On Watch

BY PETER SCHRAPPEN

When it comes to pushing pro-boating measures through local legislation, PETER SCHRAPPEN asks: When is good enough actually good enough?

There’s a book out there called The Good Enough Catholic by Paul Wilkes. Don’t report me to my parish priest, but I have not read it yet. That said, the title gets me thinking from time to time. When is good enough, well, good enough? Let’s take a look at the Maritime Economic Opportunity Act that passed in 2021 as a “good enough” moment. This new law started as an idea in the Port of Port Angeles board room in June of 2020. The uncontroversial problem statement was simple enough: Chartered vessels from out of state are not allowed to enjoy our state’s boating bounty because of an egregious tax placed on them if the boat, crew, and captain are all part of the charter package. The rub comes when economic activity for state’s $7 billion boating ecosystem is lost because of this tax. This leakage hits rural communities, like the Ports of Port Angeles and Anacortes especially hard, given that maritime is a major part of their area’s economy. From this sitting-around-the-board room exercise to a tour of the Port of Port Angeles with their state Senate and state House of Representatives’ delegation (Sen. Van De Wege and Reps. Tharinger and Chapman) that soon followed, the idea resonated around a collective “We need to do something about this problem.” Add a well-respected lobbyist representing the Port and an energized superyacht business community (also known as Superyacht Northwest), plus a coalition of business and maritime trade associations, and we had the makings of a campaign for the 2021 legislative session. Was it the perfect idea? Did it solve the equivalent of world hunger for boaters? Did we expect to get this bill passed in a virtual Zoom legislative session? Safe to say that the answer was “no” from the coalition working on behalf of this maritime economic opportunity act. I had the advantage of sitting in the cockpit as this bill moved through the legislative process. What struck me throughout the legislative process was that we never looked back. We were who we were and kept plotting forward. The assembled team met with the right lawmakers at the right time with the right information. We added some of that NASA-style planning (that is starting with the end goal of say, landing on the moon) and planning backwards (in this case, having the bill signed by Governor Inslee). Momentum grew over time. Other critical parts came into play like bipartisan support and the nods of key lawmakers such as the chairs of the various committees. Fortunately, the team had established relationships with many decision makers and there was no formal opposition. With 1,077 bills introduced in 2021, House Bill 1107 became law on July 25, 2021, with a final vote count of 146-1, which includes the tally from the House of Representatives and Senate. If that success was not enough, the law is attracting the attention of boats and trade associations around the world. Most notably, Monique Webber of Pacific Yacht Management and Superyacht Northwest and I had the high honor to accept the U.S. Superyacht Association’s “Chairman’s Award” at their sold-out annual meeting on October 30 in Fort Lauderdale. Stepping back, our team mounted the best campaign possible. Taking into account lawmakers’ appetite for a perceived tax break for superyachts, we met the challenge head on with the best viable idea we could muster. In Japanese, the expression is Ichigo ichie, roughly translates to “This moment in time has never occurred before and it will never come again.” The question to ask is if the moment is not perfect, is at least good enough? In my view, sometimes good enough is perfect, after all.