recreational boats are owned by people via a legal entity (LLC’s, Corporations, trusts, ext). Individually-owned boats have two options when they visit: they can cruise our waters for 6 months per year, every year or can cruise for one year and then leave Washington state waters for two years. That makes sense to us.
On the other hand, recreational boats owned by out-of-state residents via entities (which are the majority of boats over 50 feet in length) are treated differently. These boats can only cruise for 60-days and then must vacate our waters or face a use tax around 10% (depending on your municipality) of the boat’s value. This rule activity discourages these larger boats from visiting our state and spending their money here on moorage, provisioning, refits and repairs, entertainment, dinning, and tourism.
(Please note: The cruising permit only applies to out-of-state residents.)
Our ask: Please treat out-of-state recreational boats owned via entities the same way our state treats individually-owned out-of-state recreational boats.
The gist of your email to your state representatives and state senator (If you aren’t sure who these folks are, go here and type you address in: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx )
***Your email and contact gets bonus points if your legislators are on the House Ways and Means Committee)*** (Here’s the list of Ways and Means Members from the House: http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/WAYS/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx
Here’s the gist of how your email should look:
Subject line: Cruising Permit Bill (HB 1904)
“Dear Senator _______ and Reps __________,
The Recreational boating is a $2.9 billion dollar industry for Washington state’s economy. Unfortunately, our state is “leaving money on the table” by not encouraging more recreational boating in our state.
One way to help support this is help us get a hearing for the Cruising Permit Bill, which is sponsored by Reps. Clibborn and Rodne, which is my direct ask to you, Rep. Hunter.
During the hearing, Northwest Marine Trade Association will demonstrate that there is a fiscal benefit to getting this bill signed into law. Please support our effort to treat boats visiting from out of state the same, whether they are individually owned or entity owned. Our economy benefits when out-of-state boats visit, which is the crux of this bill.”
Other points you may want to use in your email:
-Recreational boats bring all the direct and in-direct economic benefits to our economy. Boats are like floating economic stimulus packages where ever they go. With them, comes the need to provision, repair and accessorize.
-If you’ve owned a boat, then you know just how much money is spent for upkeep and maintenance. Our economy would greatly benefit from this revenue that we are currently sending to other states and Canada.
-All we are asking is to treat these out-of-state recreational boats owned by LLCs or S Corps the same way we already treat individually-owned out-of-state recreational boats.
Here is the link to the cruising permit bill:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1904&year=2011
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