Feds pick Washington for $80M in biofuel grants

Finding ways to move our state off of fossil-fuels from abroad has been a priority for House Democrats for years. In the 2006 legislation written by Rep. Hans Dunshee, the reasons for investing in biofuels are made clear. Here are a couple selected paragraphs from the beginning of the bill (read the whole bill here):

• Washington's dependence on energy supplied from outside the state and volatile global energy markets makes its economy and citizens vulnerable to unpredictable and high energy prices.
• Washington's dependence on petroleum-based fuels increases energy costs for citizens and businesses.
• Washington has abundant supplies of organic wastes from farms that can be used for energy production and abundant farmland where crops could be grown to supplement or supplant petroleum-based fuels.
• The bioenergy industry is a new and developing industry that is, in part, limited by the availability of capital for the construction of facilities for converting farm and forest products into energy and fuels.
• The energy freedom program is meant to lead Washington state towards energy independence.

These goals got a shot in the arm earlier this week when the United States Department of Agriculture announced that $80 million in grants for biofuel research will be coming here. The University of Washington will receive $40 million to pursue "sustainably grown woody energy crops to produce biogasoline and renewable aviation fuel," while Washington State University will lead up research in how to "convert closed timber mills into bioenergy development centers."

Grants went to other research efforts in other states, but the fact that $80 million of the overall $136 million is going to Washington is a testament to our research universities and the state's commitment to biofuels.

You can read the whole press release and quotes from many public and private-sector officials on the USDA website.

For even more coverage, you can go to The Seattle Times and CBS News.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

Legislative Committee heads to Okanogan

The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will hold a work session tomorrow, Sept. 29, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Okanogan County Courthouse.

“These are difficult economic times and our focus should be not only on creating new jobs, but also on protecting the ones we already have, especially in our core industries like tree fruit growing, mining and logging,” said Rep. Brian Blake, committee chairman and a former logger. “I’m looking forward to getting in-depth information on the current situation, as well as the present and future needs of these basic industries to ensure they continue being strong pillars in our economy.”

Citizens are welcome to attend the work session, but no public testimony will be taken during the meeting. However, written testimony to the committee will be accepted before and after the meeting.

Who: Committee members; invited guest presenters, including regional county commissioners; and the public.

What: House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee work session

When: Thursday, Sept. 29

Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Okanogan County Courthouse, 123 Fifth Avenue North, Room 150, Okanogan

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

A new face in the House

House Democrats are pleased to welcome state Rep. Drew Hansen to the majority caucus.  Drew was appointed by the Kitsap County Commission this week to replace 23rd-district Rep. Christine Rolfes, who moved over to the Senate.  (And we wish Christine well, as she moves into the seat in that chamber vacated by Phil Rockefeller when Gov. Gregoire appointed him to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.)  Rounding out the district’s legislative team is veteran Rep. Sherry Appleton of Poulsbo.

A resident of Bainbridge Island, Drew is an attorney, an active Kitsap community leader, an acclaimed author and a longtime member of the state’s Community Economic Revitalization Board. 

The new representative has already begun attending budget meetings at the Capitol in preparation for the special legislative session that will commence on November 28.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

 

House members meet with aerospace employers in Everett

On the day following the delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner, members of the House Labor & Workforce Development Committee held a work session just outside the main gates of the Boeing facility in Everett to address the stagnant labor market and discuss strategies for providing manufacturing jobs, and the skilled workers, needed to climb out of economic doldrums.

The committee met at the Everett Community College Corporate & Continuing Education Center, where an overview of the employment landscape was provided by the state Employment Security Department. Next, the committee heard from aerospace employers who emphasized the importance of motivating the next generation of aerospace workers, and shared ways they actively promote their industry amongst students still in high school. Replenishing the engineering workforce is a must, as the average age of their current workforce is 58 years old and nearing retirement.

Aerospace training providers from state colleges, apprenticeship programs and private facilities around the state explained their capacity problem - forced to turn away interested students due to lacking state support and partnerships to expand their programs.        

It's an uphill battle in many ways, and one that lacks an Apollo Program or some similar landmark that fueled the dreams and aspirations of the retiring workforce.

"Collaborations between Washington's employers and our state government will be key in providing these career pathways and skilled workers," said Rep. Chris Reykdal. "The grants, facilities, and curricula the state is providing -and hopefully expand further in the future - will make sure our good-paying jobs are filled by our state's students."

The work session ended with a tour of the Everett assembly lines by the attending Boeing staff; a sight that shows in dramatic fashion the sheer magnitude of our state's resources, challenges, and opportunities.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

House Democrats begin rebalancing process

Governor Gregoire has asked the Legislature to convene a special session in November to address a budget shortfall that is expected to reach nearly $2 billion before June, 2013. However, the House Democratic Caucus is not waiting to start addressing the problem – HDC members met in Olympia today to get a full briefing from House Ways and Means Chair Ross Hunter and begin discussions on options for filling the gap.

During the discussion, members were reminded that:

• The state operating budget for the last 18 months of the biennium (January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013) is about $24 billion.
• 72% of that amount cannot be reduced because it is either constitutionally- or federally- required spending.
• That leaves about $7 billion in which to find reductions.

Budget writers are keeping all options on the table right now. The hope is that budget writers will reach an agreement prior to the start of special session.

Members will meet again in a couple weeks to get a progress report from budget writers and further develop solutions. Majority Leader Pat Sullivan talks about the process here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

Obama's Jobs Plan and its effect on Washington

In an effort to end the economic malaise plaguing the entire country, President Obama recently unveiled a plan to stimulate job growth, which includes investments in every state. "The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working," President Obama stated during his speech at the joint session of Congress.

The plan has five key components:

• Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow
• Putting Workers Back on the Job While Rebuilding and Modernizing America
• Pathways Back to Work for Americans Looking for Jobs
• More Money in the Pockets of Every American Worker and Family
• Fully Paid for as Part of the President’s Long-Term Deficit Reduction Plan 

The details of the plan and how it will impact Washington are beginning to make their way to us here. According to White House staffers, the president’s plan could mean $741 million for Washington’s infrastructure, which would support 10,000 local jobs.

The HDC is hopeful the plan can be enacted by Congress soon in order to help put our state and nation’s economy back on solid ground and get people back to work as soon as possible.

You can watch the enhanced version of the President's Address to Congress, which features graphs, charts and other facts that influenced the President's decision making. You can read more and follow the latest development at the White House blog.

American Jobs Act Address Enhanced Graphics

View more documents from White House

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.

 

Don’t be paranoid, just alert

Be glad we aren’t Florida! On the upside, Florida gets a ton more sun than we ever do. But on the downside, they ranked at the top for identity theft per capita in 2010.  

However, the Federal Trade Commission does say we rank 17 in the nation and reports that the top three identity theft types in our state are credit card fraud, phone or utilities fraud, and bank fraud.

We must be doing something right, though, because we’re getting farther away from the top of that infamous list every year:

Year	ID Theft per capita rank
2010	17
2009	15
2008	14
2007	13
2006	9
2005	7

That’s largely due to smart measures passed by the Legislature in recent years to prevent and fight identity theft, as well as protect its victims. These are some of those measures:

• Senate Bill 5418:  identity theft victims can place a security freeze on a credit report, thus keeping credit bureaus from releasing information without permission.
•  Senate Bill 5939: police and sheriff's departments must take reports from identity theft victims. 
• House Bill 1012: it is illegal for anyone to transmit software to another computer without the owner's knowledge or to falsely entice someone to download software.
• House Bill 1888: includes phishing scams in the state's spam statute. Phishing is when identity thieves try to trick consumers out of personal information by sending bogus e-mails that request that information online. 
• House Bill 3144: the Department of Information Services creates a consumer protection web site that includes an entire section on identity theft. 
• Senate Bill 5826: all residents can place a security freeze on their credit reports, not just ID theft victims. The law includes an easy ‘thaw’ mechanism to temporarily lift a freeze within 15 minutes of a request. 
• Senate Bill 5878: law enforcement must take an ID theft report regardless of where the crime may have been committed. 
•  House Bill 1127: credit card and debit card numbers on electronically printed receipts must be truncated.
•  House Bill 1145: specifies that mail theft is a crime when a person steals mail addressed to three or more mailboxes and has a minimum of 10 pieces of stolen mail:
  

But the incidence of ID theft in our state has also reduced because Washingtonians are getting better at protecting their identities. 

To learn more about how to be your own information bodyguard, go to the Better Business Bureau’s website on ID theft prevention, or to the Attorney General’s website.

To read this blog post in Spanish, please go here.