E-newsletter from Rep.Norma Smith - 10th Legislative District

Olympia Office:
417 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7884

Toll-Free Legislative Hotline:
1-800-562-6000
Website:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Smith

COMMITTEES:
Community and Economic Development and Trade (Ranking)
Agriculture and Natural Resources (Asst. ranking)
Audit Review and Oversight (Asst. ranking)
Capital Budget

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all of your input and feedback these last several weeks while the Legislature works through tough issues. We have a lot of work to do! Included in this newsletter is information on:

- Day 58 - National Public Radio's budget report
- Update on state parks budget
- Ferry issues update
- Town Hall meeting times and locations
- A few good bills passed this session

Today, I want to share with you a column I wrote for our local papers on the ferry crisis and the status of the debate. I heard you loud and clear - you do not want a reservation system for the Mukilteo to Clinton route, and you want Washington State Ferries to put first things first and build the right boats to fit our needs. I could not agree more. Once we address building boats to maintain our marine highways, perhaps then communities can made individual decisions about a reservation system. But, for now, we must focus on building boats.

I heard from Navy Commanding Officers from around the Puget Sound region last week that they have great concerns with unreliable ferry service and how it impacts their personnel getting where they need to be daily. It is imperative the Legislature remember that our marine highways provide critical infrastructure between our Navy bases on the peninsula, Everett Naval Station and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Unless and until we start to focus on restoring full and reliable ferry service to our marine highway routes, we will not be able to address the other issues impacting ferry service.

I hope you will feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. And, I hope you will join me at a town hall meeting March 14. Here is the information:

Town Hall Meetings, Saturday, March 14

Langley
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Langley City Hall - 112 Second Street

Oak Harbor
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Skagit Valley College (Oak Hall #223) - 1900 SE Pioneer Way

Stanwood
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Stanwood Senior Center – 7430 276th Street NW

You are welcome to forward this e-mail to friends and colleagues as well. Thank you.

Rep. Norma Smith
10th District

Ferry debate continues: As we work through the myriad of issues facing our ferry communities, here is the column I wrote for the South Whidbey Record March 7.

Day 58 of the 2009 legislative session: More than halfway through the 105-day session, I am frustrated that instead of addressing our budget crisis, costly bills for new and non-essential programs as well as unnecessary new laws are being passed off the floor.

Meanwhile, there is still no action on the state budget. Read or listen to National Public Radio's report on the secretive budget meetings here.

Here are a few good bills passed this week:
House Bill 1123: Requires hospitals report MRSA incidences to the state Department of Health for tracking purposes. It also puts in place safeguards in hospitals to prevent the spread of the deadly bacteria.
House Bill 1385: This bill would protect registered school students up to age 20 from sex predators who happen to be teachers and school personnel.
House Bill 2279: Also known as Eryk's Law, would put in place tighter restrictions for convicted child abusers and their ability to work with children under age 13 in any capacity. It also improves the sentencing structure to ensure the most dangerous abusers are not released early.

State parks and the budget: Our parks are jewels of our state. Families gather at them, particularly in this tight economy, instead of going on expensive trips. As many know, the House majority leadership to prepare a budget that cuts $22.9 million from our state parks budget. This 23 percent cut could mean closure of 40 state parks, including Fort Ebey and Fort Casey state parks.

While our caucus has not seen the extent of any cuts in the parks system, I am extremely concerned that this could hurt our local economy. Fort Ebey and Fort Casey state parks have a combined annual visitation total of well over 1,000,000 visitors. They are an integral part of the economy on Whidbey Island. They also provide inexpensive recreation for our families and community groups. I cannot imagine Whidbey Island without these valuable state parks.

Our communities deserve better, our park rangers and staff deserve better, and the state of Washington can do better than shelving our family-friendly state parks that serve as critical economic drivers around the state. I will oppose any and all efforts to close state parks in the 10th Legislative District.

Thank you and I look forward to working with you over the next several weeks on issues being debated in Olympia. Please feel free to call my office with comments or questions anytime. I can be reached at (360) 786-7884 or smith.norma@leg.wa.gov.

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