Washington Facilities Naming Rights on the Block

A bill has been introduced in the Washington state Legislature to sell the naming rights for public facilities.

State Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, put forward legislation that would let state and local agencies sell the rights to rename public buildings and infrastructure, according to the Olympian newspaper.

Angel told the newspaper that legislators need to “think out of the box” to find revenues that don’t cost taxpayers amid a challenging economy. According to the paper, she got the idea while trying to figure out how to curb tolls on the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

The legislation would require that the money raised from selling names for such things as bridges and parks would go to pay for maintenance, debt, and operations and improvements, the paper said.

No one seems to know how much money could be raised by the proposal. An Office of Financial Management analysis of House Bill 1051 was unable to figure how much revenue it would raise, according to the report.

The newspaper said a financial analysis of HB 1051, completed by the OFM, couldn’t determine how much money it would raise.

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