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Olympia Office:
419 John L.
O'Brien Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7844
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Website
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Schmick |
Committees:
Health & Human Services (Ranking)
Higher Education (Asst. Ranking)
Ways & Means
Rules |
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April
10, 2009
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Now that we've seen both the House and Senate budget
proposals, much of this next week will be spent ironing
out the differences. After budgets are passed from
each chamber, House and Senate budget writers will meet
behind closed doors to decide how your tax dollars will
be spent.
For the most part, I won't be part of
this process in a formal way. But informally, I will
continue to let budget writers know that tax increases
should not be part of the equation.
I've also heard from a lot of you about
proposed cuts to education and health services
for our truly needy citizens. I want you
to know that I don't like these cuts either.
In my mind, our priorities should be educating our children,
safe guarding the public, and
protecting and caring for those in our society
that truly need our help.
While I believe
in – and will continue to push for – a balanced
budget, our budget cuts should not endanger our
seniors and developmentally disabled citizens.
Apart from budget negotiations, much of our
time is now spent on the House floor or in
caucus where we deliberate and debate over
Senate bills that have passed through our House
committees. |
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Rep. Schmick addresses scholar
athletes including some from EWU and WSU in the
Capitol rotunda. |
We'll spend the next week or so voting on Senate
bills while the Senate votes on House bills. Then,
if there are specific changes to the bills, each
legislative body must approve or reject the changes made
by the other chamber.
If there is agreement that
the changes are good, then they get voted on one more
time and then get sent to the governor for her
signature. If there is NOT agreement on changes to
proposed legislation, the bills go into a conference
committee with members from both the House and Senate to
work out the differences.
Sometimes the process
isn't pretty, but let's hope the end result looks
better.
Rep. Schmick meets with scholar
athletes after a House resolution honoring them
for their work on and off the field. |
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Also, this week, I had an opportunity to
meet with scholar athletes from several colleges
and universities around the state, including
student athletes from EWU and WSU. It was
a privilege to honor these scholar athletes with
a resolution on the House floor and to address
them in the Capitol rotunda afterwards.
Thanks again for reading my E-Newsletter.
We're heading into the final stretch of the 2009
session. It has been an honor to represent
you in Olympia.
Sincerely,
Joe
Schmick |
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State Representative
9th Legislative District |
Governor signs my bill to create the Washington
State Grain Commission
Governor Gregoire signed my bill this week to merge the
Washington Wheat Commission and the Washington Barley
Commission into the newly-created Washington Grain
Commission. This is an effort to save overhead and
costs. Farmers are looking at ways to save money
during these difficult economic times and this is one
way we can do that.
Information from my Teleforum.
Many of you have
contacted me wanting more information on the results of
last week's teleforum. I'd like to give you a
quick snapshot of the event and the results of our
survey questions.
We had 814 total attendees
throughout the hour-long teleforum. Forty-five
participants submitted questions. Out of those 45,
we were able to get 20 of you live on-air.
Here
are the survey questions and the results:
1) If you were prioritizing the state budget,
which would you fund FIRST?
Education = 45%
Health Care = 19%
Public Safety = 17%
Transportation = 14%
Environmental Protections = 5%
2) For the first time in memorable history,
the Legislature is considering taking $780 million from
the capital budget (which is primarily funded through
the issuing of long-term bonds) in order to pay for
operating expenses. This is like putting your own
daily expenses, like your mortgage, grocery bills and
utility bills, on your credit card to be paid back with
interest. Do you support this move by legislative
budget writers?
Yes = 4%
No = 96%
3) Washington state has an abundance of hydro
power. Should our state's hydro power be
considered a "green" renewable power source?
Yes = 96%
No = 4%
4) The governor is
proposing a cap-and-trade system to cap emissions by
manufacturers and energy producers. How much of an
increase in your utility bills would you be willing to
accept for this proposal?
0% increase = 87%
1-15% increase = 11%
15-30% increase = 0%
30-50%
increase = 0%
More than 50% = 1%
Again, my thanks to all of you
who participated in last week's teleforum. As you
can see from the participation, it would have taken
several traditional town halls, several hundred miles in the
car, and a few weekends to interact and communicate with
as many people as we did. I believe this is a very
efficient and cost-effective way of communicating
directly with my constituents. Isn't technology
great? (most of the time)
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.
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Schmick
If you would rather not
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click here and send me an e-mail.
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