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Olympia Office:
401 John L. O'Brien Bldg.
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7808
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Toll-Free Legislative Hotline:
1-800-562-6000
Website:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Dammeier |
Committees:
General Gov't. Appropriations
(Asst. ranking)
Health Care and Wellness
Ways and Means
Technology, Energy and Communications |
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July 30, 2009
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you are all taking in the gorgeous
weather we are experiencing and the beautiful land with
which we are blessed.
While the
"other Washington" has delayed action
on the harmful cap-and-trade bill, the debate has
shifted to health care reform. We can no longer settle
for the status quo, but all change is not good change.
I've supported several solutions to truly reform our
health care insurance system. I encourage you to
read about the House Republican proposals to
decrease the cost of health care and increase access to
quality care and insurance coverage. We
also have
ideas for reforming the state Basic Health Plan to
reduce the cost to taxpayers and provide protection for
our citizens.
Last month, we
received the quarterly revenue forecast that gives us a
look at the state of the economy and also helps us with
budgeting decisions. June's forecast showed the state
will bring in $482 million less than predicted in March.
There is actually good news in this, and that is a
prediction by the state's revenue forecaster that
our state has likely reached the bottom of this
recession. I hope this prediction is correct
and that we can get business going again. At the same
time, it's important that we adopt new budgeting
practices so that we don't continue to spend
beyond our means. We had information this time
last year that our tax revenue would be significantly
lower and our budget was headed for trouble.
Unfortunately, the Democrats in majority did not adopt
some common-sense
solutions Republicans proposed to create a
more sustainable budget. I will continue to
fight for sustainable budget practices for the taxpayers
and businesses that pay the bill.
In this
e-newsletter update, I will discuss the Kittitas
County exempt well moratorium, the national
health care debate and issues I'm
working on for next year's session. Please feel free to
contact my office and set up a meeting with me any time.
It's very important to me to speak directly with you
about your concerns and suggestions for state policy.
Sincerely,
Bill
Hinkle
State Representative
13th District
Exempt wells in Kittitas
County...
Two weeks ago, the
Department of Ecology (DOE)
filed an emergency rule to stop all new
groundwater withdrawals within Kittitas County.
DOE and the county had been
negotiating a memorandum of agreement to manage
development and water rights. As you will see from
this timeline of the events in the last two years,
citizens of the county have already been partially
limited in withdrawals. The decision by DOE would have
stopped all new withdrawals.
Read the press release I sent out to the media with
Sen. Holmquist and Rep. Warnick.
The agency repealed part of the moratorium to exclude
those who had already invested financially in the
drilling of wells that were previously approved. Even
so, Ecology's decision
has had an immediate impact on
the county and people that
already invested in drilling wells.
According
to the Kittitas County Association of Realtors,
approximately $74 million of active land listings is
adversely impacted by the well moratorium.
I have heard about people who are
being forced to halt construction projects they have
invested tens of thousands of dollars into because of
DOE's decision.
It's amazing to me that
DOE would make such a harmful economic decision
without any scientific data to back up
its claim of a problem. The agency's actions push past
the will of the people, even the authority of the
Legislature, to promote their agenda and bow to special
environmental interests. DOE doesn't have any
justification for this rash decision that will
ultimately hurt economic growth.
I called together a meeting of Central Washington
legislators
in the 13th, 14th and 15th
Districts this week to come up with a strategy to
put pressure on DOE to re-think its decision, return
control to the locals, and help developers who have
followed the rules and are still being regulated.
The two recurring themes throughout the meeting were the
non-scientific and unnecessary rulemaking approach taken
by DOE and its devastating impact on much-needed jobs
throughout Kittitas County.
A lot of information and ideas were
exchanged at the meeting. In the end, everyone
agreed that a locally-driven solution to this issue is
in the best interest of the citizens of Kittitas County. Many of you have
contacted me about this issue as well. At first blush, water may not seem like
an interesting issue, but the reality is water
management decisions affect nearly everyone in
our communities. I appreciate your input and hope you
will continue o share your views on this very important
issue.
The unraveling of national health care proposals...
Several proposals for
government-sponsored health care have been stalling in
Washington, D.C. This is a very complex and personal
issue; it involves every person in our country. I
believe we cannot be satisfied with the status
quo of increasing costs and limited choice.
What I want to see out of Congress is some real reform
of health care costs and insurance, not merely
turning to the government for another bailout.
The ownership of private businesses by the
government makes all of us uneasy, so why would we be
comfortable with bureaucrats telling us
and our doctors what treatments we need? I hope Congress
will learn that we cannot have massive, rushed
legislation that affects every one of us without a true
debate about the merits of such legislation. The
tendency of the Democrats is to increase spending to
solve an issue. In this case, I believe it will not
solve anything, but it will reduce the quality
and access of health care in the United States.
In Washington state, we saw 194
proposals on health care from 2000-2008.
Meanwhile, the cost of health care nearly
tripled. Government answers are not solving the
cost problem. Our state is tied for third in the country
with the highest number of insurance mandates, driving
up the cost of everyone's insurance plan.
We
don't need studies and government programs. I believe
the best answer to increasing access to
health care for every man, woman and child is to
reduce costs, encourage competition, and provide more
choice in care.
I encourage you to
read about the federal proposals and contact
your congressional delegation about this issue:
Senator Maria
Cantwell
Senator Patty Murray
Representative Doc
Hastings
Preparing for next year...
I
believe the priorities of the state should be education,
transportation and public safety. Without successful
practices in these areas, our state cannot thrive and
grow. With that in mind, I'm focused on supporting and
crafting legislation that produces long-term solutions.
Our transportation budget is in
trouble. We do not have a long-term vision for funding,
or even constructing, some major infrastructure projects
in our state. It's important that we have a plan in
place to not only fund important projects, but plan for
the movement of future commuters and freight.
While we adopted a good blueprint for education
reform this year, we now need to prioritize
funding so we can put these ideas into action. Investing
in our children will help us compete better economically
and bring good employers to our state, as well as give
all children more opportunities in life. This means
investing in not only colleges and universities, but
also trade and technical schools, so we have a
broadly-trained workforce.
Costs are mounting for
public safety and year after year we
see potential cuts to police forces and court rooms.
It's important to have sustainable budget practices in
place to ensure our protection and justice system are
not jeopardized.
I would like to hear
what you think about these and other issues.
Please let me know what you think the state should be
doing to address the challenges of our time. |
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For more
news and information, visit my website at
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Hinkle
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