OLYMPIA – A jobs program for unemployed veterans and younger workers, while also cleaning up Puget Sound, cleared the House today. By streamlining the state’s conservation efforts into one program, existing funding will go further in protecting the environment and clean water.
Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, sponsored House Bill 1294 as an innovative approach to improve our environment and create jobs.
“Government efficiency, job creation, and protecting the environment are hard to accomplish at once, but Puget Sound Corps delivers that for Washington,” Liias said. “Streamlining our conservation corps program will free up funding, and our youth and veterans cleaning up Puget Sound will leave a green mark on the state.”
The Washington Conservation Corps, currently spread out through several agencies, will all be brought into the Department of Ecology. In creating the Puget Sound Corps, the state hopes to leverage $4 million in federal support.
In all, 140 jobs for veterans and youth will be created, all within existing state funding.
“For our unemployed veterans and youth, being a part of efforts to clean up Puget Sound will not only be a great transition into other careers,” Liias said, “it will also allow them to play a part in making the sound and Washington cleaner for the next generation.”
The legislation was requested by the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Ecology, and Puget Sound Corps’ activities would support the Puget Sound Action Agenda, which aims to clean up Puget Sound by 2020. Crews would undertake projects such as identifying and removing fish passage barriers, controlling invasive species, and restoring habitat along streams and shorelines.
The Puget Sound Corps legislation now goes to the Senate for further consideration.