Moscoso and Frockt lead community volunteer challenge

Last week Reps. Luis Moscoso and David Frockt, along with dozens of their constituents from the 1st and 46th legislative districts and staff from neighboring districts took on Food Lifeline’s “Food Repack Challenge” to fill the shelves of local food banks.

Food Lifeline, the largest hunger relief organization in Washington state, hosted the challenge at its Shoreline Volunteer Center on Thursday, September 8th to kick off Hunger Action Month.

By the end of the event, volunteers had sorted and repacked a combined total of nearly 6,700 pounds, which will provide more than 6,000 nutritious meals for hungry people in their communities.

Food Lifeline's mission is to end hunger in Western Washington by engaging communities and mobilizing resources. Last year, Food Lifeline delivered more than 24 million meals to hungry people through its network of nearly 300 food banks, meal programs and shelters.

To learn how hunger-relief programs fared this year in Olympia, go to Food Lifeline’s 2011 State Legislative Session hunger relief program results.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

We’re number one!

Washington today became the first state in the nation to ban coal-tar pavement sealants, which are laced with toxins that poison rivers, lakes, fish and other aquatic life—and that are suspected to increase cancer risks in people.

You can thank House Democrat David Frockt and the Washington Environmental Council for leading the way.

Check out today’s story on MSNBC!

Coal tar sealants are the toxic stuff that caused last July’s Boone Fish Kill in North Carolina, wiping out all aquatic life along a mile and a half stretch of Hodges Creek

The US Geological Survey has identified these sealants as the leading cause of rising levels of toxic PAHs (short for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in streams and lakes across the United States—including Lake Washington and Lake Ballinger in the state we love best.

Why would anyone use this risky substance? Good question. It’s marketed as a sealcoat to protect and prettify asphalt, but anyone can buy asphalt-based sealants that do the same job.

In fact, the USGS found that the coal-tar products have PAH concentrations that are 1,000 times higher than their asphalt-based rivals.

Responsible retailers like Home Depot and Lowes have already voluntarily yanked coal tar sealants from their shelves in Washington, because of the toxic threats. The Washington Department of Transportation stopped using it for the same reason (WSDOT replaced it with the safer asphalt alternative).

Kudos also go to Washington’s Department of Ecology and Department of Natural Resources for their powerful testimony in favor of the ban, as well as to Rep. Dave Upthegrove and Sen. Phil Rockefeller, who worked with Rep. Frockt to shepherd House Bill 1721 into law.

As Rep. Frockt puts it, Washington is the first state, but won’t be the last, to ban this toxic threat—because we’re once again leading the nation in the right direction for the health of our people and environment.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

Mr. Speaker, Point of Personal Cuteness

Today is Children's Day at the state capital. So enjoy some photos of our caucus members getting a dose of their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and those they miss back home as they toil away in Olympia.