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Jan. 30, 2009
Dear friends and neighbors,
We are just finishing the third week of
the scheduled 105-day legislative session which began
Jan. 12. There are a lot of moving parts as we work
bills through the committee process. I'm pleased to
report that several of my bills are steadily advancing
and soon we may be voting on them on the House floor.
I've provided some details on a couple of the bills
below.
Both the college book legislation and
the Methow Valley communications bill address issues
that were brought to me by citizens in our district. If
you have a question or see a need that involves state
government, please contact my office in Olympia.
I appreciate the honor of serving you at
the state Capitol.
Sincerely,
Mike Armstrong
State Representative
12th Legislative District
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College book
bills gets public hearing
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| If
you are helping with the college expenses of a
student, you know firsthand how expensive
textbooks can be. It is not uncommon for
students to pay several hundred dollars for
textbooks each quarter.
This year, I have re-introduced legislation to
help college students and their parents get a
break. House Bill 1025 would require college-
and university-affiliated bookstores to provide
a four-week advance notification of course
material requirements.
This measure would give
students time to find the best prices of the
books and instructional materials they need.
They may be able to order the books online and
get a price break by buying used books.
A hearing on the measure was
held this past Tuesday in the House Higher
Education Committee. |
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The Seattle P-I has written a story on the bill
that you can read at the link below:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/398029_college30.html
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House may soon
consider Methow Valley communications bill
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A
bill that would help to provide better police
and fire communications in the Methow Valley
could soon be under consideration by the full
House of Representatives.
House Bill 1028 would allow an
existing fee collected in the Methow Valley to
be used to support local police, fire, ambulance
and other emergency services.
In 1971, television reception
districts were created by the Legislature to
help bring television broadcast signals into
mountainous areas of the state. The districts
were given the authority to collect an excise
tax of no more than $60 per year per television
set to support the operations of translator
stations.
Since then, television
reception districts have diversified to provide
a wider range of communications.
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| I first introduced
this bill last year at the request of the Methow
Valley Communications District. The measure
would allow the district to use fees they
already collect to construct, maintain and
operate public safety emergency communications
for the benefit of the Methow Valley. An annual,
voluntary fee of $35 is billed by the county to
support broadcast signals in the Methow Valley.
That fee would not increase under this bill.
The measure passed the House Technology, Energy
and Communications Committee and is currently in
the Rules Committee for consideration to be sent
to the House floor for a vote. |
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