3/1/2011
Dear neighbor,
There’s lots of great information this very busy week!
The second major cutoff for this legislative session came on Friday, when all fiscal bills had to be voted out of their respective committees or else be considered dead for the session. The exceptions to that rule are bills that are necessary to implement the final 2011 supplemental budget and the 2011-13 biennial budget. I and my House colleagues will be on the floor pretty much non-stop for the next ten days approving bills and sending them to the Senate for the next step in the legislative process.
You can keep track of what bills we are voting on each day by checking the House Floor Calendar.
Boeing wins Tanker Deal!
After 10 years of negotiations and bidding process, Boeing has won the $35 Billion contract to produce a new fleet of Tankers for the Air Force. The order for 179 refueling tankers should bring 11,000 direct and indirect jobs to Washington State. As production begins, the first tankers are scheduled to begin flying as soon as 2015. More info here, Seattle Times Article on Tanker Contract.
HB 1770 which would provides local small business with preference in the bidding process for State purchasing, advanced to the Rules Committee.
Last week the House Ways and Means committee voted HB1770 out of committee and onto the Rules Committee for consideration. My bill would establish the in-state Small Business Vendor Bidding Preference Program. This program would strive to further small business involvement in the state’s purchasing process, creating economic development here in state and expanding the role of local businesses in serving the needs of the state. With the passage of this bill, we’ll be using your tax dollars to support small businesses within our state, creating jobs here, rather than sending your money out of state.
Tele-Town Hall this week. In Person Town Hall next Saturday 3/12.
This Wednesday March 2nd, I will be hosting a Tele-Town hall. This mid-session update will take place at 6:30 pm. Households across the 11th Legislative District will receive a phone call from me. If you pick up, you will be invited to participate in a one-hour telephone town hall during which you can ask about issues that concern you this legislative session and share YOUR thoughts and questions with ME!
Only those with land lines will receive a phone call, so if you want to participate via cell phone, or from somewhere other than your home, please call toll-free 877-229-8493. The ID code is 15515. The number will be available about ten minutes before the town hall begins.
This is a convenient way to reach out to my constituents and get your input during a particularly difficult session in which we, must close a multi-billion dollar budget gap.
Also, please mark your calendars for next Saturday, March 12th when I will be hosting a Town Hall at the Georgetown campus of South Seattle Community College located at 6727 Corson Ave South,Seattle, WA 98108. The meeting will begin with an informal coffee/conversation period at 10:00 am and the update on the 2011 session will begin at 10:30 am.
Hope to have you participate in one or both of these events.
Washington is growing!
The 2010 census numbers are all in and Washington is officially the 13th-largest state in the nation now. According to the official count, there are 830,000 more people living in our state now than there were a decade ago. Because of that, we have earned an additional seat in the U.S. Congress.
Following every census, the Washington Redistricting Commission resets our 49 Legislative and 9—soon to be 10, Congressional boundaries to keep population counts consistent between each district. That work is underway right now, and the Census just released its data from the 2010 count, along with this interactive map:
You can read more about this and interact with the map on the HDC Advance: Census Map – Where we’re growing
Washington Investment Trust (WIT)
I’m continuing to champion the establishment of the Washington Investment Trust HB 1320 and work the bill toward passage because I truly believe it would benefit everyone in our state. As our economy continues to flounder, small businesses continue to struggle due to problems accessing credit, and workers continue to live in fear of their livelihoods, the need for the WIT becomes even more crucial to the economic development and stabilization of the state. The WIT is about recapturing your tax dollars in our state checking account from the Bank of America, which profits off your money, and, instead using it ourselves to promote economic recovery and independence for our state. The public is demanding better accountability for the use of their tax dollars. With growing support from Washingtonians across the state, this is an innovative idea whose time has come.
HB 1650- Aid for less than ½ time students
Lastly, I want to tell you about another one of my bills, HB 1650, which would make permanent a pilot program that I sponsored 6 years ago and is expiring this year. It expands eligibility for the State Need Grant to students that are enrolled less than half time. This expansion is designed to make higher education more accessible to students who are enrolled less than half-time but carry at least three (3) quarter credit hours, or the semester equivalent. Right now the requirement to qualify for the State Need Grant is an “at least half time basis.” Many students, especially older ones who have childcare, jobs, or other life complications, and thus, sometimes need to drop to below half-time attendance. This new eligibility will accommodate students when “life gets in the way of school” and keeps students from dropping out instead. The bill has moved through the House Higher Education Committee, as well as the House Committee on Education Appropriations & Oversight. It is now in the Rules Committee.
As always, I appreciate your taking the time to read my updates. I hope this periodic information helps you stay up to date on the issues we’re working on in Olympia.
If you have questions or comments, be sure to contact me. My door—and for that matter my phone line and my email, are always open for my constituents.
Best regards,
~Bob
In This Issue
Boeing Tanker Deal
Town Halls
Bob’s Bills Update
Contact
MAIL
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
PHONE
(360) 786-7862
1 (800) 562.6000 toll free
1 (800) 635-9993 TTY-TDD (hearing impaired)
EMAIL
hasegawa.bob@leg.wa.gov
WEBSITE
My home page