12th District State Senator Brad Hawkins is pleased that his bill that would allow for a regional sports complex to be built near East Wenatchee has made it through the legislature. After getting overwhelming support in the State House, passing on a 91-6 vote last week, the State Senate passed the concurrent version 46-0. Hawkins commented on the difficulty of passing a bill:
Now Senate Bill 5001 doesn't address specifically the building of a sports complex, rather, it concerns the creation of a public facilities district created by at least two city or county legislative authorities, and also allows the creation of an additional public facilities district if there is already one in existence. That applies to Chelan and Douglas counties, which already has a PFD for the Town Toyota Center. Hawkins says the Chelan Douglas Port Authority has worked with the counties and the cities of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee to put together a group to study a sports complex:
Senate Bill 5001 is currently on Governor Jay Inslee's desk, awaiting his signature.