Washington Business Winter 2018 | Washington Business | Page 53

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“What we found is if there’s an airport near
businesses, the businesses tend to be more
vibrant, in general, compared to a business
that’s not near an airport.”
— Rob Hodgman, senior aviation planner,
Washington State Department of Transportation
“Airports are important to rural areas and important to the state as
a whole,” Ennis said.
Dent agrees. From aerospace manufacturing at hundreds of
factories across the state, to pilot training at Moses Lake and
Ellensburg, airports keep Washington’s economy flying high, he said.
“You build a mile of highway and you can go one mile,” Dent said.
“You can build one mile of runway and go anywhere in the world.”
awb supports aviation-related bills
AWB has helped support a number of aviation-related
bills in recent years, including:
house bill 1400
Creating an aviation-themed license plate, with
the proceeds funding airstrip maintenance.
house bill 1018
Raising the grant cap for WSDOT airport aid grants
to $750,000 from the previous $250,000 cap.
house bill 2413 (passed in 2016)
Increasing the simplicity and fairness of aircraft
registration fees.
house bill 1526 and senate bill 5234
Washington State Department of Transportation’s
Aviation Division:
www.wsdot.wa.gov/aviation
The provisions of these aircraft excise tax
protection bills were incorporated into the 2015
transportation budget.
Copalis State Airport is just one foot above sea level, and is Washington’s only beach airstrip.
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