Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This has been a very busy week, with committee hearings,
floor resolutions and countless meetings with my
colleagues. The schedule has been hectic, but I'm
so encouraged by the continuing e-mails, phone calls and
letters coming from the district. Thank you very
much for your support these past few weeks.
This
week also brought a familiar face back to Olympia.
Former Rep. Don Cox from Colfax was
appointed by the district's county commissioners to
succeed former Rep. Steve Hailey. While we
continue to mourn the loss of our dear friend, Steve, we
welcome another friend back into the fold. I know
Rep. Cox will hit the ground running and am looking
forward to working with him on the issues that are
important to the
9th District.
One issue in particular that I
want to draw your attention to is the so-called
"cap and trade" legislation that is being proposed
by the governor. There is more detailed
information below, but suffice it to say you NEED to pay
attention to this issue. Every time you hear or
read the words "cap and trade," you should be on the
edge of your seat. This issue has the potential to
absolutely devastate our economy, eliminate jobs, and
cost businesses and consumer BILLIONS of dollars.
See the section below for more information.
Again, thank you for putting your trust in me to
represent you in Olympia. It is an honor that I
take very seriously. I will strive to do my best
to make you proud of your 9th District team.
Sincerely,
Joe Schmick
State
Representative, 9th District
Mesa
playground for Steve Hailey
I am
working on a $40,000 request for the 2009-11 capital
budget to help pay for a playground and playground
equipment in Mesa as a memorial to former Rep. Steve
Hailey. The capital budget is the state's
"construction" budget and is funded by issuing bonds.
This is a way to keep the memory and service of a
dedicated public servant alive and well for future
generations.
Budget
update
We're seeing different views
on state budget situation as the majority party says
they're in no hurry to pass a supplemental budget for
the remainder of the 2009 fiscal year. Their plan,
at this point, is to make a few small policy cuts and
then wait for the revenue forecast to come out in the
middle of March.
The Republican budget leads,
Rep. Gary Alexander and Sen. Joe Zarelli, believe (as I
do) that every day we wait is a dollar wasted. The
quicker we make the necessary cuts in entitlement
programs, the more money we will save. These are
two very different viewpoints and it seems like we're
just treading water at the moment.
It also
appears the majority party may be waiting for a federal
bailout. Some are saying that the Obama
administration will send money to the states to help out
with budget deficits. Even if some money does come
from the federal government, every day we wait to
address our $6 billion shortfall is another dollar taken
out of our pocket. We need to be arriving at
solutions, and we need to it NOW, not later.
Cap and
Trade
The so-called cap and trade
legislation is a proposal put forth by the Western
Climate Initiative, which includes seven Western states
and four Canadian Provinces. The idea is to cap the
amount of carbon that may be emitted by activities such
as energy and oil production, manufacturing jobs, and,
by 2015, auto emissions, in order to reach 1990 emission
levels by 2020.
Companies will have to purchase
"allowances" from the government for the right to emit
greenhouse gasses. However, the government will limit
the number of allowances and determine the market up
front.
The government will also reduce the number
of allowances available every three years. If companies
don't have enough allowances to cover their emissions,
they will have to pay a fine up to $10,000 per day.
If a company doesn't use all of its emission allowances,
it may sell those credits to other companies who need
them.
Because of an unregulated secondary market
that will buy and sell carbon emission credits, the
possibility for corruption, fraud and greed will drive
the price of credits to artificial heights. We saw
it with Enron; we saw it with speculation in the oil
markets; we saw it with the subprime mortgage collapse.
Secondary markets have huge potential for devastating
consequences.
There's also nothing to prevent an
investment firm from buying up excess allowances from
businesses in our state and then selling them to states
like California or Oregon. Washington companies could be
put out of business in a heartbeat simply because
additional, necessary emissions credits are too
expensive or unavailable.
I think we can all
agree that the environment is worth protecting.
But at what cost? Washington is one of the
cleanest states in the Union. We have cheap,
abundant, clean hydropower, and
our state's emissions
only account for three-tenths of one percent of the
world's greenhouse gasses! Talk about putting the
cart in front of the horse!
Are we going to let
environmental fanaticism overcome common-sense
solutions? I hope not. I truly hope people will wake up
and see this thing for what it really is: extreme
behavior modification at the expense of our jobs and our
families' well being.
I would encourage folks to
call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000
or leave a message on her web site
here, and let the governor know that Washington's
families, businesses, and economy cannot afford her
Climate Action Plan.
Visit my Website for further information
and news
You can always visit my Web site for updated
information and to contact me via e-mail. You can
also sign-up for my E-newsletter by going to my home
page and clicking on the "sign up here" link on the left
side of the page.
http://www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Schmick/default.htm
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