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Olympia Office:
426-A
Legislative Bldg.
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Phone: (360) 786-7832
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline
1-800-562-6000
Website
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong |
Committees:
Appropriations Subcommittee on General Gov't and Audit Review
(Ranking)
Rules (Alternate)
State Government and Tribal Affairs
Transportation |
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April 6, 2007
Dear
friends and neighbors,
There's a
magnolia tree at the state Capitol that is known
to lawmakers as the "Sine Die Tree." It is said
that when that tree blooms, it is nearing time
for the Legislature to adjourn. As you may have
guessed, that tree is nearly in full bloom now.
April 22 is the
scheduled end of the 105-day legislative
session. Another milestone was reached earlier
this week in the lawmaking process. As of
Monday, all committees were officially finished
working on legislation this year. Through next
Friday, April 13, we'll be voting on Senate
bills that passed House committees.
It's never
healthy when one party has the entire control of
the Legislature. Somehow, balance is lost and
the legislation that moves through the process
becomes extreme. We've seen evidence of that
this year with several Democrat-sponsored bills.
This includes House Bill 1658, known as the
"paid family leave" bill, and the
"medically-accurate sex education" legislation,
House Bill 1297 and
Senate Bill 5297.
I'm also keeping
a close watch in the final days on the
transportation budget which contains money for
rehabilitation of the Coulee City rail line.
More information
on these topics is provided below in this
e-newsletter.
If you'd like to
contact me about these or other issues, go
to my website at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong.
It is an honor to
serve you!
Rep. Mike Armstrong
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Paid
family leave proposal a job killer
It's
said that the road to you-know-where is paved
with good intentions. The paid family leave bill
under debate in Olympia is a classic example.
Senate Bill 5659 would impose a
2-cent-per-hour tax on all workers in
Washington. The state would set up a program
allowing workers up to five weeks of family
leave each year. Workers could then take that
time off and be paid up to $250 a week. It would
be one of the most liberal family leave plans in
the nation.
I'm opposed to this bill. Here's
why:
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- While this
tax would be levied on every employee in
Washington, it is projected that only 37,000
of Washington's 3.7 million employees would
access this annually.
- It would
cost the state $100 million with $20 million
dedicated to hiring 96 full-time employees
to administer the program.
- It would
substantially increase small business
unemployment rates.
- It would be
a substantial hardship for small businesses
that cannot cover for employees on extended
absences.
This is a tax increase
that everyone would pay, but most
would not be able to use the benefit. Washington
already is one of the highest business-taxed
states in the nation. This requirement would
give businesses one more reason to leave
Washington - or not come to our state to offer
jobs. |
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'Medically-accurate' sex education proposal
strips away parents rights, local control
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Last year, the
state offered up a "medically-accurate" sex
education curricula as a set of “guidelines” for
school districts that teach sex education last
year. The guidelines were very explicit and many
of us had concerns. As we predicted at the time,
proponents of those “guidelines” are now seeking
to make that curriculum mandatory for all public
school districts offering sex education.
There are several problems with
Senate Bill 5297, but the following are the
ones that concern me the most.
First, the bill strips school districts of all
local control, and that simply isn’t acceptable.
It also prohibits school districts from offering
“abstinence only” sex education – something that
is offered now by about 30 percent of our school
districts.
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Second, the
course material is simply not age
appropriate. Its graphic nature goes
well beyond what children need to know
at the age it is to be offered. These
proposals will not provide the type of
education that will enforce the healthy
views and behaviors about sex that we
all want for our children. Instead,
these proposals simply lower the age at
which school children are introduced to
mature themes and sexually explicit
language and pictures. If you'd like to
see the approved course offering that
starts at fourth grade under this
proposal,
click here.
Finally, the bill makes it more
difficult for parents to opt out of
having their children take the course. I
believe local school districts should
notify parents in writing about the
class, explain its contents clearly, and
then give parents the opportunity to opt
in or opt out.
I am very
concerned about the direction this
proposal would take us. These are
decisions best left to parents and local
schools, not to the state. |
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Protecting the Coulee City rail line
appropriation
Earlier this
year, the
governor signed a memorandum of
understanding with Watco Companies,
Inc. for the purchase of the Coulee City
Railroad. Money had been set aside in
2003 to purchase several short line
railroads, including the 108-mile
stretch between Coulee City and Cheney.
This rail line is important
to help farmers
transport their products from the farm
to market.
About $12
million was also appropriated in the
state's transportation budget around
that time to provide for rehabilitation
of that line once the purchase was
completed. That money has sat in the
budget for about three years and now,
some are eyeing it for other
transportation projects.
The
successful operation of the Coulee City
Rail line will largely depend on
rehabilitation of the tracks. A train
operating on the existing line can only
travel 10 miles per hour. Rehabilitation
would increase that speed to 25 miles
per hour.
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Also, there are
several operators who have expressed an interest
in bidding on the line for operations. However,
they say that is contingent upon track
rehabilitation. If we are to attract an operator
to the line, it is essential that this money be
preserved to rehabilitate the tracks.
I'm keeping a close
eye on the transportation budget to protect that
appropriation. It's a good investment for our
local communities. We estimate that there'll be
4,000 carloads of wheat from that plateau each
year. It also allows growers a way to haul in
their fertilizer. The other advantage is for the
county road department. It keeps those heavy
trucks off those roads that would otherwise do a
lot of damage. |
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 Visit
our state Capitol!
I was again pleased
to welcome visitors from the 12th District to
the Capitol this week. They included Karla and
Kurt Slonaker; Luanne, Jared and Alexis Raber;
and Misty and Zach DeFina.
They
are all from Wenatchee. The young people in this
photo are homeschooled by their parents who
accompanied them to Olympia.
If
you would like to visit the Capitol, give my
office a call. Tours are hourly and groups are
welcome.
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Armstrong
If you would rather not
receive legislative e-mail updates, please
click here and send me an e-mail.
In the subject line, please include the words UNSUBSCRIBE ME. |
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