State Rep. Tana Senn, recently appointed unanimously by the King County Council to fulfill an open legislative seat, hit the ground running here in Olympia this week with today’s approval of the Boeing bills.
When asked about the impact the aerospace package would have on businesses and families in her 41st Legislative District and other parts of the region, Senn replied, “With more than 230 companies in the South King County area involved in the aerospace economy, this package translates into hundreds, if not thousands, of local family-wage jobs. Essentially, it’s a great economic win for our region.” (Her 41st District in East King County takes in all or parts of communities and neighborhoods in Beaux Arts Village, Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Renton, and Sammamish.)
One of the more important components of this aerospace package concerns investments in work force development. House Bill 2088, which Senn co-sponsored, is the cornerstone of this effort.
“We emphasize job creation and workforce development in this bipartisan legislative package. The planned, state-of-the-art Central Sound Aerospace Training Center (C-SAT) will see a $5 million boost in funding, thanks to the terms of this legislation,” she said. “The Center will provide classroom and hands-on training for participating students from local schools, community colleges and other training facilities providing a real-life setting just yards away from the Renton airport runway.”
Senn further pointed out that, thanks to this legislation, community colleges, including nearby Renton Technical College, “will have access to additional funding to expand their great work in preparing and retraining workers for high-wage aerospace-related jobs available right now.”
With regard to the tax preferences set forth in Senate Bill 5952, the package’s second measure, which cleared the House by a 75-11 vote, Senn emphasized that “accountability is the word of the day.
“The bill will provide much stronger accountability than we’ve seen in tax-preference measures in the past,” she said. “Bottom line: Boeing needs to keep the 777X jobs here in Washington, or those tax breaks will be revoked.”
Senn also pointed out that “regardless of how the company-union negotiations turn out, this legislative package is a win. Both sides have worked together in advocating for this legislation.”
The measures have cleared both legislative chambers, and are expected to be signed quickly into law by the governor.