Tri-City leaders flooded the state capitol recently to rally lawmaker support for a number of priorities for the region.

Eighty-five community and business leaders participated in the Tri-Cities Legislative Council’s day in Olympia, said Sean O’Brien, executive director of Energy Forward Alliance and a member of the council. The contingent met Jan. 23 with many members of the region’s legislative delegation but also three members of Gov. Bob Ferguson’s administration.

“The biggest objective was building relationships in Olympia,” O’Brien said.

Dozens of Tri-City leaders recently visited Olympia to connect with lawmakers and promote priorities for the Tri-City area.

| Courtesy Brian Mittge, Association of Washington Business

The council, which is made up of representatives from chambers of commerce from the region, as well as the Tri-City Development Council and Visit Tri-Cities, has been active for years and used to submit policy papers to state lawmakers. This is the second year it has shifted to pursuing a list of more project-based priorities.

Last year the group secured state support for the mental health and addiction recovery center slated for the old Trios hospital in downtown Kennewick, $25 million for Energy Northwest’s advanced modular reactor effort and institutions focused on energy and hospitality at Washington State University Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin College.

The council’s priorities for the 2025 legislative session are:

• Battelle’s Energy Resources Testbed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• House Bill 1210, which would amend Targeted Urban Area exemptions for clean energy transformation businesses.
• Tri-Cities Regional Transportation Feasibility Study.
• Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum.
• Establishing a Tri-Cities Veterans Cemetery.

“These measures represent critical opportunities for the Tri-Cities to maintain and enhance the resiliency and vibrancy of our community, the greater Mid-Columbia region, and the entire state,” the council wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

A few of the priorities are already in motion. The state’s Department of Veteran Affairs is already looking for land for a future veterans cemetery in the Tri-Cities and the children’s museum’s organizers are already considering potential sites for a future building.

Others, specifically those focused on energy, could help secure projects in the Tri-Cities, creating hundreds of jobs, while the transportation study would help address the growth they’d bring.

O’Brien acknowledged that the state is in a difficult budget situation and that lawmakers will need to make tough decisions. However, he’s confident the council and the community can push their priorities through.

“We have really strong storytelling, really strong cases to be made to the Legislature,” he said.