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Olympia Office:
423 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7836
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Website
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Walsh |
COMMITTEES:
Early Learning and
Children's Services (Assistant ranking)
Human Services
Health and Human Services Appropriations |
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February 6, 2009
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Thank you
for the honor of serving you as your state
representative. In an effort to directly connect with my
constituents, I will be sending out this e-newsletter
periodically to update you on what is happening in the
Legislature. You have been added to this list if you
have ever contacted my office. If you would like to
unsubscribe,
click here.
Also, please feel free to forward this e-mail
to your friends, neighbors and colleagues so they can
subscribe
to my legislative updates!
This year's session is
difficult on many fronts. The loss of my dear friend and
seatmate, Bill Grant, has been felt
across the capitol campus. Bill was loved and respected
because he embraced everyone regardless of party
affiliation. As I move forward in my work here in
Olympia, I think of him often and the example he set for
all of us.
With just 105 days to conduct the
business of the state and a $6 billion budget
shortfall, we have a lot to do in a short time.
I won't support any tax proposal for our struggling
families or businesses. Everyone will have to make
sacrifices, and it won't be easy. My goal is
protect the most vulnerable in our state and
try to do the least amount of harm.
Legislation:
Here's just a few of the
various proposals being discussed in
the Legislature right now:
House Bill 1204: Would add two Benton County
district court judges to the bench.
House Bill 1654: Would require five days for public
and legislative review of any budget before a vote is
taken on the House or Senate floor.
House Bill 1013: Would make it a crime for school
employees to have sex with a student, even if that
student is 18.
House Bill 1268: Would ease "use it or lose it" laws
to allow water rights holders who use at least part of
their water right to keep their entire water right.
Senate Bill 5140: Would create a state income tax.
I would love to hear what you think about these
bills.
Dept. of
Licensing Office in Walla Walla Will Remain Open!
Thanks to all of you who e-mailed or called
into my office about the potential closing of the
Department of Licensing (DOL) office in Walla Walla.
Forcing you to drive 60 miles to Kennewick is no cost
savings at all, and your concerns and comments
persuaded the DOL to re-think their plans. Great Job!!
Lawmakers need public's views on local DOL closing
-- Jan. 22
Walla Walla's licensing office receives reprieve --
Jan. 26
Closure of DOL delayed at least 18 months -- Jan. 27
Cap
and Trade -- or Cap and Tax?
The
Ecology and Parks Committee this week heard about a
"cap and trade" program
that has been requested by the governor. Proponents say
House Bill 1819 will reduce
carbon emissions and help reduce global warming.
The reality is this measure could dramatically increase
your home energy bill, drive gas and food prices higher,
and drive up costs for businesses that will cost us
good-paying jobs in this difficult economy.
What
the program does is cap the amount of carbon
that may be emitted by activities such as
energy production and manufacturing jobs. The program
forces businesses to buy "allowances" from the
government for their emissions. This sounds a lot like a
tax on businesses to me.
Annually, the amount of
allowances available is reduced, so businesses have to
either conserve or go out of business
if they can't afford the price of allowances.
One
of the many problems with the proposal is there is no
good way to prevent speculation in the market.
Because the market is created between neighboring
states, Washington will not have legal authority over
the federal government's authority for interstate
commerce.
This proposal basically requires you
and I to pay the government to continue living and doing
business in our state. It’s called “cap and trade,” but
it’s actually “cap and tax.” By driving up the cost of
energy and manufacturing in Washington, we will
drive jobs and energy production to other states
that burn more fossil fuels than Washington’s
cleaner hydroelectric-based economy.
Washington
emits only three-tenths of 1 percent of
the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and yet our
governor is putting our business and job climate in
danger. Our state can’t solve global warming on its own
with this type of regulatory scheme. This is a proposal
we can't afford financially or
economically. Frankly, with the federal government
already addressing the alleged “global warming” issue, I
question why our state is jumping ahead and spending
time and money on trying to pass this legislation.
We
have more pressing needs to address.
I
encourage you to
e-mail or
call me about these or any other issue. My contact
information is at the top. I always appreciate hearing
from you and try to respond to you as quickly as
possible.
Sincerely,
Rep. Maureen Walsh
16th District State
Representative |
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Walsh
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