S-5196.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6513

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1996 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Sheldon, Oke, Owen, Loveland, Heavey, Drew, Fairley, Prentice, Thibaudeau, Sutherland, Snyder, Bauer, Wojahn, Rinehart, Goings, McAuliffe, Cantu, Roach, Rasmussen and Kohl)

Read first time 02/06/96.

Securing a permanent homeport for the U.S.S. Missouri.

    AN ACT Relating to securing a permanent homeport for the U.S.S. Missouri; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that the state of Washington, Kitsap county, and the city of Bremerton have a long history of commitment and support for the United States Navy's presence in the Bremerton community.  As part of that relationship with the United States Navy, the state of Washington has hosted the U.S.S. Missouri at the Bremerton homeport for over thirty years.

    The legislature also finds that the cultural and economic significance of the historic battleship has been recently demonstrated by the visits of two hundred sixteen thousand people between Armed Forces Day and Labor Day of 1995, a three-month period.  The attraction of the historic battleship will be further enhanced as a permanent anchor and showcase attraction for Kitsap Peninsula and the state.  The U.S.S. Missouri will be moored in the area of a one hundred million dollar waterfront redevelopment that includes the U.S.S. Turner Joy, the Vietnam-era destroyer.  The site is immediately adjacent to the Washington state ferry Seattle-Bremerton terminal and will access the waterfront redevelopment by a covered walkway.  The redevelopment is near the Bremerton Naval Museum, the Keyport Undersea Museum, and the Marine Science Center of Poulsbo.

    The legislature also finds that state-wide and community support has been amply demonstrated.  Six million dollars required for restoration and the first year operations have been secured through the pledges of Kitsap county and the port of Bremerton.

    The legislature also finds that an investment in the U.S.S. Missouri will provide economic benefits to the state of Washington and the Kitsap Peninsula.  Tourists visiting the ship are projected to spend fourteen to seventeen million dollars annually which will provide new annual tax revenues of over one million dollars to state and local governments.

    Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to act as a partner with the city of Bremerton, Kitsap county, the port of Bremerton, and the United States Navy for the purpose of securing the U.S.S. Missouri at a permanent homeport in the state of Washington.

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